Writing, The New Yorker, and Christmas

This is a not-so-usual Christmas editorial from my SharingwithWriters newsletter. True to my time-saving advice to recycle (no one person--even one with a paid publicist) has enough time to do everything they want to!), it is never too late to download a pdf copy my newsletters from the archive at http://bit.ly/SWWNewsletter--or subscribe so you don't miss a single issue!

Dear SharingwithWriters subscribers and New Book Review readers, authors, and reviewers: 

I love The New Yorker. My son Trenton sent a subscription to me for Christmas for a couple years, but I told him not to do it anymore because I always felt guilty when I couldn’t read it from cover to cover.

Recently I reconnected with my cousin who had gone AWOL for a while and she sent me a link to a lovely essay on dying (and living!) in The New Yorker. It was written by a well-known memoirist, Cory Taylor. I love how that she wove the pleasures of writing into the other joys of her life. It made me think of the publisher who told my agent that he loved my memoir, but couldn’t publish it because it was just too sad. It also made me think of what I have come to think of as California’s Christmas fires. I have been affected only slightly (breathing smoke and getting less done because of time taken to help fire refugees), but the misery is everywhere. The sky, the freeways, the news.

It seems to me a memoir has no value without the sad parts that make us grateful for life’s delights. So, the upsides and downsides, the yin and yang of The New Yorker? Hard to believe there is too much of a good thing! And the fires? Well, maybe we have had enough of those!

You may already subscribe or decide to subscribe to The New Yorker after reading this. (You may be better at picking and choosing from an overabundance of readable material than I!) Even if The New Yorker has never been your cup of tea, you will want to read this essay. To absorb the author’s wisdom now, when gratitude is such a big part of the holiday season or take a lesson from this author’s writing style. I am sure that it will renew your appreciation of your chosen career.

The essay is “Questions for Me About Dying” by Cory Taylor. An interesting title, but one that in no way does justice to what is contained therein.

Happy writing, editing and promoting and happy holidays,

Carolyn Howard-Johnson,

http://HowToDoItFrugally.com 

PS: I know we think of Dec. 25 as a bit too late to be doing Christmas shopping, but that's why e-books were born.  The chapbook I wrote with Magdalena Ball is available today on Amazon and it's part of Amazon's Matchbook program for prime members--meaning the e-book is free when you buy the chapbook. Wouldn't one of your friends who loves literature like to have a e-greeting card of poetry in their e-mail box today? Here is more about it.  

Blooming Red:

Christmas Poetry for the Rational

Coauthored by Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball
Artwork by Vicki Thomas

Self-Published in the fine tradition of poets everywhere

Awards: USA Book News finalist, Silver Award from Military Writers’ Society of America

ISBN: 9781449948245

To order paperback or e-book on Amazon: http://bit.ly/BloomingRed

Celebration Series fan page on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CelebrationSeriesPoetryChapbooks

Part of the Celebration Series by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, this little $6.95 book was written with passion and love for those who understand all the ramifications of the holiday that dominates celebrations throughout most of the English-speaking world. It is a lovely tuck-in gift that goes beyond the typical greeting card and is available in quantity discounts to use as a holiday greeting by contacting the authors at HoJoNews@aol.com.

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. 

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Nicole Brown Reviews Clifford Browder's Historical Novel

Title: Bill Hope

Subtitle: His Story

Author: Clifford Browder

Blog link: No Place for Normal: New York 

Genre: Historical fiction

Paperback:157 pages

ISBN: 978-1-68114-305-7

Purchase links: 

https://www.amazon.com/Bill-Hope-Story-Clifford-Browder/dp/1681143054

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bill-hope-clifford-browder/1125807910

https://anaphoraliterary.com/catalogue/novels/historical/clifford-browder/

Reviewed by Nicole W Brown  Originally for Amazon.

 "A real yarn of a story about a lovable pickpocket who gets into trouble and has a great adventure. A must read. "

The book opens with Bill Hope in jail writing down the tail of his life starting with the first time he got arrested. He tried to pick the pocket of a great detective who came and visited him in jail. He told him that he would drop the charges if Bill would come and see him after he was released. He took Bill's prized onyx ring to ensure that he would come. When Bill came the man, Mr. Minick, asked him to do a job for him in return for dropping the charges. A notorious pickpocket prince's girl friend who has a habit of shoplifting and taking things from the dearly departed and mourners at funerals. She took a one-of-a-kind stick pin from someone who wants it back. Mr. Minick would like Bill to lift it off of her without her knowing it. Bill succeeds in this and Mr. Minick offers him work as one of his street informants, or as Bill calls them the League of Snitches. He won't have anything to do with it, but the two part on good terms.

Bill finds a rather expensive, yet highly unusual Tiffany ring. He goes to the local dealer and finds out how much he could get for it, but decides not to sell it. Soon he sees in the paper that someone is looking for it. He meets with a person to give the ring back and finds out that the ring belongs to someone new and big in town and instead of taking the money now he tells him that he'd rather have him owe him. This will prove to be a smart move later on when he gets into trouble and needs bailing out. He winds up working for the ring's owner, Mr. Vail then embarks on a dangerous adventure.

This book is a really good yarn of a story. Bill Hope is a sweet rascal of a character who doesn't give up on people once he's invested in them. He's an honorable thief who never steals from women or kids just rich men. He is always trying to improve himself by working on his speech to make himself sound better and buying clothes to make him look smart. Trouble still manages to always find Bill, though and it's great fun to read about how he gets out of it. I can't recommend this book enough.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Clifford Browder has a blog titled No Place for Normal: New York with the tagline by T. S. Eliot, "Humankind cannot bear very much reality." He signs himself, "Geezers rock."   

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. 

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Author of Beta Earth Chronicles Reviews Tenth Avatar

Tenth Avatar: A Quest for Answers

Dr. Kanchan Joshi

Paperback: 246 pages

Publisher: Kanchan Joshi (August 24, 2017)

ISBN-10: 069293314X

ISBN-13: 978-0692933145

Purchase on Amazon

Trailer for Tenth Avatar

Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton originally for BookPleasures.com

Reading Tenth Avatar is like reading two books in one. At the same time, the book is one of a rare breed in science fiction.  I don’t know about your reading list of contemporary sci fi novels, but the vast majority I’ve read are darkly pessimistic and dystopian. Not so the Tenth Avatar. It’s not only optimistic and utopian, but even proposes a path for humanity to follow to achieve a new level of spiritual, economic, political, and social evolution.  

The structure of the book is built on two parallel, alternating stories that take place thousands of years apart.  One occurs In ancient India where we meet Hanuman,  a noted warrior and mystic living in the forests. The setting is full of many mythological and fantasy elements.   While there are many humans running about, there are also very intelligent ape-like creatures and their greatest enemy, the demons of a nearby region ruled by the evil Raven. There are all manner of strange, anachronistic weapons including radiation-bearing arrows and missiles as well as powerful flying machines and a monstrous giant robot-like killing machine.     

But this world also has warriors using powerful bows and arrows, wooden chariots, and primitive maces. There are important mystical teachers, or “yogis,” who teach wisdom to Hanuman and others in the orbit of powerful, noble  king-in-exile, Ram. He’s seeking his wife who was kidnapped by Raven.   In this world, the forces of good gain superhuman power through meditation which leads to an awareness of what is beyond a person’s body and self including an understanding of how we fit into, well, everything.

Alternating with this saga is the modern tale of theoretical physicist Krish,

a brilliant mathematician living in California.  Trying to seek out the workings of life and the universe using advanced mathematical formulas, he inexplicably hallucinates vivid images of existence beyond his physical self very like what the ancient yogis experienced.  Why? He doesn’t know.

Told with a very different style from the tales of Hanuman, the author’s seemingly more grounded, more realistic odyssey of Krish has an intriguing flow with some puzzling plot holes.     In the beginning, Krish discovers something he calls Quantum Communication which uses particle streams that can’t be hacked. Very quickly, the military shows interest in Krish’s unproven theories. At the same time, agents of unknown countries or organizations start trying to kill Krish. The FBI assigns protection for the scientist, but apparently not for very long. After his first bodyguard is killed on a plane, we don’t see any signs anyone is watching over Krish even if he did turn over his research to the Department of Defense. By himself, he travels home to India seeking out the lost notes of an important Indian mathematician. Any reader of spy novels will tell you this is ideal territory for more assassination attempts. Or at Krish’s wedding.  And who was behind two terrible nuclear bombings in the U.S., over both California and New York? We’re never told. The adventures of Hanuman and Krish are brought together in the end, and I suspect most readers will have picked up on the clues to the ultimate resolutions long before the final reveals.

I have to admit, the use of intense meditation to be the key to gaining overwhelming cosmic awareness sounds better than I suspect it would really work in the real world. I say that as someone who has practiced various kinds of meditation for decades.  Still, I am no authority on what meditation technique would make someone a Yogi and/or guru who could transform countless lives.  

Nonetheless, it’s very nice to read a novel that projects the possibility that an enlightened humanity could be transformed under the tutelage of the tenth avatar. It’s a story, well, two stories that can serve as antidotes to the typical sci fi futures of genetic manipulation, global warming, biological disaster, or alien invasions that serve as constant warnings of what our futures might be.  

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Dr. Wesley Britton, author of the Beta Earth Chronicles, also reviews for BookPleasures.com.

Learn more about him: 

Explore the Beta Earth Chronicles website:

https://drwesleybritton.com/books/

Follow Wes Britton’s Goodreads blog:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/295635.Wesley_Britton/blog

Follow Wes Britton’s Beta Earth Chronicles Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/BetaEarthChronicles/?ref=edit_photo

View the snazzy Beta Earth Chronicles book trailer at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8rrP2warHc

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. 

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Literary Novel by John Biscello Gets High Praise

Title: Raking the Dust

Author: John Biscello

Genre: Literary Fiction

Author's Website: johnbiscello.com

Purchase on Amazon 

Review by Ashleigh Grycner. Originally appeared on Amazon (five stars), and to be part of a review scheduled to be published in Riot Material. 

Raking the Dust is a deeply felt and yet understated paen to the deepest human aches, hopes, and longings; a testament to second chances.

It  is a grand, shameless, and nonetheless subtle exposition of the human spirit, of addiction, obsession, and ultimately, salvation. Of the fact that “all roads lead to Heaven”, and that sometimes you need to get lost in order to get found. That sometimes things need to get crazy, (pubic) hairy, and utterly confused so that we can come face to face with what we most fear. That ultimately it is in the grip of our own terror that we find the courage to say the brave No that is a Yes to our own Innocence.

I found this novel utterly gripping, and in Alex I found many pieces of myself. This work is one of existential mystery, and with Alex I pondered the dark unknown at the center of my own being. With him I descended and meandered through the twisted corridors of my own psyche. I found myself breathless in fascinated wonder, water-eyed in wistful tenderness, full-hearted with hope. This novel is not just a story. It is an experience. A moving and enriching journey into the heart of another that brought me into deeper communion with my own.

It is refreshing to find this level of profundity, honesty, and artistic restraint in a modern author. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a complex, full-bodied, and deeply moving reading experience, and one that speaks eloquently to the silent, spiritual tragedy of contemporary American life.

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. 

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Cathartic Review of Book About an Alcoholic's Daughter

Title : Intoxic

Author : Angie Gallion

Author Website : angiegallion

angiegallion

Genre : General Fiction/Coming of Age

ISBN : 978-1536904055

Amazon Purchase Link  

Reviewed by Jendi Reiter originally for Amazon

5 out of 5 stars

This stunning coming-of-age novel introduces the indomitable Alison Hayes, 

a 16-year-old girl living with her alcoholic mother in a trailer park in small-town Illinois. 

Wise beyond her years, forced into adult responsibility too soon, but a lonely little girl inside, 

Alison shepherds her mother through cycles of recovery and relapse while striving to pass 

the milestones of normal adolescence: a job, a high school degree, a crush on the

perfect-seeming neighbor boy who owns a horse farm. She also copes with the aftermath 

of sexual assault.

This summary may sound depressing, but although Intoxic has many moments of painful 

truth, the tears it elicits are cathartic, and the honesty and courage of Alison as she matures 

will inspire you. Rarely have I read a story so accurate about the complexity of loving and 

hating an abusive mother (and Alison's mother, while she is more tragic than malicious, 

is so neglectful that I must put her in this category). Most fiction about parental trauma 

follows a simplistic narrative arc from anger, to understanding, to forgiveness. 

 spirals through these perspectives, and back again, multiple times throughout the book 

and its sequels. She does not settle on a single verdict on her mother and herself, 

but rather, starts learning to hold all of these contradictions together..

I was especially moved by Alison's pervasive sense of difference from her peers. 

Besides the stigma of relative poverty, she is isolated by the lack of freedom to enjoy her 

youth. She has to worry about paying the bills when other kids are playing sports and

 picking out prom dresses. Nothing can distract from the mission of becoming independent 

of her dysfunctional mother and leaving the small town that knows their shameful secrets. 

This was very true to the experience of having a mentally ill or addicted parent.

The first book ends with a crisis that produces both grief and liberation for young Alison, 

and a mystery to be resolved in the sequel. You will root for her all the way. I swear 

I shouted at my Kindle reader a couple of times, "No, Alison, don't do that!" knowing 

she would have to repeat some of her mother's mistakes, but also having faith 

that she would rise again. What gives one damaged person the drive to learn and heal, 

while another sinks beneath the waves of depression and addiction? Intoxic will not answer 

that question (perhaps no one can) but if you've been on that journey, 

you'll find a friend and companion in this determined young woman.

MORE ABOUT THIS REVIEWER

Jendi Reiter is the author of a poetic LGBT Novel, Two Natures, and editor at the prestigious (and helpful!) WinningWriters.com. Learn more about her at http://www.JendiReister.com.

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ). This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.