From Christy's Bookshelf at Midwest Review
The Frugal Editor
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Red Engine Press
Branson, MO
ISBN 9780978515874
$18.95
Reviewed by Christy Tillery French for Midwest Book Review
As the literary market continues to tighten its proverbial belt, today's writer must assume more of the responsibilities surrounding book publishing than ever before. No longer can a writer depend on a publisher or agent to accept a manuscript in need of editing, and submitting a manuscript that isn't as near perfect as possible will, in all probability, result in rejection. To the rescue comes acclaimed author Carolyn Howard-Johnson with The Frugal Editor, the latest in her How to Do It Frugally series.
This little gem is a must-have for any writer, published or not, bestselling or unknown. Filled with valuable tips, The Frugal Editor touches on all aspects of self-editing, such as how to spot common grammatical errors, from superfluous adverbs to confusing dangling participles, as well as how to organize the workspace, format the manuscript, and use Word's tools to the fullest. Also included are sample query and cover letters, and pointers on correcting intrusive taglines, when to use an ellipsis, and correct spacing, to name a few. The book takes the reader step-by-step through the editing process, from rough draft to galley. No questions are left unanswered, no topics left uncovered. This generous writer goes so far as to recommend resources through other books and websites, with plenty of advice from agents and editors.
The Frugal Editor is one of those reference books every writer should have by their computer for constant use and study. Highly recommended.
Thursday, 29 November 2007
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Publisher Recommends Frugal Promoter to Contest Entrants, Those Seeking Publisher
Unknown
19:10
award-winner, book promotion, book publicity, carolyn howard-johnson, j.d. vine publications, jared d. vineyard, Nonfiction: Professional, Nonfiction: Professional/Writers, Nonfiction: Writers
0
Nov. 6, 2007 -- Jared D. Vineyard, publisher for J. D. Vine Publications and Editor of The Creative Writer, an anthology of winning stories, recommended the Frugal Editor on his blog today. He says, "If you want to be a professional writer, your work must be of a professional caliber. The Frugal Editor by Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a book that could help writers of all skill levels increase the professionalism of their copy. Reading and using the techniques in this book could make the difference of not being accepted for publication in the Creative Writer or becoming the series next Featured Author."
For the complete blog entry go to http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=153595515.
Stop by Jared blog and feel free to leave a comment.
The Frugal Editor is Best Book in USA Book News writing and publication category.
For the complete blog entry go to http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=153595515.
Stop by Jared blog and feel free to leave a comment.
The Frugal Editor is Best Book in USA Book News writing and publication category.
Monday, 29 October 2007
Silent Generation No Longer Silent: A Blessing, Not a Lack of Patriotism
Unknown
14:16
brenda warneka, Denver Post (Reviews), john kane, Nonfiction: History, Nonfiction: Military, peter baird, ravenhawk books
0
BEYOND PELELIU
By Peter Baird
Ravenhawk Books, 2006
Reviewed by John Kane for the Denver Post (Permission given to reprint by the reviewer.)
In September 1944, 45,000 U.S. marines and soldiers attacked the tiny Japanese held island of Peleliu in the Palau Islands. The attack served no useful military purpose and was based on faulty intelligence that the island was lightly defended and its capture would take just days. More than 13,000 Japanese troops fought with suicidal intensity for over a month; fewer than 2,000 of them survived. Eighteen hundred American troops were killed and another 8,000 wounded.
BEYOND PELELIU is the fictional story of one American who returned. More than that, it is the story of how the carnage of war resonates through generations to affect the son he barely knew, and his son’s eventual relationships with his own wife and children. Peter Baird’s powerful and sensitive tale exposes how the Greatest Generation and its successor, the Silent Generation, were affected by a war from which even those who returned in body never really came home.
Tom McQuade is a surgical resident in Boston married to an exotic woman, Virginia, with a newborn son, David, when Pearl Harbor ends their idyllic life. Drafted and made a captain in the Army Medical Corps, Tom goes ashore at Peleliu. He returns to his family crippled in body and spirit. With his hand shattered, his promise as a surgeon becomes a bitter memory.
To Virginia’s consternation, Tom refuses to discuss what happened at Peleliu, but it has changed him irrevocably. His anger and frustration lead to drinking and an inevitable divorce. Virginia and David move on with their lives.
Forty years later, David is a successful trial lawyer in San Francisco. Like his father he is a warrior, but his battlefield is the courtroom and it, too, is strewn with casualties.
After Virginia dies and Tom has entered the early stages of dementia, father and son reconnect. For the first time, the jaded lawyer with a briefcase full of courtroom triumphs and failed relationships learns the awful secret of what happened to his father on Peleliu and experiences the liberating force of truth.
What became of the sons of the Greatest Generation? Although the Silent Generation did not go to war, many of its members were indelibly shaped by the effect of war on parents who tried to pick up the pieces of shattered lives and couldn’t. All boys develop an ideal father – a hero who rescues them, a template for their own development into men. Those whose fathers go to war create particularly potent ideals for the absent parent, who rarely measures up if he indeed returns. Until a boy comes to grips with the reality of who his father is, without the need to idealize and the consequent betrayal of that ideal, he cannot become a man. David McQuade’s reconciliation with Tom enables both men to become fully realized.
BEYOND PELELIU goes far beyond the faulty intelligence of a disastrous battle and the psychological carnage that afflicted a father and son. It is the story of redemption that comes from embracing the truth that lies at a parent’s core. It is also the story of practicing a profession with external success, but devoid of meaning. Only by embracing truth in all circumstances can David become more than the shell of a man. Indeed, only by embracing the truth can he himself become a hero.
Baird’s style is spare and clean, expressed in short paragraphs blissfully free of adverbs and adjectives. His prose is characterized by strong nouns and active verbs reminiscent of Ernest Hemingway and Raymond Carver. His attention to detail in describing every scene and event make the development of each character natural, credible and consistent with the plot. His use of dialogue is masterful.
It is not surprising that Baird, a prominent trial lawyer, describes the work of lawyers with such authenticity, but the medical aspects and the battle scenes are equally well done. The demons of war infuse them all. There is not a dull passage in the narrative; it moves like a rocket to its thudding and entirely human conclusion.
Readers of any generation will understand themselves better and share in the experience of real and memorable characters. In BEYOND PELELIU Baird speaks to and for the Silent Generation. We can be grateful that it is silent no more.
By Peter Baird
Ravenhawk Books, 2006
Reviewed by John Kane for the Denver Post (Permission given to reprint by the reviewer.)
In September 1944, 45,000 U.S. marines and soldiers attacked the tiny Japanese held island of Peleliu in the Palau Islands. The attack served no useful military purpose and was based on faulty intelligence that the island was lightly defended and its capture would take just days. More than 13,000 Japanese troops fought with suicidal intensity for over a month; fewer than 2,000 of them survived. Eighteen hundred American troops were killed and another 8,000 wounded.
BEYOND PELELIU is the fictional story of one American who returned. More than that, it is the story of how the carnage of war resonates through generations to affect the son he barely knew, and his son’s eventual relationships with his own wife and children. Peter Baird’s powerful and sensitive tale exposes how the Greatest Generation and its successor, the Silent Generation, were affected by a war from which even those who returned in body never really came home.
Tom McQuade is a surgical resident in Boston married to an exotic woman, Virginia, with a newborn son, David, when Pearl Harbor ends their idyllic life. Drafted and made a captain in the Army Medical Corps, Tom goes ashore at Peleliu. He returns to his family crippled in body and spirit. With his hand shattered, his promise as a surgeon becomes a bitter memory.
To Virginia’s consternation, Tom refuses to discuss what happened at Peleliu, but it has changed him irrevocably. His anger and frustration lead to drinking and an inevitable divorce. Virginia and David move on with their lives.
Forty years later, David is a successful trial lawyer in San Francisco. Like his father he is a warrior, but his battlefield is the courtroom and it, too, is strewn with casualties.
After Virginia dies and Tom has entered the early stages of dementia, father and son reconnect. For the first time, the jaded lawyer with a briefcase full of courtroom triumphs and failed relationships learns the awful secret of what happened to his father on Peleliu and experiences the liberating force of truth.
What became of the sons of the Greatest Generation? Although the Silent Generation did not go to war, many of its members were indelibly shaped by the effect of war on parents who tried to pick up the pieces of shattered lives and couldn’t. All boys develop an ideal father – a hero who rescues them, a template for their own development into men. Those whose fathers go to war create particularly potent ideals for the absent parent, who rarely measures up if he indeed returns. Until a boy comes to grips with the reality of who his father is, without the need to idealize and the consequent betrayal of that ideal, he cannot become a man. David McQuade’s reconciliation with Tom enables both men to become fully realized.
BEYOND PELELIU goes far beyond the faulty intelligence of a disastrous battle and the psychological carnage that afflicted a father and son. It is the story of redemption that comes from embracing the truth that lies at a parent’s core. It is also the story of practicing a profession with external success, but devoid of meaning. Only by embracing truth in all circumstances can David become more than the shell of a man. Indeed, only by embracing the truth can he himself become a hero.
Baird’s style is spare and clean, expressed in short paragraphs blissfully free of adverbs and adjectives. His prose is characterized by strong nouns and active verbs reminiscent of Ernest Hemingway and Raymond Carver. His attention to detail in describing every scene and event make the development of each character natural, credible and consistent with the plot. His use of dialogue is masterful.
It is not surprising that Baird, a prominent trial lawyer, describes the work of lawyers with such authenticity, but the medical aspects and the battle scenes are equally well done. The demons of war infuse them all. There is not a dull passage in the narrative; it moves like a rocket to its thudding and entirely human conclusion.
Readers of any generation will understand themselves better and share in the experience of real and memorable characters. In BEYOND PELELIU Baird speaks to and for the Silent Generation. We can be grateful that it is silent no more.
Monday, 22 October 2007
C'mon Down! Grab that QueenPower!
Unknown
15:43
allyn evans, amazon shorts, Nonfiction: Feminist, Nonfiction: Inspiration, Nonfiction: Self-Help
0
TITLE: Grab the Queen Power
SUBTITLE: Live Your Best Life!
AUTHOR: Allyn Evans
GENRE: nonfiction
ISBN: 1-932993-20-7
Also available as eBook: $8 (order from Star Publish)
Reviewed by Kathe Gogolewski
It can be a lonely journey for a woman who feels something is missing in her life, especially if that something is her identity. Perhaps she harbors a desire to discover her authentic self, if she thinks she has one. This search can generate a painful and isolated experience, but it needn’t be that way.
Allyn Evans has written the companion traveler for women on this path. In her book, Grab the Queen Power, Live Your Best Life! she reveals inspiring accounts from her own life, as she maps out a cultural trail from girlhood to adulthood. Along the way, she unveils reasons that many girls and women have learned to subjugate their personal power to the needs of others. Interviews with other women are interspersed throughout and underscore her stories. Spell binding and highly personal, the stories captivate, as they may easily belong to me or you, or one our sisters or best friends.
Through the stories, we learn that our confidence and high self-esteem, those gifts from girlhood, may erode from an onslaught of cultural messages that instruct girls and women about our role in society. By the time we reach our teen years, our dreams may merely echo the vitality we once enjoyed. Evans takes the reader from there to her college experience, and then on to marriage and later years, navigating the testy waters with an uncommon blend of honesty, sensitivity and caring.
After exposing the conditions, Evans offers an alternative awareness. She dedicates the final third of the book to a new way of thinking. She outlines the attributes of, in her words, an “Authentic Queen,” and paints a vivid image of a woman who understands and accepts herself fully, who loves herself enough to give to others, who is truthful as well as merciful. It’s a heart-warming list, and leads seamlessly into the final section, where readers learn the steps toward actualizing their true selves. My favorite among the nine steps: Declare your intent. Be prepared to listen and act on inner promptings. Taken together, these nine steps create a rich menu that I know I will want to visit repeatedly. A highly recommended read.
-----
Kathe Gogolewski is the author of romance and children's literature and editor of a free e-zine, The Fiction Flyer. Subscribe at http://www.TRI-Studio.com New from TRI Studio -
She is also the author of Shorts from Amazon: Find them for 49 cents each Here:
The Gold Coin: http://www.amazon.com/The-Gold-Coin/dp/B000IB0JHK/ref=pd_ts_b_13/102-3993851-2836959?ie=UTF8&s=books
Weighing In: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HDZAXW/ref=dp_bib_1/102-3993851-2836959?ie=UTF8
SUBTITLE: Live Your Best Life!
AUTHOR: Allyn Evans
GENRE: nonfiction
ISBN: 1-932993-20-7
Also available as eBook: $8 (order from Star Publish)
Reviewed by Kathe Gogolewski
It can be a lonely journey for a woman who feels something is missing in her life, especially if that something is her identity. Perhaps she harbors a desire to discover her authentic self, if she thinks she has one. This search can generate a painful and isolated experience, but it needn’t be that way.
Allyn Evans has written the companion traveler for women on this path. In her book, Grab the Queen Power, Live Your Best Life! she reveals inspiring accounts from her own life, as she maps out a cultural trail from girlhood to adulthood. Along the way, she unveils reasons that many girls and women have learned to subjugate their personal power to the needs of others. Interviews with other women are interspersed throughout and underscore her stories. Spell binding and highly personal, the stories captivate, as they may easily belong to me or you, or one our sisters or best friends.
Through the stories, we learn that our confidence and high self-esteem, those gifts from girlhood, may erode from an onslaught of cultural messages that instruct girls and women about our role in society. By the time we reach our teen years, our dreams may merely echo the vitality we once enjoyed. Evans takes the reader from there to her college experience, and then on to marriage and later years, navigating the testy waters with an uncommon blend of honesty, sensitivity and caring.
After exposing the conditions, Evans offers an alternative awareness. She dedicates the final third of the book to a new way of thinking. She outlines the attributes of, in her words, an “Authentic Queen,” and paints a vivid image of a woman who understands and accepts herself fully, who loves herself enough to give to others, who is truthful as well as merciful. It’s a heart-warming list, and leads seamlessly into the final section, where readers learn the steps toward actualizing their true selves. My favorite among the nine steps: Declare your intent. Be prepared to listen and act on inner promptings. Taken together, these nine steps create a rich menu that I know I will want to visit repeatedly. A highly recommended read.
-----
Kathe Gogolewski is the author of romance and children's literature and editor of a free e-zine, The Fiction Flyer. Subscribe at http://www.TRI-Studio.com New from TRI Studio -
She is also the author of Shorts from Amazon: Find them for 49 cents each Here:
The Gold Coin: http://www.amazon.com/The-Gold-Coin/dp/B000IB0JHK/ref=pd_ts_b_13/102-3993851-2836959?ie=UTF8&s=books
Weighing In: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HDZAXW/ref=dp_bib_1/102-3993851-2836959?ie=UTF8
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
The Right Stuff: Teacher Pens Fantasy for Elementary School Kids
Unknown
22:05
Alternative-Read (Reviews), Fiction: Children's, Fiction: Children's Fantasy, kathe gogolewski, traci-jane
0
Tato
By Kathe Gogolewski
Red Engine Press
Fantasy children’s adventure (Suitable for ages 8-13
Author’s Blog: http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A21V32M89BJ4ZD/104-4354575-4721548
Publication date: November 2005
ISBN: 1-59088-486-8
Length: 119 pages
Format: Paperback, eBook (Available in formats of pdf, .html, .msr, Mobipocket, and Hiebook).
Review by Tracy-Jane, owner of Alternative Read Reviews
Refusing to believe his beloved grandpa, ‘Gankum’ had passed away, never to return, Michael Tate claims Gankum is still around, and they share regular chats together in his bedroom closet. No one believes him. His bossy sister, Nicole, thinks he is pretending that the imaginary visits are real because he is having trouble accepting Gankum’s death, but as she is only thirteen she is not sure what to do to help him.
Later, when Michael overhears his Mama talking to Nicole about special babies being born from potatoes, he decides he wants one too. Michael thinks a potato man is sure to love and understand him better than any of his family do, and most importantly will believe Gankum is real.
Eager to help her little brother get it out of his system, and take his mind off his pretend Gankum visits, Nicole decides to help Michael make a potato man. Together they gather the ingredients and prepare the mixture to the precise formula, unaware of the real dangers of getting the formula wrong. Unfortunately, Michael oversleeps and the formula is left for ten minutes longer than it should have been, and alongside the adorable talking Tato he creates, a second cold, evil creature is made by mistake!
To make matters worse, both Michael and Nicole are horrified to discover the bad creature has kidnapped their parents and is not going to give them back. In order to save them, the children begin a brave journey through an unknown world full of gigantic insects and other strange and magical happenings. Soon Michael and Nicole learn that their mission to save their parents is not going to be as easy as they thought. If only Gankum was still around to help, he’d know what to do!
Tato is not just an exciting family adventure, it also tackles the sad truth of a close relative dying, and how a seven year copes -- without being morbid or off putting to children reading. This sensitive issue is gently dropped into the storyline as a reason to start the adventure, and before long, you are whisked into a magical world where a family’s love and understanding for each other is a central theme, and the inner strength and courage of the children will determine the ultimate outcome. For the fantasy lovers, Michael and Nicole’s exploration into another world will entertain young readers, whilst the storyline delves into the more serious issues in a heart-warming, child friendly way.
My son and I read this together during one sitting, and we both enjoyed it so much we read it again the next day, which I can happily say I didn’t mind doing at all! Kathe Gogolewski is an adaptable writer, who can turn her hand to creating a children’s story with ease. It’s not surprising she trained as a teacher! I enjoyed the ending tremendously, and when I asked my son what he thought, he told me, ‘I liked the ending because it was happy, but kind of sad at the same time!’
This is a captivating adventure of magic and mayhem, where one child’s yearning for adult recognition throws him into an unfamiliar fantasy world, where he discovers his true inner powers – love and courage – are held within. Tato is guaranteed to thrill the younger audience and comes thoroughly recommended by us oldies too!
-----
About the Author:
Kathe Gogolewski has taught upper elementary school grades for a long time and now enjoys both writing and teaching in Southern California. Kathe continues her passion of reading stories to children. Teachers interested in an author visit to their classrooms my find out more information at http://www,tri-studio.com. She is also host of The Mother Daughter Club radio show
www.byforandaboutwomen.com and edits The Fiction Flyer: www.tri-studio.com/ezine.html
By Kathe Gogolewski
Red Engine Press
Fantasy children’s adventure (Suitable for ages 8-13
Author’s Blog: http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A21V32M89BJ4ZD/104-4354575-4721548
Publication date: November 2005
ISBN: 1-59088-486-8
Length: 119 pages
Format: Paperback, eBook (Available in formats of pdf, .html, .msr, Mobipocket, and Hiebook).
Review by Tracy-Jane, owner of Alternative Read Reviews
Refusing to believe his beloved grandpa, ‘Gankum’ had passed away, never to return, Michael Tate claims Gankum is still around, and they share regular chats together in his bedroom closet. No one believes him. His bossy sister, Nicole, thinks he is pretending that the imaginary visits are real because he is having trouble accepting Gankum’s death, but as she is only thirteen she is not sure what to do to help him.
Later, when Michael overhears his Mama talking to Nicole about special babies being born from potatoes, he decides he wants one too. Michael thinks a potato man is sure to love and understand him better than any of his family do, and most importantly will believe Gankum is real.
Eager to help her little brother get it out of his system, and take his mind off his pretend Gankum visits, Nicole decides to help Michael make a potato man. Together they gather the ingredients and prepare the mixture to the precise formula, unaware of the real dangers of getting the formula wrong. Unfortunately, Michael oversleeps and the formula is left for ten minutes longer than it should have been, and alongside the adorable talking Tato he creates, a second cold, evil creature is made by mistake!
To make matters worse, both Michael and Nicole are horrified to discover the bad creature has kidnapped their parents and is not going to give them back. In order to save them, the children begin a brave journey through an unknown world full of gigantic insects and other strange and magical happenings. Soon Michael and Nicole learn that their mission to save their parents is not going to be as easy as they thought. If only Gankum was still around to help, he’d know what to do!
Tato is not just an exciting family adventure, it also tackles the sad truth of a close relative dying, and how a seven year copes -- without being morbid or off putting to children reading. This sensitive issue is gently dropped into the storyline as a reason to start the adventure, and before long, you are whisked into a magical world where a family’s love and understanding for each other is a central theme, and the inner strength and courage of the children will determine the ultimate outcome. For the fantasy lovers, Michael and Nicole’s exploration into another world will entertain young readers, whilst the storyline delves into the more serious issues in a heart-warming, child friendly way.
My son and I read this together during one sitting, and we both enjoyed it so much we read it again the next day, which I can happily say I didn’t mind doing at all! Kathe Gogolewski is an adaptable writer, who can turn her hand to creating a children’s story with ease. It’s not surprising she trained as a teacher! I enjoyed the ending tremendously, and when I asked my son what he thought, he told me, ‘I liked the ending because it was happy, but kind of sad at the same time!’
This is a captivating adventure of magic and mayhem, where one child’s yearning for adult recognition throws him into an unfamiliar fantasy world, where he discovers his true inner powers – love and courage – are held within. Tato is guaranteed to thrill the younger audience and comes thoroughly recommended by us oldies too!
-----
About the Author:
Kathe Gogolewski has taught upper elementary school grades for a long time and now enjoys both writing and teaching in Southern California. Kathe continues her passion of reading stories to children. Teachers interested in an author visit to their classrooms my find out more information at http://www,tri-studio.com. She is also host of The Mother Daughter Club radio show
www.byforandaboutwomen.com and edits The Fiction Flyer: www.tri-studio.com/ezine.html
Monday, 15 October 2007
Reviewer Tami Brady Weighs in on the Frugal Editor
Unknown
14:32
carolyn howard-johnson, dr. tami brady, editing, Nonfiction: Professional/Writers, query letters, tcm reviews
0
TCM Reviews
The Frugal Editor
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Red Engine Press
ISBN: 978-0-9785158-7-4
Non-Fiction, Writing, Editing
Reviewed by Dr. Tami Brady for TCM Reviews
Editing is my absolute least favorite part of being an author. Like many writers, I find that my work flows more naturally if I type without really paying attention to all of the little details like grammar mistakes, typos, or redundancy of certain words (my biggest challenge). Unfortunately, at some point, I have to go back and fix the mess.
To help with this overwhelming task, I have collected a variety of books on editing, proofreading, and critiquing. I have now added The Frugal Editor to the most helpful of these resources. A good many of the books I already have on my shelf drone on endlessly about proper grammar, sentence structure, or the correct usage of commonly misused words without really guiding me towards solving any of my problems. Instead, they tend to lead me directly to confusion and frustration.
I believe that the problem is context. Most of these resources are made for school curriculums. The Frugal Editor knows that as writers we aren’t trying to impress our teacher for a grade. We are just looking to improve clarity so that we can share our best efforts with our readers. To this end, The Frugal Editor gets right to the point with straightforward suggestions and the most common mistakes made by writers during the editing process.
The Frugal Editor
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Red Engine Press
ISBN: 978-0-9785158-7-4
Non-Fiction, Writing, Editing
Reviewed by Dr. Tami Brady for TCM Reviews
Editing is my absolute least favorite part of being an author. Like many writers, I find that my work flows more naturally if I type without really paying attention to all of the little details like grammar mistakes, typos, or redundancy of certain words (my biggest challenge). Unfortunately, at some point, I have to go back and fix the mess.
To help with this overwhelming task, I have collected a variety of books on editing, proofreading, and critiquing. I have now added The Frugal Editor to the most helpful of these resources. A good many of the books I already have on my shelf drone on endlessly about proper grammar, sentence structure, or the correct usage of commonly misused words without really guiding me towards solving any of my problems. Instead, they tend to lead me directly to confusion and frustration.
I believe that the problem is context. Most of these resources are made for school curriculums. The Frugal Editor knows that as writers we aren’t trying to impress our teacher for a grade. We are just looking to improve clarity so that we can share our best efforts with our readers. To this end, The Frugal Editor gets right to the point with straightforward suggestions and the most common mistakes made by writers during the editing process.
Thursday, 11 October 2007
A Reviewer's Choice Memoir Pubbed by Scribner
The Glass Castle
By Jeannette Walls
Scribner, 2005
ISBN# 978-0-7432-4754-2
Reviewed by B. Lynn Goodwin for www.writeradvice.com
Jeannette Wall’s The Glass Castle is a compelling memoir that delves into resilience, self-discovery, and love. Dad is “half potted.” Mom is flighty and “nonchalant in the face of adversity.” The couple accidentally raises resilient children.
The author, one of their children, describes her upbringing with clarity, honesty, respect, and love. She leaves the judgments to others. The young narrator’s innocence, which remains intact throughout the memoir, turns tragic episodes into adventures. The children sleep in refrigerator boxes at a railway station. Dad turns the planet Venus into a Christmas gift. Mom refuses to sell inherited acres in Texas, claiming it is a legacy and must stay in the family.
What makes their behavior almost palatable is the love that comes from these two bizarre parents. They don’t mean to hurt their children. From her father, Rex, Wall learned that survival is all about bravado and craftiness. From her mother she learned that a bright and breezy attitude can turn any disaster into a blessing. Filled with the complexities love creates, The Glass Castle would be grim in less skillful hands. Wall leaves judgments about the parents and their dysfunctions up to the reader.
As a teenager Wall stayed at the school, which was heated, and worked on the school paper, The Maroon Wave. She becomes the first eleventh grader to be appointed editor. Adversity, in her case, led to triumph. She left her family, got educated with her brother in New York, married a successful writer, and today she writes for MSNBC. Her style and story make her an author worth watching. Get a copy of her book today.
Reviewed by B. Lynn Goodwin, www.writeradvice.com
By Jeannette Walls
Scribner, 2005
ISBN# 978-0-7432-4754-2
Reviewed by B. Lynn Goodwin for www.writeradvice.com
Jeannette Wall’s The Glass Castle is a compelling memoir that delves into resilience, self-discovery, and love. Dad is “half potted.” Mom is flighty and “nonchalant in the face of adversity.” The couple accidentally raises resilient children.
The author, one of their children, describes her upbringing with clarity, honesty, respect, and love. She leaves the judgments to others. The young narrator’s innocence, which remains intact throughout the memoir, turns tragic episodes into adventures. The children sleep in refrigerator boxes at a railway station. Dad turns the planet Venus into a Christmas gift. Mom refuses to sell inherited acres in Texas, claiming it is a legacy and must stay in the family.
What makes their behavior almost palatable is the love that comes from these two bizarre parents. They don’t mean to hurt their children. From her father, Rex, Wall learned that survival is all about bravado and craftiness. From her mother she learned that a bright and breezy attitude can turn any disaster into a blessing. Filled with the complexities love creates, The Glass Castle would be grim in less skillful hands. Wall leaves judgments about the parents and their dysfunctions up to the reader.
As a teenager Wall stayed at the school, which was heated, and worked on the school paper, The Maroon Wave. She becomes the first eleventh grader to be appointed editor. Adversity, in her case, led to triumph. She left her family, got educated with her brother in New York, married a successful writer, and today she writes for MSNBC. Her style and story make her an author worth watching. Get a copy of her book today.
Reviewed by B. Lynn Goodwin, www.writeradvice.com
Wednesday, 3 October 2007
Spirtual Fiction Released by Dragon's Beard Publishing
Unknown
15:14
all book reviews, book review journal, Dragon's Bear Publishing LLC, Fiction: Spiritual, heather froeschal, karen lawrence, Quill Dippper (Reviews)
0
Sacred Vow
by C.G. Walters
Spiritual fiction
Copyright 2006
Pages 273
ISBN-10 0977427147
Price $13.95
Published by Dragon's Beard Publishing, LLC
Reviewed by Heather Froeschl of Book Ideas , http://bookreviewjournal.blogspot.com and www.Quilldipper.com
Can the wind of a butterfly’s wing effect climate on the other side of the world? Can the love of two souls heal a great wrong in the universe? C.G. Walters’ novel “Sacred Vow,” offers compelling thought to consider, and a page turning delight to cherish.
Ian Sarin enjoys his cup of tea but lately the ritual of it brings other delights. Visions of a woman play out in his perception, beckoning further visitation. Everything in the room must be just so, with teapot, caned chair, and Ian in place. He cannot hear her speak, but can see her mouthing words, sharing her life. Is this just a vision or is it something else? His reality soon becomes less important than the alternate one that he visits. Ian’s health becomes affected and soon he needs help. While visiting an old friend in the mountains, he is introduced to Djalma, an interesting man whose presence comes into play in a large way. He will interact in Ian’s life in ways he couldn’t have imagined. The visions of Katerina become more intense and play out like episodes of a movie he has seen before. The question so important… why are the visits happening? The answer awaits on a scrap of paper that Ian had tucked away, a remnant of a dream, years before. He was chosen for this…but what exactly is this?
Reincarnation, collective consciousness, and life purpose all play large roles in this book. It is a deeply thoughtful and provocative tale that I could not put down. I so enjoyed the read that I simultaneously couldn’t wait to get to the last page but also dreaded it ending. The author evokes a great understanding of these topics and the mysteries of the universe, yet shares his perceptions in a wonderfully easy to comprehend tone. Readers will come away wonder-filled and satisfied to have read “Sacred Vow.”
----
Submitted by Karen Lawrence
Selby Ink
by C.G. Walters
Spiritual fiction
Copyright 2006
Pages 273
ISBN-10 0977427147
Price $13.95
Published by Dragon's Beard Publishing, LLC
Reviewed by Heather Froeschl of Book Ideas , http://bookreviewjournal.blogspot.com and www.Quilldipper.com
Can the wind of a butterfly’s wing effect climate on the other side of the world? Can the love of two souls heal a great wrong in the universe? C.G. Walters’ novel “Sacred Vow,” offers compelling thought to consider, and a page turning delight to cherish.
Ian Sarin enjoys his cup of tea but lately the ritual of it brings other delights. Visions of a woman play out in his perception, beckoning further visitation. Everything in the room must be just so, with teapot, caned chair, and Ian in place. He cannot hear her speak, but can see her mouthing words, sharing her life. Is this just a vision or is it something else? His reality soon becomes less important than the alternate one that he visits. Ian’s health becomes affected and soon he needs help. While visiting an old friend in the mountains, he is introduced to Djalma, an interesting man whose presence comes into play in a large way. He will interact in Ian’s life in ways he couldn’t have imagined. The visions of Katerina become more intense and play out like episodes of a movie he has seen before. The question so important… why are the visits happening? The answer awaits on a scrap of paper that Ian had tucked away, a remnant of a dream, years before. He was chosen for this…but what exactly is this?
Reincarnation, collective consciousness, and life purpose all play large roles in this book. It is a deeply thoughtful and provocative tale that I could not put down. I so enjoyed the read that I simultaneously couldn’t wait to get to the last page but also dreaded it ending. The author evokes a great understanding of these topics and the mysteries of the universe, yet shares his perceptions in a wonderfully easy to comprehend tone. Readers will come away wonder-filled and satisfied to have read “Sacred Vow.”
----
Submitted by Karen Lawrence
Selby Ink
Monday, 1 October 2007
Reader Shares Helpful Business Books
The Complete Startup Guide for the Black Entrepreneur
By Bill Boudreaux, MBA, CPA
Reviewed by Angela Watkins
This is a book I do believe should be in everybody's library, writing class,etc. It will give you ideas on how effective the Internet can be, marketing, etc.
A good companion book is Position To Receive written by Michael Matthew. It has a chapter about getting out of debt, saving money, building credit and it has many website resources in it as well.
Both give many resources-websites that could save a person, business, etc.
One thing each person, class, non-profit, business, etc. needs to realize is that situations differ so no two can expect the same results.
I recommend these books for homes, for personal enhancement. It will also help churches/ministries/businesses set up enterprises or expand.
This library has this book and it may be bought at your local book store or from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com ) and Wal-Mart .
-----
Angela Watkins, Book Reviewer, Internet Coach
By Bill Boudreaux, MBA, CPA
Reviewed by Angela Watkins
This is a book I do believe should be in everybody's library, writing class,etc. It will give you ideas on how effective the Internet can be, marketing, etc.
A good companion book is Position To Receive written by Michael Matthew. It has a chapter about getting out of debt, saving money, building credit and it has many website resources in it as well.
Both give many resources-websites that could save a person, business, etc.
One thing each person, class, non-profit, business, etc. needs to realize is that situations differ so no two can expect the same results.
I recommend these books for homes, for personal enhancement. It will also help churches/ministries/businesses set up enterprises or expand.
This library has this book and it may be bought at your local book store or from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com ) and Wal-Mart .
-----
Angela Watkins, Book Reviewer, Internet Coach
Monday, 24 September 2007
"Remarkable Novel" About Drug Addiction by Down Under Author
Unknown
13:58
bob williams, Compulsive Reader Reviews, Fiction: Literary, james joyce, magdalena ball
0
Sleep before Evening
By Magdalena Ball
BeWrite Books
2007, ISBN 978-1-904492-96-
$17.99
286 pages
Reviewed by Bob Williams
Sleep Before Evening is a first novel by Magdalena Ball, author of The Art of Assessment and a collection of poetry, Quark Soup. She is also creator and editor of the Web’s premier literary site, The Compulsive Reader.
Mari and her mother Lily form the nucleus of the novel. Mari is a brilliant, but limited, high school student. She has a scholarship to NYU and is an accomplished pianist. Her father faded away from his family early in her life and she has found a substitute in her grandfather, Eric.
Her mother, Lily, has remarried. She is an artist, subject to mood swings that are exhausting to Russ, her husband, and to Mari. Lily in fact drives Russ away by the jealousy that torments her.
Eric has a stroke that is severe enough to leave him unconscious and without brain activity. His doctor recommends the removal of life support. Mari is opposed to this and insists at least that she be made part of the decision respecting her grandfather. Lily and Russ agree to this, but decide without her and Eric is gone before Mari knows what has happened.
In an already difficult home Mari now experiences the extremes of alienation from her mother. Accustomed to visit the city at her pleasure, Mari begins to visit it more frequently. She meets Miles, a young street musician and, cast off and vulnerable, begins a relationship with him. A large part of the book becomes concerned with sex and drugs and – well, not rock and roll exactly – blues.
Ball is very good at showing the shabby musicians that alternate between hopes and disappointments. Miles, the harmonica player, and Cath, the singer, and the other band members lead lives of noisy desperation with a heavy dependence on drugs. In this environment Mari becomes addicted. The needs of her addiction take her from one life-blighting experience to another and she deliberately overdoses as she sits in the rain, abandoned by everyone, under some bushes in a park.
She is found. Doctors save her life and she enters a rehab unit. Reunited with her mother, who draws upon an unsuspected source of maturity, Mari lives through the rigors of rehab. Home once more, she finds that there are still many unresolved problems between her and Lily.
This is a remarkable novel, not one detail of which rings false. The setting is New York City and one of its suburbs and the time is the Reagan years. Ball has achieved the remarkable in recovering this particular time past and the drive of the narrative makes this a compelling and an exciting book.
------
About the reviewer: Bob Williams has been collecting books all his life, and has done freelance writing, mostly on classical music. His principal interests are James Joyce, Jane Austen and Homer. His writings, two books and a number of short articles on Joyce, can be accessed at: http://www.grand-teton.com/service/Persons_Places
By Magdalena Ball
BeWrite Books
2007, ISBN 978-1-904492-96-
$17.99
286 pages
Reviewed by Bob Williams
Sleep Before Evening is a first novel by Magdalena Ball, author of The Art of Assessment and a collection of poetry, Quark Soup. She is also creator and editor of the Web’s premier literary site, The Compulsive Reader.
Mari and her mother Lily form the nucleus of the novel. Mari is a brilliant, but limited, high school student. She has a scholarship to NYU and is an accomplished pianist. Her father faded away from his family early in her life and she has found a substitute in her grandfather, Eric.
Her mother, Lily, has remarried. She is an artist, subject to mood swings that are exhausting to Russ, her husband, and to Mari. Lily in fact drives Russ away by the jealousy that torments her.
Eric has a stroke that is severe enough to leave him unconscious and without brain activity. His doctor recommends the removal of life support. Mari is opposed to this and insists at least that she be made part of the decision respecting her grandfather. Lily and Russ agree to this, but decide without her and Eric is gone before Mari knows what has happened.
In an already difficult home Mari now experiences the extremes of alienation from her mother. Accustomed to visit the city at her pleasure, Mari begins to visit it more frequently. She meets Miles, a young street musician and, cast off and vulnerable, begins a relationship with him. A large part of the book becomes concerned with sex and drugs and – well, not rock and roll exactly – blues.
Ball is very good at showing the shabby musicians that alternate between hopes and disappointments. Miles, the harmonica player, and Cath, the singer, and the other band members lead lives of noisy desperation with a heavy dependence on drugs. In this environment Mari becomes addicted. The needs of her addiction take her from one life-blighting experience to another and she deliberately overdoses as she sits in the rain, abandoned by everyone, under some bushes in a park.
She is found. Doctors save her life and she enters a rehab unit. Reunited with her mother, who draws upon an unsuspected source of maturity, Mari lives through the rigors of rehab. Home once more, she finds that there are still many unresolved problems between her and Lily.
This is a remarkable novel, not one detail of which rings false. The setting is New York City and one of its suburbs and the time is the Reagan years. Ball has achieved the remarkable in recovering this particular time past and the drive of the narrative makes this a compelling and an exciting book.
------
About the reviewer: Bob Williams has been collecting books all his life, and has done freelance writing, mostly on classical music. His principal interests are James Joyce, Jane Austen and Homer. His writings, two books and a number of short articles on Joyce, can be accessed at: http://www.grand-teton.com/service/Persons_Places
Thursday, 20 September 2007
A Top Book for Any Speaker's Library
Unknown
20:54
dotty walters, dr. pat adelekan, Nonfiction: Biography, Nonfiction: Inspiration, terri marie
0
The Solution is at Hand: The Dottie Walters Story
by Dottie Walters and Terri Marie
Copyright 2007
Pages 156 plus intro
ISBN 0-943477-14-X
Price $14.95
Published by New World Publishing
Reviewed by Dr. Patricia Adelekan, Ph.D., DTM, Founder of Global Education, Inc.
The impact of this unique inspirational book
transcends any that I have read for a long time.
Dottie Walters wrote her last book in conjunction with Terri
Marie. It is called “The Solution is at Hand: The
Dottie Walters Story.” The impact of this unique book
inspirational book transcends any that I have read for
a long time. In it are 14 of Dottie’s Life Lessons.
And, to think that Dottie did not see the final and
finished copy of the book or hear the CD that
accompanies it before she passed away, is eerie.
I read the complete book on the plane to France in
March and was so moved by it that I had all the French
Toastmasters of the IBM Toastmasters Club in Paris
begging for it. It was my only copy, so I could not
part with it. When I got to Nigeria, the same thing
happened. They too, were inspired and touched. What a
woman Dottie was! We need to keep her spirit and
message alive as nuggets of her greatness.
Dottie’s voice on the accompanying CD reveals her
kind, caring, and giving spirit. While listening to
it, one cannot but help feeling blessed by such an
indomitable spirit, as though Dottie were right there
discussing such deep lessons.
I invite everyone to invest in buying a copy of this
treasure of a book and to give it as a gift to someone
special in your life. You will never regret it.”
The Solution is at Hand’ is one
of the top three books every speaker should have.
----
The reviewer is Dr. Pat Adelekan, Global Education, INC
“In Search of Global Greatness”
by Dottie Walters and Terri Marie
Copyright 2007
Pages 156 plus intro
ISBN 0-943477-14-X
Price $14.95
Published by New World Publishing
Reviewed by Dr. Patricia Adelekan, Ph.D., DTM, Founder of Global Education, Inc.
The impact of this unique inspirational book
transcends any that I have read for a long time.
Dottie Walters wrote her last book in conjunction with Terri
Marie. It is called “The Solution is at Hand: The
Dottie Walters Story.” The impact of this unique book
inspirational book transcends any that I have read for
a long time. In it are 14 of Dottie’s Life Lessons.
And, to think that Dottie did not see the final and
finished copy of the book or hear the CD that
accompanies it before she passed away, is eerie.
I read the complete book on the plane to France in
March and was so moved by it that I had all the French
Toastmasters of the IBM Toastmasters Club in Paris
begging for it. It was my only copy, so I could not
part with it. When I got to Nigeria, the same thing
happened. They too, were inspired and touched. What a
woman Dottie was! We need to keep her spirit and
message alive as nuggets of her greatness.
Dottie’s voice on the accompanying CD reveals her
kind, caring, and giving spirit. While listening to
it, one cannot but help feeling blessed by such an
indomitable spirit, as though Dottie were right there
discussing such deep lessons.
I invite everyone to invest in buying a copy of this
treasure of a book and to give it as a gift to someone
special in your life. You will never regret it.”
The Solution is at Hand’ is one
of the top three books every speaker should have.
----
The reviewer is Dr. Pat Adelekan, Global Education, INC
“In Search of Global Greatness”
Monday, 10 September 2007
Promoting: Giving In to the Human Animal
Unknown
13:55
book promotion, book publicity, book signings, carolyn howard-johnson, judith woolcock colombo, Nonfiction: Professional/Writers, star publish
0
The Frugal Book Promoter
Copyright: By Carolyn Howard-Johnson 2004
Pages: 243(Includes Index)
ISBN: 1-932993-10-X
Price. $17.95
Published by Star Publish 2004
Reviewed by Judith Woolcock Colombo
Humans are social animals. We like to associate with others to share our thoughts, blessings, and woes. But above all this, we love to express our opinions and demonstrate our knowledge about matters both mundane and extraordinary. Over the eons our penchant for giving advice has led to a phenomenon called the how to book. There are how to books on subjects ranging from the simplest household tasks to how to be a good parent or an amazing lover.
Authors are no exception to the rule, and are very eager to give advice to each other from how to write and publish your first novel to publicizing that novel and promoting yourself. Being an author, I know how important publicizing ones work is and how necessary it is to promote oneself. Because other writers know how eager their colleagues are to place themselves in the public eye, there are many books in the market place that offer publicity and promotion tips. More often than not, these suggestions require great expenditure and that is something most underpaid writers can’t afford.
However, The Frugal Book Promoter by Carolyn Howard –Johnson offers solutions that cost more in time than money, and time is something any committed writer must be prepared to spend. The author admits at the start of the book that some of her advice is based on her opinion, but this is an opinion garnered from years of being in public relations and from successfully promoting and publicizing her first two books.
The book starts off with some simple and helpful hints. The author speaks about branding yourself instead of publicizing yourself. Later she goes on to explain this more fully. Every time an author writes an article, short story, or book review and publishes it in a magazine, newspaper, ezine or website, he or she should end with their tagline. A tagline can be the author’s name and works, for example, Gloria Fox author of One Missing Shoe along with email and website address.
In the first chapters, Howard-Johnson addresses normal author concerns such as plagiarism: how often it is really done and how to guard against it by copyrighting. She also discusses P.R or how to publicize your book through media releases, publishing excerpts from your book, and author interviews among other things.
The Frugal Book Promoter is so filled with information that it would take several pages to describe. Howard-Johnson spends time elaborating on the things to do before the book comes out, building a Media Kit, entering contests, making contacts by attending conferences and how to decide which ones to attend and what to do while there. She discusses the importance of having your own website and how to have one built for a reasonable fee. She gives you a list of websites to go to that will teach you how to build one or help you get ones for free. She also explains the necessity of making a personal mailing list of family, friends, co-workers, your church group and so on.
The author takes you through the process of what to do when you get a publisher’s contract, the questions to ask and the pitfalls to avoid. She also gives advice on what to do after the book is published, how to get reviews, the importance of book signings and book fares, how to use the media including internet radio and public announcements in local papers. Her section on Amazon.Com is excellent. She explains how to establish a free account and how to use tools such as Listamania, book reviews, and the All About Me section.
One of the aspects of this book that I thought most valuable was the list of websites included in every chapter. They ranged from websites that help you with the mechanics of writing to review sites, and sites that help you sell and promote the book. There is also an appendix filled with wonderful things, like sample query letters.
As a writer, I found this book a very useful tool. Even if you don’t agree with some of the author’s opinions, the share amount of research that went into this book will awe you. One of the results of this extensive research though, is that the book can seem overwhelming. The solution to this is to treat it as a toolbox. When you need a tool, open the box and take it out, or study the specific chapter or chapters in this case. Beginning authors will find this an enlightening how to book and even old veterans might learn some things they never knew. I did.
Judith Woolcock Colombo: Author of The Fablesinger, Night Crimes, The Gasman & The Death of Betty Pinto
Visit my web site at http://odin.prohosting.com/~night01 Or email
judithcolombo@hotmail.com for info & sample chapters/
Copyright: By Carolyn Howard-Johnson 2004
Pages: 243(Includes Index)
ISBN: 1-932993-10-X
Price. $17.95
Published by Star Publish 2004
Reviewed by Judith Woolcock Colombo
Humans are social animals. We like to associate with others to share our thoughts, blessings, and woes. But above all this, we love to express our opinions and demonstrate our knowledge about matters both mundane and extraordinary. Over the eons our penchant for giving advice has led to a phenomenon called the how to book. There are how to books on subjects ranging from the simplest household tasks to how to be a good parent or an amazing lover.
Authors are no exception to the rule, and are very eager to give advice to each other from how to write and publish your first novel to publicizing that novel and promoting yourself. Being an author, I know how important publicizing ones work is and how necessary it is to promote oneself. Because other writers know how eager their colleagues are to place themselves in the public eye, there are many books in the market place that offer publicity and promotion tips. More often than not, these suggestions require great expenditure and that is something most underpaid writers can’t afford.
However, The Frugal Book Promoter by Carolyn Howard –Johnson offers solutions that cost more in time than money, and time is something any committed writer must be prepared to spend. The author admits at the start of the book that some of her advice is based on her opinion, but this is an opinion garnered from years of being in public relations and from successfully promoting and publicizing her first two books.
The book starts off with some simple and helpful hints. The author speaks about branding yourself instead of publicizing yourself. Later she goes on to explain this more fully. Every time an author writes an article, short story, or book review and publishes it in a magazine, newspaper, ezine or website, he or she should end with their tagline. A tagline can be the author’s name and works, for example, Gloria Fox author of One Missing Shoe along with email and website address.
In the first chapters, Howard-Johnson addresses normal author concerns such as plagiarism: how often it is really done and how to guard against it by copyrighting. She also discusses P.R or how to publicize your book through media releases, publishing excerpts from your book, and author interviews among other things.
The Frugal Book Promoter is so filled with information that it would take several pages to describe. Howard-Johnson spends time elaborating on the things to do before the book comes out, building a Media Kit, entering contests, making contacts by attending conferences and how to decide which ones to attend and what to do while there. She discusses the importance of having your own website and how to have one built for a reasonable fee. She gives you a list of websites to go to that will teach you how to build one or help you get ones for free. She also explains the necessity of making a personal mailing list of family, friends, co-workers, your church group and so on.
The author takes you through the process of what to do when you get a publisher’s contract, the questions to ask and the pitfalls to avoid. She also gives advice on what to do after the book is published, how to get reviews, the importance of book signings and book fares, how to use the media including internet radio and public announcements in local papers. Her section on Amazon.Com is excellent. She explains how to establish a free account and how to use tools such as Listamania, book reviews, and the All About Me section.
One of the aspects of this book that I thought most valuable was the list of websites included in every chapter. They ranged from websites that help you with the mechanics of writing to review sites, and sites that help you sell and promote the book. There is also an appendix filled with wonderful things, like sample query letters.
As a writer, I found this book a very useful tool. Even if you don’t agree with some of the author’s opinions, the share amount of research that went into this book will awe you. One of the results of this extensive research though, is that the book can seem overwhelming. The solution to this is to treat it as a toolbox. When you need a tool, open the box and take it out, or study the specific chapter or chapters in this case. Beginning authors will find this an enlightening how to book and even old veterans might learn some things they never knew. I did.
Judith Woolcock Colombo: Author of The Fablesinger, Night Crimes, The Gasman & The Death of Betty Pinto
Visit my web site at http://odin.prohosting.com/~night01 Or email
judithcolombo@hotmail.com for info & sample chapters/
Tuesday, 4 September 2007
Hugs, Hope and Peanut Butter Sticks to Your Heart, Not the Roof of Your Mouth
Unknown
19:24
christian book reviews, Fiction: Children's Self-Help, Fiction: Parent Help, jada press, joyce handzo, marsha mott jordan
0
Hugs, Hope, and Peanut Butter: Finding the Light Behind the Clouds
By Marsha Mott Jordan
Web Site: www.hugsandhope.org/pb.htm
Genre: Nonfiction, Humor
ISBN: 9771343-4-2
Published by Jada Press, 2006
Trade paper, 244 pages
Available on Amazon.com
Reviewed by Joyce Handzo of Christian Book Previews
Hugs, Hope and Peanut Butter will stick to your heart!
If you’ve ever been discouraged, this is a book for you. Drawing upon her own experiences of chronic pain and depression, the author opens her heart and life to bring a message of comfort and hope to the hurting. Proceeds from the sale of this book go to The Hugs and Hope Foundation for Critically Ill Children.
I would love to give this author a hug! Besides being a very funny woman, she seems to be the kind of person who loves life simply because it comes from God. Her words bounce off these pages with a contagious sense of hope and encouragement, offering readers a lighthearted look at the world around them.
Marsha Mott Jordan is someone you would want living next door. Her feet are planted firmly on the ground, while her heart reaches for the pleasant places of God. She is no stranger to sickness, and therefore it’s no wonder that she started an organization to help terminally ill children. These special young people illustrated the book, causing Marsha’s words to touch readers in a more meaningful way.
Made up of a random collection of essays, this book covers a variety of subjects. The author’s candid style of writing instantly endears her to readers, inviting them to laugh along with her as she rides the roller coaster of life. Spiritual insights pop into the narrative in a real way, allowing glimpses of the great God who watches over all His children. Marsha’s home life is a source of hilarity, while her heart is filled to overflowing with compassion for those around her.
Being uniquely qualified to speak to those who are discouraged, the author shares her past experiences and her hopes for the future. The pages are bittersweet, as the drawings by the children serve as a reminder of those whose health issues are shaded in uncertainty. Marsha’s words resonate with the reality of God and His great love, which can be found in every situation. Readers won’t know if the tears on their cheeks come from laughing or crying.
By Marsha Mott Jordan
Web Site: www.hugsandhope.org/pb.htm
Genre: Nonfiction, Humor
ISBN: 9771343-4-2
Published by Jada Press, 2006
Trade paper, 244 pages
Available on Amazon.com
Reviewed by Joyce Handzo of Christian Book Previews
Hugs, Hope and Peanut Butter will stick to your heart!
If you’ve ever been discouraged, this is a book for you. Drawing upon her own experiences of chronic pain and depression, the author opens her heart and life to bring a message of comfort and hope to the hurting. Proceeds from the sale of this book go to The Hugs and Hope Foundation for Critically Ill Children.
I would love to give this author a hug! Besides being a very funny woman, she seems to be the kind of person who loves life simply because it comes from God. Her words bounce off these pages with a contagious sense of hope and encouragement, offering readers a lighthearted look at the world around them.
Marsha Mott Jordan is someone you would want living next door. Her feet are planted firmly on the ground, while her heart reaches for the pleasant places of God. She is no stranger to sickness, and therefore it’s no wonder that she started an organization to help terminally ill children. These special young people illustrated the book, causing Marsha’s words to touch readers in a more meaningful way.
Made up of a random collection of essays, this book covers a variety of subjects. The author’s candid style of writing instantly endears her to readers, inviting them to laugh along with her as she rides the roller coaster of life. Spiritual insights pop into the narrative in a real way, allowing glimpses of the great God who watches over all His children. Marsha’s home life is a source of hilarity, while her heart is filled to overflowing with compassion for those around her.
Being uniquely qualified to speak to those who are discouraged, the author shares her past experiences and her hopes for the future. The pages are bittersweet, as the drawings by the children serve as a reminder of those whose health issues are shaded in uncertainty. Marsha’s words resonate with the reality of God and His great love, which can be found in every situation. Readers won’t know if the tears on their cheeks come from laughing or crying.
Friday, 24 August 2007
Garden of Hope for Tolerance, Love Marriage and More
Unknown
20:50
David Henderson, Hopewell Publications, lennox raphael, mayyanne raphael, Nonfiction: Family, Nonfiction: Sociological, tolerance
0
Garden of Hope: Autobiography of a Marriage
By Maryanne and Lennox Raphael
Hopewell Publications, 2006
Trade paper, 221 pages.
Reviewed by David Henderson for Tribes.org
Lennox and Maryanne Raphael were extremely connected from the beginning of their courtship and subsequent marriage that took place in exotic regions of Mexico and Central and South America in the early 1960s. An interracial couple, the story of their 11 year marriage, is told in Garden of Hope: Autobiography of a Marriage from both of their points of view.
This unusual and intriguingly successful dual autobiography written long after their marriage ended in divorce in the early 1970s reveals that they are still uniquely connected. Each writes passages under their own names, usually in tandem. The book ends soon after the birth of their son, Raphael, a day after Christmas in 1968. This work is dedicated to their son and his new family in more ways than just the words in the frontispiece. Over the dedication “For Raphael, Ginger and Zeal” is a photo of them. As divorce is often most difficult for the child, this book could also be looked at as a loving explanation that they all participated in. The son, Raphael, now, in his late 30s, wrote the foreword. He speaks gratefully of being able to share in their beatific romantic moments when they came together as a couple. He is also able to understand some of the problems that led to their divorce. He is glad they live in the present having never allowed their problems, that seemed so huge at the time, to destroy their future Being too young to have remembered them together, he is grateful “to find a forgotten snapshot of [his] parents in love.” He notes with happiness that today they are still “optimistic, exceptional and bubbling with creative enthusiasm.”
Garden of Hope concentrates on the high points of their marriage. Perhaps a new genre is born here, The Raphael’s union began in the earliest and perhaps most difficult days of the 1960s, well before the assassinations of President John F, Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kennedy. And at the threshold of Flower Power, Black Power and The Summer of Love.
The young couple, in their early 20s, met in Kingston, Jamaica, in April of 1961 and came together almost at once. Lennox was a Trinidadian journalist who was building a career having left a local newspaper in his hometown to take a job with a magazine in Kingston. Maryanne, a more than promising scholarship student at Ohio University, had joined a Black sorority as the sole white person and for that was featured in Ebony Magazine and on the cover of Jet magazine, the two major African American magazines of the time. She had graduated with the highest of honors and won a scholarship to the Sorbonne (in part for a manuscript written in French). She completed the program and traveled through Europe. In 1961 she was in the West Indies living on her own.
After a rather whirlwind courtship that was based on an intense meeting of their minds and spirits and complete truthfulness, they married in Tampico, Mexico and for the next several months were never apart. They lived on very little money. On a whim they traveled to Brazil where they had many adventures and became well known as poets and painters, even to the point of appearing on TV. But they had insights about Brazil as well where there would be a particular South American surprise twist to their own interracial marriage:
In fact, we found the Brazilian boast of racial equality very shallow. . . . both black and white Brazilians praised their country as a racial utopia and loved to point the accusing finger at the United States where, in fact, its citizens (fellow Americans) were making active progress towards racial understanding. . . . Much unlike Brazil where (we were assured by many) the cosmic solution for all racial problems was for blacks to marry some one as light as possible so their children would be lighter than they were; and would in turn marry lighter until the dilution process had eliminated Africa as a recognizable identity.
They topped their south of the border adventures by traveling across the southern United States by bus at the height of the Civil Rights movement — and not once, but twice! They both seem to have had a guileless naiveté that may have helped to protect them from suffering any outrageous consequences of their actions. These adventures were witnessed by Greyhound passengers and the mysterious local policemen who appeared, seemingly, out of nowhere to silently accompany them as they waited in white waiting rooms (this was still the late Jim Crow era when there were separate facilities in the South for blacks and whites).
Maryanne Raphael writes eloquently of the inequality of those facilities personally experienced when she had traveled alone through the southern United States. By insisting on staying in the black sections her unusual positioning made it possible for her to go back and forth between the black and white Jim Crow facilities. When Maryanne and other women were in need of sanitary napkins; she was urged to go into the white facilities.
At this particular stop, the Blacks were forced to use two outhouses, one for men and one for women: and they were lined up around the corner. However, the Whites had a large waiting room with enough toilets for thirty women. They even had showers for 25 cents. And, of course, vending machines for Kotex, or Tampax, as the white women chose; and for toothpaste, deodorant, combs, perfume, etc.
For some, those physical aspects of American history may be a surprise and could be in danger of being lost to public cognizance.
But it would also be in Brazil where Maryanne had a nervous breakdown and was institutionalized for some weeks. Looking back they both admit it was the very beginning of the end of their marriage. But it would take years to jell. Lennox, having to be very careful with Maryanne and watch her and protect her from being institutionalized again, gladly took on that role as a young husband. But he had to admit, looking back, that that began to wear away the youthful blush of their young love. It was very interesting to get a retrospect point of view throughout a quite moving love story.
After her recovery in Brazil they traveled to meet his family in Trinidad and then on to Waverly, Ohio in southern Appalachia to meet her family. If the breakdown in Brazil was the beginning assault on their union it just may have been the interaction with her strictly catholic family that was the most difficult to bear.
There were childhood memories regarding African Americans that she had confided to Lennox early in their courtship that gives some indication of the state of that region and some of the conflicts that came from their visit.
She had told of “some of the terrible games that sought, unsuccessfully, to shape my life.” She had resisted those forces that “would make me a faceless, formless, conscienceless white American girl of catholic upbringing.”
When we went swimming, someone always shouted, ‘Last one in is a nigger baby!’ And we would scramble head over heels because nobody, even me, wanted to be a nigger baby.
We kids never made a choice without counting, ‘Eanie, Meany, Minny Moe, catch a nigger by the toe; if he hollers let him go … ’
We learned very early to spin our superstitions around Blacks, Whenever two kids started picking on one, the solitary one would say, ‘Two on one is a nigger’s fun.’
Whenever someone made an unpopular or uncalled for suggestion, he was told, ‘No remarks from the colored section,’ and we all would laugh ourselves to tears and wet pants.
The grownups, like my father and uncles and the teenagers around said, ‘I’m sweating like a nigger at election,’ or if someone took a drag of their cigarette and wet it, he was told, ‘Stop nigger-lipping my smoke.’
Ohio was an essential territory of the underground railroad for slaves seeking freedom, often from the southern border states of Kentucky and West Virginia. Some of the sayings that got into the lexicon dealt directly with the heritage of slavery and the social conditioning, especially during the formative years of white children. This was necessary to perpetrate “the peculiar institution,” and the subsequent institutionalization of racism. But there were other institutions that were also problematic.
They had given her parents the impression that Lennox was Catholic and that they had been married in the church. During their visit they confessed to her parents that they had had a non-Catholic wedding. But to Catholics and those from many other religions as well, to marry outside of the church is tantamount to not being married at all.
Maryanne’s parents were of that conviction.
The young interracial couple struggled through the two week visit, and then came to New York City, where they would begin to realize their goals as writers, and embrace a community that accepted them as they were. Brief mention is made if their involvement with the Umbra Workshop and with Lennox’s important work for the East Village Other, an influential weekly newspaper of the time.
One of his most memorable assignments was to cover Martin Luther King’s funeral. Their son was conceived during that time. Amusingly enough Maryanne became the first pregnant “Slum Goddess” in EVO. And as a result became a well paid model for medical magazines where she was photographed in her ninth month completely in the nude. It is too bad those photos are not in Garden of Hope.
But there are decent photos of the attractive young lovers in this surprisingly delightful and fulfilling book. Looking back, both have produced significant works and their impressive literary activities continue. Maryanne Rafael has intriguing books about Mother Theresa, among many others, and Lennox Raphael, who now resides in Copenhagen, continues to write poetry and plays, and work within artistic organizations. His ground-breaking play “Che,” is significant in theater history, especially in relationship to the City of New York in the 1960s.
Garden of Hope is certainly a successful collaborative autobiography and could be an inspirational model in many ways.
Perhaps it will encourage more couples to write the stories of their romance.
----
© David Henderson
Website © A.G.O.T.T. All Rights Reserved.
By Maryanne and Lennox Raphael
Hopewell Publications, 2006
Trade paper, 221 pages.
Reviewed by David Henderson for Tribes.org
Lennox and Maryanne Raphael were extremely connected from the beginning of their courtship and subsequent marriage that took place in exotic regions of Mexico and Central and South America in the early 1960s. An interracial couple, the story of their 11 year marriage, is told in Garden of Hope: Autobiography of a Marriage from both of their points of view.
This unusual and intriguingly successful dual autobiography written long after their marriage ended in divorce in the early 1970s reveals that they are still uniquely connected. Each writes passages under their own names, usually in tandem. The book ends soon after the birth of their son, Raphael, a day after Christmas in 1968. This work is dedicated to their son and his new family in more ways than just the words in the frontispiece. Over the dedication “For Raphael, Ginger and Zeal” is a photo of them. As divorce is often most difficult for the child, this book could also be looked at as a loving explanation that they all participated in. The son, Raphael, now, in his late 30s, wrote the foreword. He speaks gratefully of being able to share in their beatific romantic moments when they came together as a couple. He is also able to understand some of the problems that led to their divorce. He is glad they live in the present having never allowed their problems, that seemed so huge at the time, to destroy their future Being too young to have remembered them together, he is grateful “to find a forgotten snapshot of [his] parents in love.” He notes with happiness that today they are still “optimistic, exceptional and bubbling with creative enthusiasm.”
Garden of Hope concentrates on the high points of their marriage. Perhaps a new genre is born here, The Raphael’s union began in the earliest and perhaps most difficult days of the 1960s, well before the assassinations of President John F, Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kennedy. And at the threshold of Flower Power, Black Power and The Summer of Love.
The young couple, in their early 20s, met in Kingston, Jamaica, in April of 1961 and came together almost at once. Lennox was a Trinidadian journalist who was building a career having left a local newspaper in his hometown to take a job with a magazine in Kingston. Maryanne, a more than promising scholarship student at Ohio University, had joined a Black sorority as the sole white person and for that was featured in Ebony Magazine and on the cover of Jet magazine, the two major African American magazines of the time. She had graduated with the highest of honors and won a scholarship to the Sorbonne (in part for a manuscript written in French). She completed the program and traveled through Europe. In 1961 she was in the West Indies living on her own.
After a rather whirlwind courtship that was based on an intense meeting of their minds and spirits and complete truthfulness, they married in Tampico, Mexico and for the next several months were never apart. They lived on very little money. On a whim they traveled to Brazil where they had many adventures and became well known as poets and painters, even to the point of appearing on TV. But they had insights about Brazil as well where there would be a particular South American surprise twist to their own interracial marriage:
In fact, we found the Brazilian boast of racial equality very shallow. . . . both black and white Brazilians praised their country as a racial utopia and loved to point the accusing finger at the United States where, in fact, its citizens (fellow Americans) were making active progress towards racial understanding. . . . Much unlike Brazil where (we were assured by many) the cosmic solution for all racial problems was for blacks to marry some one as light as possible so their children would be lighter than they were; and would in turn marry lighter until the dilution process had eliminated Africa as a recognizable identity.
They topped their south of the border adventures by traveling across the southern United States by bus at the height of the Civil Rights movement — and not once, but twice! They both seem to have had a guileless naiveté that may have helped to protect them from suffering any outrageous consequences of their actions. These adventures were witnessed by Greyhound passengers and the mysterious local policemen who appeared, seemingly, out of nowhere to silently accompany them as they waited in white waiting rooms (this was still the late Jim Crow era when there were separate facilities in the South for blacks and whites).
Maryanne Raphael writes eloquently of the inequality of those facilities personally experienced when she had traveled alone through the southern United States. By insisting on staying in the black sections her unusual positioning made it possible for her to go back and forth between the black and white Jim Crow facilities. When Maryanne and other women were in need of sanitary napkins; she was urged to go into the white facilities.
At this particular stop, the Blacks were forced to use two outhouses, one for men and one for women: and they were lined up around the corner. However, the Whites had a large waiting room with enough toilets for thirty women. They even had showers for 25 cents. And, of course, vending machines for Kotex, or Tampax, as the white women chose; and for toothpaste, deodorant, combs, perfume, etc.
For some, those physical aspects of American history may be a surprise and could be in danger of being lost to public cognizance.
But it would also be in Brazil where Maryanne had a nervous breakdown and was institutionalized for some weeks. Looking back they both admit it was the very beginning of the end of their marriage. But it would take years to jell. Lennox, having to be very careful with Maryanne and watch her and protect her from being institutionalized again, gladly took on that role as a young husband. But he had to admit, looking back, that that began to wear away the youthful blush of their young love. It was very interesting to get a retrospect point of view throughout a quite moving love story.
After her recovery in Brazil they traveled to meet his family in Trinidad and then on to Waverly, Ohio in southern Appalachia to meet her family. If the breakdown in Brazil was the beginning assault on their union it just may have been the interaction with her strictly catholic family that was the most difficult to bear.
There were childhood memories regarding African Americans that she had confided to Lennox early in their courtship that gives some indication of the state of that region and some of the conflicts that came from their visit.
She had told of “some of the terrible games that sought, unsuccessfully, to shape my life.” She had resisted those forces that “would make me a faceless, formless, conscienceless white American girl of catholic upbringing.”
When we went swimming, someone always shouted, ‘Last one in is a nigger baby!’ And we would scramble head over heels because nobody, even me, wanted to be a nigger baby.
We kids never made a choice without counting, ‘Eanie, Meany, Minny Moe, catch a nigger by the toe; if he hollers let him go … ’
We learned very early to spin our superstitions around Blacks, Whenever two kids started picking on one, the solitary one would say, ‘Two on one is a nigger’s fun.’
Whenever someone made an unpopular or uncalled for suggestion, he was told, ‘No remarks from the colored section,’ and we all would laugh ourselves to tears and wet pants.
The grownups, like my father and uncles and the teenagers around said, ‘I’m sweating like a nigger at election,’ or if someone took a drag of their cigarette and wet it, he was told, ‘Stop nigger-lipping my smoke.’
Ohio was an essential territory of the underground railroad for slaves seeking freedom, often from the southern border states of Kentucky and West Virginia. Some of the sayings that got into the lexicon dealt directly with the heritage of slavery and the social conditioning, especially during the formative years of white children. This was necessary to perpetrate “the peculiar institution,” and the subsequent institutionalization of racism. But there were other institutions that were also problematic.
They had given her parents the impression that Lennox was Catholic and that they had been married in the church. During their visit they confessed to her parents that they had had a non-Catholic wedding. But to Catholics and those from many other religions as well, to marry outside of the church is tantamount to not being married at all.
Maryanne’s parents were of that conviction.
The young interracial couple struggled through the two week visit, and then came to New York City, where they would begin to realize their goals as writers, and embrace a community that accepted them as they were. Brief mention is made if their involvement with the Umbra Workshop and with Lennox’s important work for the East Village Other, an influential weekly newspaper of the time.
One of his most memorable assignments was to cover Martin Luther King’s funeral. Their son was conceived during that time. Amusingly enough Maryanne became the first pregnant “Slum Goddess” in EVO. And as a result became a well paid model for medical magazines where she was photographed in her ninth month completely in the nude. It is too bad those photos are not in Garden of Hope.
But there are decent photos of the attractive young lovers in this surprisingly delightful and fulfilling book. Looking back, both have produced significant works and their impressive literary activities continue. Maryanne Rafael has intriguing books about Mother Theresa, among many others, and Lennox Raphael, who now resides in Copenhagen, continues to write poetry and plays, and work within artistic organizations. His ground-breaking play “Che,” is significant in theater history, especially in relationship to the City of New York in the 1960s.
Garden of Hope is certainly a successful collaborative autobiography and could be an inspirational model in many ways.
Perhaps it will encourage more couples to write the stories of their romance.
----
© David Henderson
Website © A.G.O.T.T. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, 21 August 2007
Author Reviews How-To Tome for Book Promoters
Unknown
13:19
book promotion, francine silverman, judith woolcock colombo, Nonfiction: Professional/Writers
0
Talk Radio for Authors
By Fran Silverman
Nonfiction/How-to
Reviewed by Judith Woolcock Colombo
Francine Silverman’s Talk Radio for Authors is a fine example of what a “how to book” should be. It is well written and organized in such a way that the reader need not wade through every chapter to get the information he or she needs.
The talk radio shows, both internet and terrestrial, are grouped in sections according to their themes, including programs dealing with authors and their craft, to ones on antiques and collectables, or others serving health enthusiast, animal lovers, hikers, or technophiles. Each show, its theme, its objective, and the type of guests it courts was described clearly and precisely.
However, the section I found most enlightening was the one discussing the hosts’ opinions of the best and worst kind of guests. This section is a must for anyone who is about to be interviewed on a radio show. It could make the difference between selling yourself and your book or exposing yourself to the audience in an unfavorable light.
The appendixes that followed the main part of the book were almost as extensive and just as informative as the chapters that preceded them. The first was a concise list of radio show directories. The second listed authors who had appeared on radio shows and gave a brief description of their experiences and works. The third appendix contained the varied biographies of numerous radio hosts.
I also found the articles at the end of the book very useful, especially Laura Ramirez’s Let the Guest Beware and Alex Carroll’s Making Radio Interviews Really Pay.
This is a great reference book, and I will be referring to it often.
------
Judith Woolcock Colombo: Author of The Fablesinger, Night Crimes and The Gasman, and Amazon short.
Visit my web site at http://odin.prohosting.com/~night01 Or email
judithcolombo@hotmail.com for info & sample chapters.
By Fran Silverman
Nonfiction/How-to
Reviewed by Judith Woolcock Colombo
Francine Silverman’s Talk Radio for Authors is a fine example of what a “how to book” should be. It is well written and organized in such a way that the reader need not wade through every chapter to get the information he or she needs.
The talk radio shows, both internet and terrestrial, are grouped in sections according to their themes, including programs dealing with authors and their craft, to ones on antiques and collectables, or others serving health enthusiast, animal lovers, hikers, or technophiles. Each show, its theme, its objective, and the type of guests it courts was described clearly and precisely.
However, the section I found most enlightening was the one discussing the hosts’ opinions of the best and worst kind of guests. This section is a must for anyone who is about to be interviewed on a radio show. It could make the difference between selling yourself and your book or exposing yourself to the audience in an unfavorable light.
The appendixes that followed the main part of the book were almost as extensive and just as informative as the chapters that preceded them. The first was a concise list of radio show directories. The second listed authors who had appeared on radio shows and gave a brief description of their experiences and works. The third appendix contained the varied biographies of numerous radio hosts.
I also found the articles at the end of the book very useful, especially Laura Ramirez’s Let the Guest Beware and Alex Carroll’s Making Radio Interviews Really Pay.
This is a great reference book, and I will be referring to it often.
------
Judith Woolcock Colombo: Author of The Fablesinger, Night Crimes and The Gasman, and Amazon short.
Visit my web site at http://odin.prohosting.com/~night01 Or email
judithcolombo@hotmail.com for info & sample chapters.
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