Don't forget Witches' Brew is now available as a downloadable ebook.

Witches’ Brew is a fictional story set in the late 1920’s based on songs written by Melissa Dodd, a native Appalachian Mountaineer.  The family in this story could have been any family with their strong religious beliefs combined with the ancient art of spells and witch doctors. Beth, the young girl is our story, chases an old family mystery which was set in motion years earlier when a bootlegger’s son and a preacher’s daughter met under the  ol’ ‘Witching Tree’. You can access the song Witches' Brew by clicking here. A friend helped me to sound like I am on AM radio. Let me know what you think. You can also access it from the front of the book.

Along with Witches' Brew, Santa Sheds is also available by paper back. It is a children's book (or for adults with animals instead of children) about a two dogs, a squirrel, and a pig helping Santa save Christmas.

“Wagging Tails… Wagging Tails…

Santa’s on his way.

Hope he can fit all our presents

In that little sleigh.”

All my books can be found on my Amazon author page at 

amazon.com/author/mdodd.

Origin of the Term Appalachia

The Appalachian culture is slowly fading as family members move away and newcomers arrive. This is especially noticeable in the speech patterns of today's mountaineers. I have tried to stay as close as possible to the old speech when writing Witches' Brew. My husband's family still speak in the old way so it is easy for me to slip into their dialogue.

So, where did the term Appalachia originate? I wondered. After a little research, here is what I discovered.

Apparently, while exploring in 1528 on the coast of what is known today as Florida, the Narvaez expedition came upon a Native American Village close to today’s Tallahassee, FLA. They transcribed the name as Apalchen/Apalachen but this was soon changed to Apalachee by the Spanish.