Reviewed by Linda Ballou
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of The Frugal Book Promoter, and the Frugal Editor, comes from giving. She gives freely of her vast knowledge in marketing to an ever growing list of loyal readers. Whether you are considering subsidy publishing, self-publishing or a traditional publisher her books provide you with a roadmap and the tools to get your book into the public eye. A former publicist for a New York PR firm and a marketing instructor for the UCLA Extension’s Writer’s Program she tells us to put our best blossoms forward. “Think of your work as a bouquet that you arrange to its best advantage.”
The talk she gave at the San Fernanco Chapter of the Calfironia Writers Club (CWC) focused on how to create an effective media kit. Branding yourself, rather than your book, is critical in creating a lasting image and impression on editors. Collecting lists for distribution should be a part of your daily life. Developing an awareness of where opportunities to network lie will facilitate getting the word out about your book. Although she encourages creativity in presentation, editors do not want to search for information. They want it handed to them in an easy to use format that fills already established slots in newspapers and magazines. High points of her talk on how to build a media kit are detailed in the Frugal Book Promoter.
“Don’t be proprietary.” She warns us. “We want to share. We want people to know about what we think and feel.” Carolyn does not worry about people stealing her material. In fact, she invites editors to download articles off her site and to use them for free as long as they give her a byline. She gets more than dollars out of what she is doing. “Besides, she quips “Who wants to stay home watching I Love Lucy reruns?”
------
Reviewed by Linda Ballou –Adventure travel writer and author of Wai-nani—High Chiefess of Hawai`i—Her Ancient Journey www.LindaBallouAuthor.com
This blog, #TheNewBookReview, is "new" because it eschews #bookbigotry. It lets readers, reviewers, authors, and publishers expand the exposure of their favorite reviews, FREE. Info for submissions is in the "Send Me Your Fav Book Review" circle icon in the right column below. Find resources to help your career using the mini search engine below. #TheNewBookReview is a multi-award-winning blog including a MastersInEnglish.org recommendation.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Memoir, Tolerance and, Incidentally, a Run for President
Dreams from my Father, A story of Race and Inheritance
By Barack Obama
Three Rivers Press
Reviewed by Maryanne Raphael
In Dreams From My Father, Obama wrote of his efforts to understand his family, the leaps through time and the collision of cultures hoping to shine light on the question of identity and race in the American experience.
He described the “underlying struggle between worlds of plenty and worlds of want, between modern and ancient cultures.” He admired those “who embrace our teeming, colliding irksome diversity while insisting on values that bind us together”. And he feared “those who seek, under whatever flag or slogan or sacred text,to justify cruelty towards those not like us.”
The book shows how powerlessness twists children’s lives in Jakarta or Nairobi in much the same way it does on Chicago’s South Side and how quickly despair slips into violence. It discusses how the powerful respond with a dull complacency until violence threatens them and they then use force,(longer prison sentences and more sophisticated hardware) inadequate to the task.
Obama struggles constantly to understand this problem and his place in it. He is now professionally engaged in a broader public debate that will shape our lives and the lives of our children for many years to come.
If he had known his mother was dying so young, he would have written a different book, less a meditation of the absent parent and more a celebration of the one who was the single constant in his life. He shares some of the stories his mother and her parents told him when he was a child. ”
Obama feels we have all seen too much to take his parents’ brief union, a black man and a white woman an African and an American at face value. He says when black or white people who don’t know him well, discover his background they no longer know who he is.
This is the record of a personal interior journey, a boy’s search for his father and a workable meaning for his life as a black American.
Obama says, “I can embrace my black brothers and sisters whether in this country or in Africa and affirm a common destiny without pretending to speak for all our various struggles.”
Much of this book is based on journals or oral histories of his family. Obama says he tried to write an honest account of a particular province of his life.’
Without the love and support of his family, his mother, his grandparents and his siblings, stretched across oceans and continents he could never have finished it
He was born in Hawaii, lived several years in Indonesia, then lived in New York City where he went to Columbia University. In 1983 he was a Chicago community organizer and a civil rights lawyer.
His Aunt Jane whom he had never met called him from Kenya to say his father was killed in an auto accident. His parents had divorced when he was two years old and he had only seen his father for one month when he came to visit Obama and his mother in Hawaii.
When Obama went to Kenya his half sister Auma and his Auntie Zeitumi met him
They took him to meet Aunt Jane and other African family members.
Family seemed to be everywhere in Kenya and Obama found himself meditating on just what is a family He sat on his father’s grave and spoke with him through Africa’ red soil.
When he returned to America he met Michelle, who had been raised in Chicago. After their engagement he took her to Kenya to meet his family there They returned to the United States and married.
This is an absorbing and moving tale of a man who takes a journey to his father ‘s home, where he lived much of his life and died. Obama re-evaluates his relationship with the myth of his father and the meaning of his own life. It is a quiet but intense examination of a man’s past and his son’s attempt to understand it.
Examining his family’s life and thinking about his own, Obama finds a certain relief reliving times and behavior that had slipped into the undifferentiated past and finally arrives at some kind of understanding.
The writing style is exciting, a well written blend of memoir and history. The rich narrative and interesting characters keep the reader turning pages. Obama’s sensual descriptions made the reader feel he is visiting south side of Chicago, Harlem, Indonesia or Kenya. You see the people, hear their voices, taste and smell the food, feel the breeze and smell the ocean.
This is a book I would have enjoyed even if had not been written by a well-known, fascinating man beginning to put his mark on the world.
-----
Reviewed by Maryanne Raphael www.authorsden.com/maryanneraphael
"No matter what I'm doing right now, I would rather be writing."
By Barack Obama
Three Rivers Press
Reviewed by Maryanne Raphael
In Dreams From My Father, Obama wrote of his efforts to understand his family, the leaps through time and the collision of cultures hoping to shine light on the question of identity and race in the American experience.
He described the “underlying struggle between worlds of plenty and worlds of want, between modern and ancient cultures.” He admired those “who embrace our teeming, colliding irksome diversity while insisting on values that bind us together”. And he feared “those who seek, under whatever flag or slogan or sacred text,to justify cruelty towards those not like us.”
The book shows how powerlessness twists children’s lives in Jakarta or Nairobi in much the same way it does on Chicago’s South Side and how quickly despair slips into violence. It discusses how the powerful respond with a dull complacency until violence threatens them and they then use force,(longer prison sentences and more sophisticated hardware) inadequate to the task.
Obama struggles constantly to understand this problem and his place in it. He is now professionally engaged in a broader public debate that will shape our lives and the lives of our children for many years to come.
If he had known his mother was dying so young, he would have written a different book, less a meditation of the absent parent and more a celebration of the one who was the single constant in his life. He shares some of the stories his mother and her parents told him when he was a child. ”
Obama feels we have all seen too much to take his parents’ brief union, a black man and a white woman an African and an American at face value. He says when black or white people who don’t know him well, discover his background they no longer know who he is.
This is the record of a personal interior journey, a boy’s search for his father and a workable meaning for his life as a black American.
Obama says, “I can embrace my black brothers and sisters whether in this country or in Africa and affirm a common destiny without pretending to speak for all our various struggles.”
Much of this book is based on journals or oral histories of his family. Obama says he tried to write an honest account of a particular province of his life.’
Without the love and support of his family, his mother, his grandparents and his siblings, stretched across oceans and continents he could never have finished it
He was born in Hawaii, lived several years in Indonesia, then lived in New York City where he went to Columbia University. In 1983 he was a Chicago community organizer and a civil rights lawyer.
His Aunt Jane whom he had never met called him from Kenya to say his father was killed in an auto accident. His parents had divorced when he was two years old and he had only seen his father for one month when he came to visit Obama and his mother in Hawaii.
When Obama went to Kenya his half sister Auma and his Auntie Zeitumi met him
They took him to meet Aunt Jane and other African family members.
Family seemed to be everywhere in Kenya and Obama found himself meditating on just what is a family He sat on his father’s grave and spoke with him through Africa’ red soil.
When he returned to America he met Michelle, who had been raised in Chicago. After their engagement he took her to Kenya to meet his family there They returned to the United States and married.
This is an absorbing and moving tale of a man who takes a journey to his father ‘s home, where he lived much of his life and died. Obama re-evaluates his relationship with the myth of his father and the meaning of his own life. It is a quiet but intense examination of a man’s past and his son’s attempt to understand it.
Examining his family’s life and thinking about his own, Obama finds a certain relief reliving times and behavior that had slipped into the undifferentiated past and finally arrives at some kind of understanding.
The writing style is exciting, a well written blend of memoir and history. The rich narrative and interesting characters keep the reader turning pages. Obama’s sensual descriptions made the reader feel he is visiting south side of Chicago, Harlem, Indonesia or Kenya. You see the people, hear their voices, taste and smell the food, feel the breeze and smell the ocean.
This is a book I would have enjoyed even if had not been written by a well-known, fascinating man beginning to put his mark on the world.
-----
Reviewed by Maryanne Raphael www.authorsden.com/maryanneraphael
"No matter what I'm doing right now, I would rather be writing."
Sunday, January 6, 2008
James A. Cox Reviews a Sinking Ship
Sinking the Ship of State - The Presidency of George W. Bush
Walter M. Brasch
non-fiction (current events, politics)
ISBN: 9781419669507
PRICE: $24.95
Booksurge (Charleston, SC)
Reviewer: James A. Cox, editor, Midwest Book Review
Quoting from the back cover:
"Sinking the Ship of State traces the arc of the Bush presidency from its humble beginnings in the slime of the South Carolina primary to its zenith on a carrier deck beneath a "Mission Accomplished" banner and down to its sorry demise in proposed impeachment proceedings. Brasch lays the whip to the indolent press, "cash register patriots," and a corrupt Congress. It is an exhilarating ride." - Don Kaul, syndicated columnist; retired Washington columnist, Des Moines Register
"When most Americans and the mainstream media were accepting whatever they were told by the Bush Administration, Walter Brasch was meticulously peeling away the incompetence, deceit, corruption and, most of all, their cavalier attitude to the Constitution." - Jim Hightower, syndicated columnist
"Walter Brasch shines a merciless light on the moral hypocrites and constitutional villains who act as the self-appointed protectors of the nation. His writing is propelled by a lively sense of humor and an acute sensitivity to the darker ironies of our times." - Jeffrey St. Clair, co-editor, CounterPunch
"Brasch is one of the first and most consistent columnists to warn about George W. Bush and his neo-conservative administration's plans for a pre-emptive attack on Iraq and the drummed up evidence of WMD. Brasch is an articulate and entertaining writer exposing constitutional and human right violations." - Regina Huelman, Editor, Liberal Opinion Week."
Walter Brasch has used past writings from his social issues column, Wanderings, as the basis for this book. The columns have been presented in a chronological order, starting in 2000, making the book historical, informative, and easily digestible. If you're interested in politics, this book should be on the table beside your bed.
Walter Brasch is a master at weeding through the political lies, deceit, corruption, rhetoric, and hyperbole to help us find the truth. He is a man we need very much in today's complex society. If you want to know the truth, buy this book and help support his efforts.
Walter M. Brasch
non-fiction (current events, politics)
ISBN: 9781419669507
PRICE: $24.95
Booksurge (Charleston, SC)
Reviewer: James A. Cox, editor, Midwest Book Review
Quoting from the back cover:
"Sinking the Ship of State traces the arc of the Bush presidency from its humble beginnings in the slime of the South Carolina primary to its zenith on a carrier deck beneath a "Mission Accomplished" banner and down to its sorry demise in proposed impeachment proceedings. Brasch lays the whip to the indolent press, "cash register patriots," and a corrupt Congress. It is an exhilarating ride." - Don Kaul, syndicated columnist; retired Washington columnist, Des Moines Register
"When most Americans and the mainstream media were accepting whatever they were told by the Bush Administration, Walter Brasch was meticulously peeling away the incompetence, deceit, corruption and, most of all, their cavalier attitude to the Constitution." - Jim Hightower, syndicated columnist
"Walter Brasch shines a merciless light on the moral hypocrites and constitutional villains who act as the self-appointed protectors of the nation. His writing is propelled by a lively sense of humor and an acute sensitivity to the darker ironies of our times." - Jeffrey St. Clair, co-editor, CounterPunch
"Brasch is one of the first and most consistent columnists to warn about George W. Bush and his neo-conservative administration's plans for a pre-emptive attack on Iraq and the drummed up evidence of WMD. Brasch is an articulate and entertaining writer exposing constitutional and human right violations." - Regina Huelman, Editor, Liberal Opinion Week."
Walter Brasch has used past writings from his social issues column, Wanderings, as the basis for this book. The columns have been presented in a chronological order, starting in 2000, making the book historical, informative, and easily digestible. If you're interested in politics, this book should be on the table beside your bed.
Walter Brasch is a master at weeding through the political lies, deceit, corruption, rhetoric, and hyperbole to help us find the truth. He is a man we need very much in today's complex society. If you want to know the truth, buy this book and help support his efforts.
Writer/Reader Reads Memoir at Therapist's Suggestion
Low Down
By A.J. Albany
Non-Fiction Memoir
Publisher-Bloomsbury, New York (2003)
Purchase Link - N/A - Picked up copy at Pasadena
central Library
Reviewed by Diane Ward, reader and Authors' Coalition member
The other day I received an email from my ex-therapist, Margaret Starr, suggesting I get hold of a copy of a book called LOW DOWN to read. According to Margaret, the writing seemed to remind her of my writing - 'wry, funny with undertones of accusation and appreciation.' Naturally, I had to find out what Margaret was talking about so I inquired at my local library to see if in fact they had a copy and/or could one be ordered. In two days I had a hard copy of the book in my hands. Wow! Now that's what I call efficient. O.K. So this is what I felt after reading this very intense journey of A.J. Albany.
First, I like the geography of the book...the lay of the land so to speak. For the most part, the telling of this tale occurs in Hollywood and the period is roughly from 1969 - 1972. This is exactly the same time I lived in a rented room in a Hollywood Hills home and walked to Falcon Studios on Hollywood Blvd, walking right past the St Francis Hotel - where A.J. was raised by her now late great jazz pianist dad Joe Albany. Had I seen her walking the streets as I passed by on my way to dance class? This, I could not remember... .
But getting back to A.J.'s upbringing, it is apparent from early on that both her mother and father were heroin addicts and unfortunately put their parenting skills on a back burner. A.J., at a very tender age had to in fact recessitate either parent at an given moment and bring them back to life. This in fact depicts young A.J. behaving as though she were her parents parent. How very sad and terrifying this
surely was for anyone to witness, let alone a 5 year old. It was around that time that A.J.'s mother decides to leave her dad and abandon her daugher. Thus, little A.J. is thrown into a world of rapidly declining jazz jobs that her father was not able to find work in and thrust more deeply into an environment of drug-dealers, parole officers, truant officers, whores and pimps looking for monies owed along with the occasional introductions to people like Charlie Mingus, Charlie Parker (via her dad's memory, Thelonious Monk and Erroll Garner, to mention but a few. Heavy stuff to assimilate for anyone, let alone a 5 year old. And so it goes...drug deals gone sour,her dad's getting arrested, getting released and constant shuffling between the St.Francis Hotel on Hollywood Blvd, and the Knickerbocker Hotel on Ivar where they mostly resided, one step always ahead of the police. In the strange world of bottom feeders, drug addicts, jazz musicians and every other kind ofmisfit and outcast that eventually gravitates to Hollywood, does A.J.'s story unfold. It is a very compelling tale and an honest look at an amoral society that defintely existed
in a time a young soul was cheated of her childhood. No one should have to experience a life growing up like this. It happens. Itis true. Pick up a copy of this book and see and feel it for yourself. I would give this book an "R" rating
for its explicit language and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed watching the film TRAINSPOTTING. What I don't understand is how Margaret, my ex-therapist could think my memoir is as dark as this...
By A.J. Albany
Non-Fiction Memoir
Publisher-Bloomsbury, New York (2003)
Purchase Link - N/A - Picked up copy at Pasadena
central Library
Reviewed by Diane Ward, reader and Authors' Coalition member
The other day I received an email from my ex-therapist, Margaret Starr, suggesting I get hold of a copy of a book called LOW DOWN to read. According to Margaret, the writing seemed to remind her of my writing - 'wry, funny with undertones of accusation and appreciation.' Naturally, I had to find out what Margaret was talking about so I inquired at my local library to see if in fact they had a copy and/or could one be ordered. In two days I had a hard copy of the book in my hands. Wow! Now that's what I call efficient. O.K. So this is what I felt after reading this very intense journey of A.J. Albany.
First, I like the geography of the book...the lay of the land so to speak. For the most part, the telling of this tale occurs in Hollywood and the period is roughly from 1969 - 1972. This is exactly the same time I lived in a rented room in a Hollywood Hills home and walked to Falcon Studios on Hollywood Blvd, walking right past the St Francis Hotel - where A.J. was raised by her now late great jazz pianist dad Joe Albany. Had I seen her walking the streets as I passed by on my way to dance class? This, I could not remember... .
But getting back to A.J.'s upbringing, it is apparent from early on that both her mother and father were heroin addicts and unfortunately put their parenting skills on a back burner. A.J., at a very tender age had to in fact recessitate either parent at an given moment and bring them back to life. This in fact depicts young A.J. behaving as though she were her parents parent. How very sad and terrifying this
surely was for anyone to witness, let alone a 5 year old. It was around that time that A.J.'s mother decides to leave her dad and abandon her daugher. Thus, little A.J. is thrown into a world of rapidly declining jazz jobs that her father was not able to find work in and thrust more deeply into an environment of drug-dealers, parole officers, truant officers, whores and pimps looking for monies owed along with the occasional introductions to people like Charlie Mingus, Charlie Parker (via her dad's memory, Thelonious Monk and Erroll Garner, to mention but a few. Heavy stuff to assimilate for anyone, let alone a 5 year old. And so it goes...drug deals gone sour,her dad's getting arrested, getting released and constant shuffling between the St.Francis Hotel on Hollywood Blvd, and the Knickerbocker Hotel on Ivar where they mostly resided, one step always ahead of the police. In the strange world of bottom feeders, drug addicts, jazz musicians and every other kind ofmisfit and outcast that eventually gravitates to Hollywood, does A.J.'s story unfold. It is a very compelling tale and an honest look at an amoral society that defintely existed
in a time a young soul was cheated of her childhood. No one should have to experience a life growing up like this. It happens. Itis true. Pick up a copy of this book and see and feel it for yourself. I would give this book an "R" rating
for its explicit language and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed watching the film TRAINSPOTTING. What I don't understand is how Margaret, my ex-therapist could think my memoir is as dark as this...
Friday, January 4, 2008
Gogolewski Reviews Piers Anthony
Tortoise Reform
By Piers Anthony
Fantasy Adventure for Middle Grade and Young Adult
Publisher: Mundania Press
Purchase Link: http://www.mundania.com/books-tortoisereform.html
Reviewed by Kathe Gogolewski
About two years ago, Piers Anthony sent me the manuscript for Pandora Park, a fantasy adventure novel he had written for middle grade readers. I had offered to read the story to my 4th and 5th grade schoolchildren at Lake Elementary in Oceanside, California, where I worked as a school volunteer. Over the course of two weeks, I did just that. The children loved it, which didn’t surprise me as the premise was exciting, original and magical. The children gave it high marks in their evaluations, which I sent to Piers. As yet, the story has not been published, but if it is, I highly recommend it for both children and young adults.
Piers Anthony has written another children’s novel, Tortoise Reform, published by Mundania Press. I received a copy in December and read it with great interest. The story revolves around a ten-year-old girl, Rowan, who is displaced from her home for reasons beyond her control and made to stay with her kindly yet kid-clueless aunt and uncle. Feeling lost and lonely, Rowan discovers a tortoise who ventures into her world from another realm through a huge sink hole. This is no ordinary tortoise, however, bearing a sapient and telepathic mind. Rowan learns from Gopher, the tortoise, that most animals from his realm are similarly endowed. As if in a reversal of the natural order, Gopher is surprised at the power and complexity of Rowan’s mind, as humans are considered dull, unimaginative creatures in his world; indeed, they are used as beasts of burden. With delight, Gopher introduces Rowan to his burrow mates - an owl, a snake, an armadillo and a rabbit - all sapient creatures who teach Rowan to transmit thoughts telepathically. One by one, they bond with Rowan and she with them, in part as a result of her efforts to rescue the animals when they fall into mishap. All wish for the relationships to continue, but there’s a problem.
A construction project is slated for the area over the sink hole, which provides the only known exit and entry between their worlds. If the hole is cemented over, Rowan will not be able to visit her new friends and vice versa. Using their shared telepathy, they identify the man in charge of the construction project and set out to find him. The story also entails a visit by Rowan to the animals’ realm, where she feigns dullness to pass as an inhabitant. The animals are short one burrow mate in their world, which they must find before they can apply for official recognition as a burrow. Naturally, they consider Rowan for the role. Adventures abound for all in both realms.
I found the story delightful, but then, I’m a fan of Piers Anthony’s writing. In Tortosie Reform, he does not dull-down the vocabulary, yet most of the more difficult words are aptly presented in context, creating meaningful and digestible text for ten-year olds and up. This treatment is atypical of the majority of current children’s literature, which tends to incorporate large doses of popular kid-patois. Piers’ treatment is reminiscent of the literary works of C. S. Lewis or Lewis Carroll, who present language considered adultish, yet is much enjoyed by children.
I also love the characterization of Rowan. She remains charming, enthusiastic and relatable throughout the tale. Piers has a good grasp of the concerns and interests of children, in my opinion, and I’ll post an excerpt here of Rowan’s thoughts to show you what I mean:
She didn’t like deceiving Aunt and Uncle. She knew they were nice enough people. It wasn’t their fault that her folks were having problems and had to farm her out for a while. In fact they were being pretty decent about boarding her. But they did not understand children, having none of their own. Sometimes they acted as if she were a little adult, and sometimes as if she were two years old. They hadn’t found the range for age ten. So they expected her to do her chores, like laundry, which was adult, and to be in bed and asleep by nine PM, which was child. And they had no understanding at all of her need to interact with her friends.
The last was the worst. She had a slender slew of fine friends in fifth grade, and some vile villainous enemies, and had had every intention of keeping in touch with them all over the summer. The bad things could be almost as much fun as the good ones. She was good at being bad, when she tried. It was maybe her last real chance to be a tomboy before she had to start orienting on (ugh!) young lady hood.
Aside from equating badness with tomboy tendencies, I enjoyed this. His characterization creates a well-rounded and believable little girl.
I didn’t feel, however, that the animals differed significantly from each other in their characterizations. They felt homogenous; I could easily trade the dialogue of one with another. I felt Piers missed an excellent opportunity to create anthropomorphic differentiation in their characterizations, such as the treatment given to animal characters in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe or the Harry Potter series.
My other objection concerns the temporary nudity assigned to the girl in the animals’ realm. Whereas it is alluded to only once as she washes her clothes and hangs them up to dry, it is left to the reader to consider that she is thereafter left without a stitch of clothing. Culturally in our westernized society, nudity is not a topic found in children’s literature. It may be argued that it is realistic to assume that in this story the girl must wash her clothes after crawling through a muddy tunnel, but it is also realistic for people to perch upon a toilet at least once a day, yet one rarely reads about it unless the plot demands it. I think it’s best to keep such illuminations out of children’s stories entirely.
All in all, it is a tale well-told, and I hope it gains enough readership to prompt Piers to write the sequel (it does beg for one). I felt compelled to return to the story each evening until I had finished the book. Piers Anthony is, after all, a master storyteller.
Kathe Gogolewski
http://www.TRI-Studio.com
NEW! The Mother Daughter Club radio show
www.byforandaboutwomen.com
The Fiction Flyer: www.tri-studio.com/ezine.html
From Amazon: short stories for 49 cents:
The Gold Coin: http://www.amazon.com/The-Gold-Coin/dp/B000IB0JHK/ref=pd_ts_b_13/102-3993851-2836959?ie=UTF8&s=books
By Piers Anthony
Fantasy Adventure for Middle Grade and Young Adult
Publisher: Mundania Press
Purchase Link: http://www.mundania.com/books-tortoisereform.html
Reviewed by Kathe Gogolewski
About two years ago, Piers Anthony sent me the manuscript for Pandora Park, a fantasy adventure novel he had written for middle grade readers. I had offered to read the story to my 4th and 5th grade schoolchildren at Lake Elementary in Oceanside, California, where I worked as a school volunteer. Over the course of two weeks, I did just that. The children loved it, which didn’t surprise me as the premise was exciting, original and magical. The children gave it high marks in their evaluations, which I sent to Piers. As yet, the story has not been published, but if it is, I highly recommend it for both children and young adults.
Piers Anthony has written another children’s novel, Tortoise Reform, published by Mundania Press. I received a copy in December and read it with great interest. The story revolves around a ten-year-old girl, Rowan, who is displaced from her home for reasons beyond her control and made to stay with her kindly yet kid-clueless aunt and uncle. Feeling lost and lonely, Rowan discovers a tortoise who ventures into her world from another realm through a huge sink hole. This is no ordinary tortoise, however, bearing a sapient and telepathic mind. Rowan learns from Gopher, the tortoise, that most animals from his realm are similarly endowed. As if in a reversal of the natural order, Gopher is surprised at the power and complexity of Rowan’s mind, as humans are considered dull, unimaginative creatures in his world; indeed, they are used as beasts of burden. With delight, Gopher introduces Rowan to his burrow mates - an owl, a snake, an armadillo and a rabbit - all sapient creatures who teach Rowan to transmit thoughts telepathically. One by one, they bond with Rowan and she with them, in part as a result of her efforts to rescue the animals when they fall into mishap. All wish for the relationships to continue, but there’s a problem.
A construction project is slated for the area over the sink hole, which provides the only known exit and entry between their worlds. If the hole is cemented over, Rowan will not be able to visit her new friends and vice versa. Using their shared telepathy, they identify the man in charge of the construction project and set out to find him. The story also entails a visit by Rowan to the animals’ realm, where she feigns dullness to pass as an inhabitant. The animals are short one burrow mate in their world, which they must find before they can apply for official recognition as a burrow. Naturally, they consider Rowan for the role. Adventures abound for all in both realms.
I found the story delightful, but then, I’m a fan of Piers Anthony’s writing. In Tortosie Reform, he does not dull-down the vocabulary, yet most of the more difficult words are aptly presented in context, creating meaningful and digestible text for ten-year olds and up. This treatment is atypical of the majority of current children’s literature, which tends to incorporate large doses of popular kid-patois. Piers’ treatment is reminiscent of the literary works of C. S. Lewis or Lewis Carroll, who present language considered adultish, yet is much enjoyed by children.
I also love the characterization of Rowan. She remains charming, enthusiastic and relatable throughout the tale. Piers has a good grasp of the concerns and interests of children, in my opinion, and I’ll post an excerpt here of Rowan’s thoughts to show you what I mean:
She didn’t like deceiving Aunt and Uncle. She knew they were nice enough people. It wasn’t their fault that her folks were having problems and had to farm her out for a while. In fact they were being pretty decent about boarding her. But they did not understand children, having none of their own. Sometimes they acted as if she were a little adult, and sometimes as if she were two years old. They hadn’t found the range for age ten. So they expected her to do her chores, like laundry, which was adult, and to be in bed and asleep by nine PM, which was child. And they had no understanding at all of her need to interact with her friends.
The last was the worst. She had a slender slew of fine friends in fifth grade, and some vile villainous enemies, and had had every intention of keeping in touch with them all over the summer. The bad things could be almost as much fun as the good ones. She was good at being bad, when she tried. It was maybe her last real chance to be a tomboy before she had to start orienting on (ugh!) young lady hood.
Aside from equating badness with tomboy tendencies, I enjoyed this. His characterization creates a well-rounded and believable little girl.
I didn’t feel, however, that the animals differed significantly from each other in their characterizations. They felt homogenous; I could easily trade the dialogue of one with another. I felt Piers missed an excellent opportunity to create anthropomorphic differentiation in their characterizations, such as the treatment given to animal characters in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe or the Harry Potter series.
My other objection concerns the temporary nudity assigned to the girl in the animals’ realm. Whereas it is alluded to only once as she washes her clothes and hangs them up to dry, it is left to the reader to consider that she is thereafter left without a stitch of clothing. Culturally in our westernized society, nudity is not a topic found in children’s literature. It may be argued that it is realistic to assume that in this story the girl must wash her clothes after crawling through a muddy tunnel, but it is also realistic for people to perch upon a toilet at least once a day, yet one rarely reads about it unless the plot demands it. I think it’s best to keep such illuminations out of children’s stories entirely.
All in all, it is a tale well-told, and I hope it gains enough readership to prompt Piers to write the sequel (it does beg for one). I felt compelled to return to the story each evening until I had finished the book. Piers Anthony is, after all, a master storyteller.
Kathe Gogolewski
http://www.TRI-Studio.com
NEW! The Mother Daughter Club radio show
www.byforandaboutwomen.com
The Fiction Flyer: www.tri-studio.com/ezine.html
From Amazon: short stories for 49 cents:
The Gold Coin: http://www.amazon.com/The-Gold-Coin/dp/B000IB0JHK/ref=pd_ts_b_13/102-3993851-2836959?ie=UTF8&s=books
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Start New Year Right with Great Book Promotion
PROMO PAKS: NEARLY-FREE MARKETING FOR AUTHORS (NEW AND IMPROVED)
by Janet Elaine Smith
StarPublish LLC
ISBN 1932993878
Marketing/Authors
Available from Amazon
Review by Nina Osier
Janet Elaine Smith knows how to promote books without spending a fortune to get the job done. Her "promo paks" share what she's learned through hard work and sometimes even harder experience, in promoting her own books and in her role as marketing director for a publishing company. Any book on promoting your own work can tell you how to spend money doing so, but Janet can tell you how to do it for free. Or pretty close to it, on those occasions when expenditures can't be avoided.
Get this book. Now. You need it. End of story!
----
New and improved Promo Paks available at http://tinyurl.com/2cc8qy
Relax with a good book from http://janetesmithstarbooks.tripod.com
Tune in to hear her weekly at http://internetvoicesradio.com
by Janet Elaine Smith
StarPublish LLC
ISBN 1932993878
Marketing/Authors
Available from Amazon
Review by Nina Osier
Janet Elaine Smith knows how to promote books without spending a fortune to get the job done. Her "promo paks" share what she's learned through hard work and sometimes even harder experience, in promoting her own books and in her role as marketing director for a publishing company. Any book on promoting your own work can tell you how to spend money doing so, but Janet can tell you how to do it for free. Or pretty close to it, on those occasions when expenditures can't be avoided.
Get this book. Now. You need it. End of story!
----
New and improved Promo Paks available at http://tinyurl.com/2cc8qy
Relax with a good book from http://janetesmithstarbooks.tripod.com
Tune in to hear her weekly at http://internetvoicesradio.com
Monday, December 31, 2007
Myrna Lous Goldbaum Rills on All Things Palmistry
MAY I SEE YOUR HAND? Palm Reading for Fun and Profit
Myrna Lou Goldbaum
How-To
ISBN: 0-934172-03-X
Publisher: Woman in the Moon
Written for Woman in the Moon Newsletter
Review by Scott Shuker
When one thinks of palmistry, they might conjure up images of some mysterious old lady in the back of a wooden gypsy wagon, advertising “Fortunes Told” to some naïve wayfarer. That stereotype, though true of the past, is quickly vanishing in today’s New Age renaissance.
Palmistry, the art of fortune telling by reading the lines of the palm, is experiencing a resurgence as many seek further self-awareness about their problems, wants, needs, and desires, as well as what the future may hold. “Hands,” says author Myrna Lou Goldbaum, “are the mirrors of the soul.” She has been a palmist for many years and what began as a high school pastime has flowered into a lucrative vocation for her. She shares her secret skills with this timely book. In it, Goldbaum teaches readers the ins and outs of palmistry: what it is, how it’s done, and how it translates in practical terms.
MAY I SEE YOUR HAND? Gives readers the “inside scoop” on this ancient art. It thoroughly provides everything one needs to know – what Life, Love and Reproduction Lines are: which hand is primary and which is secondary and what the difference is; +how to read symbols like the “X” and “Island”; the Mystic Cross, grilles, stripes, and much more. Numerous diagrams and illustrations clearly denote each line and its location. This book has it all and Goldbaum leaves no stone unturned. She includes even the most obscure signs such as the “Simian”, which represents “inner tension and is usually found on the hand of one who may be either religious, creative or mentally retarded”.
She shows how to evaluate a hand, using lines and characteristics such as the hand’s width, shape, and knuckle type. Palms can even signify personality types like conformist, egotist, or “oddball”; fingerprints are covered as well.
Readers will find it fascinating, no matter what your level of interest. It is a “how-to” manual for the casual hobbyist, the serious pro, and everyone in-between. It is not only practical, it is value-oriented – asking the deeper questions like “What does palmistry mean for the layperson?” and “How does this help others?”
Goldbaum also tells the reader how to go into business for themselves (it is fun and profit!), like marketing, technology, and average fees. With a sense of humor, she shares her own experiences as well as historical accounts about this popular, yet once forbidden practice. This practical guide provides many uses for readers with integrity and sincerity. “Happiness can be achieved by seeing what lies ahead and our being prepared to deal with it.”
Myrna Lou Goldbaum
How-To
ISBN: 0-934172-03-X
Publisher: Woman in the Moon
Written for Woman in the Moon Newsletter
Review by Scott Shuker
When one thinks of palmistry, they might conjure up images of some mysterious old lady in the back of a wooden gypsy wagon, advertising “Fortunes Told” to some naïve wayfarer. That stereotype, though true of the past, is quickly vanishing in today’s New Age renaissance.
Palmistry, the art of fortune telling by reading the lines of the palm, is experiencing a resurgence as many seek further self-awareness about their problems, wants, needs, and desires, as well as what the future may hold. “Hands,” says author Myrna Lou Goldbaum, “are the mirrors of the soul.” She has been a palmist for many years and what began as a high school pastime has flowered into a lucrative vocation for her. She shares her secret skills with this timely book. In it, Goldbaum teaches readers the ins and outs of palmistry: what it is, how it’s done, and how it translates in practical terms.
MAY I SEE YOUR HAND? Gives readers the “inside scoop” on this ancient art. It thoroughly provides everything one needs to know – what Life, Love and Reproduction Lines are: which hand is primary and which is secondary and what the difference is; +how to read symbols like the “X” and “Island”; the Mystic Cross, grilles, stripes, and much more. Numerous diagrams and illustrations clearly denote each line and its location. This book has it all and Goldbaum leaves no stone unturned. She includes even the most obscure signs such as the “Simian”, which represents “inner tension and is usually found on the hand of one who may be either religious, creative or mentally retarded”.
She shows how to evaluate a hand, using lines and characteristics such as the hand’s width, shape, and knuckle type. Palms can even signify personality types like conformist, egotist, or “oddball”; fingerprints are covered as well.
Readers will find it fascinating, no matter what your level of interest. It is a “how-to” manual for the casual hobbyist, the serious pro, and everyone in-between. It is not only practical, it is value-oriented – asking the deeper questions like “What does palmistry mean for the layperson?” and “How does this help others?”
Goldbaum also tells the reader how to go into business for themselves (it is fun and profit!), like marketing, technology, and average fees. With a sense of humor, she shares her own experiences as well as historical accounts about this popular, yet once forbidden practice. This practical guide provides many uses for readers with integrity and sincerity. “Happiness can be achieved by seeing what lies ahead and our being prepared to deal with it.”
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