The Winters in Bloom reviewed by Jan Rider Newman

The Winters in Bloom

A Novel by Lisa Tucker (http://www.lisatucker.com/)

Released by Atria Books September 13, 2011

ISBN: 978-1416575405

Genre: Literary

Reviewed by Jan Rider Newman for LitStack (http://litstack.com/?p=1515) and Best Damn Creative Writing Blog

The epigraph that opens The Winters in Bloom, by Lisa Tucker, fits the novel perfectly: T. S. Eliot's "Little Gidding," Four Quartets, arriving where you've begun to "know the place for the first time." The novel is about so many things but mostly relationships between parents and children. It explores extremes of child-rearing—from smothering to abandonment—and the consequences.

Six-year-old Michael is much loved and too well cared for (yes, there is such a thing). The first time his parents let him play in the back yard by himself, he disappears. This felt contrived, especially since he got meningitis as a baby on the only major trip he took with his parents—every time they let their guard down, something dire happens. Nevertheless, Michael's kidnapping sets him, his parents and everyone connected to them free.

 

David and Kyra have been damaged by parents and lovers. Kyra and her sister were abandoned by their mother and ignored by their father. The sisters had only each other until Kyra committed the worst possible betrayal. David had a child by his first wife, Courtney, and the child died. David moved out of their house the day the baby died and divorced Courtney. Yet one wonders whom he really blames.

He's determined never to see another child harmed on his watch. Before Michael was born, David crawled the house on hands and knees seeking potential dangers. Anything that posed a remote potential of harm was eliminated—even going out to school. Kyra teaches him at home.

"He was the only child in a house full of doubt," the novel opens. "The doubt list was always growing, towering above him like the giant boy at his old school, . . . whose name was Paul." Paul "had never done anything to Michael, but his parents doubted that Michael could learn in such an environment . . ." (1). Michael is amazingly patient with his parents. In fact, he's one of the most endearing children in contemporary fiction.

Kyra and David are too well matched—so thinks David's mother, Sandra, who isn't allowed to be too close to him or Kyra or Michael. For one thing, Sandra's house isn't a danger-free zone. Sandra also remained friends with David's first wife.

Kyra vacuums Michael's room every day because David thinks he's allergic to mold spores and dust mites and wants to be "on the safe side."

Part of Kyra knew that the safe side was a chimera, like the pot at the end of a rainbow, but she didn't argue with her husband. She was afraid now, too, now that she understood just how fragile her family's happiness was. . . . A great chasm still separated her from David. . . . They'd lost the inclination to do anything together other than work harder, ever harder, to protect their precious little son (105).

Through the various narrators we slowly learn why David and Kyra are so damaged they carry hovering to extremes, why their relationship is so fragile they stay on the safe side with each other as well and don't share losses never grieved, injuries never forgiven. As they wait for word about their missing son, they gradually remember and release the past.

During the time Michael spends with his kidnapper, he misses his parents and fears doing something that will worry them, yet he finds wonderful moments as well, moments his parents wouldn't allow to happen. Eventually he takes a giant step of self-determination and hopes for the best.

This novel is full of sensitive writing and well-drawn characters. Tucker creates a tension beyond what one expects from a kidnapping story. This is no crime novel. The suspense evolves from the struggle of hearts to free and heal themselves.

Highly recommended.

More about the reviewer:

Jan Rider Newman
janridernew@gmail.com
Beyond Acadia: Reading, Writing, & Living Well ( janridernewman.blogspot.com )
Editor, Swamp Lily Review (swamplily.com)

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It 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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Writers' Tricks of the Trade: Carolyn Howard-Johnson gives marketing advice

The Frugal Book Promoter: Second Edition
By Carolyn Howard-Johhnson
Author's Web Site: www.howtodoitfrugally.com
Author's Sharing with Writers Blog: www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com
ISBN: 97814637743291
Cover Design: Chaz DeSimone
Designer's Web Site: www.chazdesimone.com
Genre: Nonfiction: Writers/How-To/Marketing

Reviewed by Morgan St. James originally for the Las Vegas Examiner

A few years ago I met author, promoter and writing instructor Carolyn Howard-Johnson when she presented workshops at the Las Vegas Writers Conference. We’ve since become friends and follow milestones in each other’s careers.

Carolyn is the author of books that are tremendously helpful, particularly for the writer who must stay on a budget. One of her books, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won’t, is on my own bookshelf with lots of bright orange sticky notes marking passages that I go back to again and again. It is also listed in the bibliography at the back of my new book Writers’ Tricks of the Trade: 39 Things You Need to Know About the ABCs of Writing Fiction. As you can tell, I cherish her solid advice.

Her books that relate to the real world

In this tight economy and fierce competition for the readers’ dollars, we need every edge we can possibly find. In Carolyn's new book, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Get Nearly Free Publicity On Your Own Or Partnering With Your Publisher, she relates to the dynamic changes that have occurred over the past few years in the way we do business. I was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy and delighted to see that one of the people she dedicates this book to is Trudy McMurrin, a very talented editor I had the pleasure of knowing. Trudy influenced the way many writers developed their skills, and her life was claimed by cancer much too soon in 2009 .

Here is why I suggest adding Carolyn’s books to your writers’ library.

She approaches her topics in plain language, something I really like, and fills them with real-world common sense. I do that, in my own books and columns because hyperbole and lofty writing are not the way to teach in my opinion.Give me plain talk any day!

She doesn’t advocate that the author “run willy-nilly” and break the rules of PR (public relations.) Instead, she says as a creative author you can take the rules and turn what might have been the tinkle of bells into the sound of timpani for everyone you want to reach. She further states that the idea that authors can’t promote is anything but the truth, and cites Mark Twain as one of the best at putting himself out there.

There are two big words the author needs to have at the front of their consciousness at all times: branding and networking. In simple language, figure out who you are—your strengths, who you want to reach, how you want them to perceive you which will give them a reason to believe they can’t go one more day without putting your book in their collection. Then network, network, network. The best branding in the world is no good if the message isn’t circulating.

It reminds me of the bit of advice I always spout.

No one is going to knock at your door and say, “I understand you just wrote a book. Please let me buy a copy.” Of course, it could be Aunt Sadie who lives close by because your mother just told her about the book, but that's not reaching your market.

Let the world know what you’re doing and enlist the help of others to spread the word.

The new edition of The Frugal Book Promoter is broken down into well organized sections:

• Section I Getting Started and Getting On with It
• Section II Plunging In: Publicity Basics Now
• Section III Do-It-Yourself and Partner Publicity
• Section IV Promote Your Book by Doing What You Love
• Section V You and the Media
• Section VI Well Traveled, Oft Forgotten
• Section VII Onward and Upward

This book is an absolute treasure trove and with two new books to promote myself, I can’t wait to start marking the pages and putting her sage advice to use.

The release of her new book will be announced in this column, on my blog and in the newsletter. Incidentally, Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a guest contributor for the October issue of the Writers’ Tricks of the Trade Newsletter. SUBSCRIBE to the Writers' Tricks of the Trade blog for posts and newsletters to be delivered to you automatically when published.

~For more information about Morgan St. James, visit www.morganstjames-author.com website or the Silver Sisters Mysteries website. Morgan frequently speaks and gives workshops for published and aspiring writers at conferences and events. Her next appearance will be at Partners in Crime, Sydney, Australia on September 11. Information on her website.

Because of the popularity of Writers' Tricks of the Trade, she has recently added a blog, newsletter and the just-released Writers’ Tricks of the Trade: 39 Things You Need to Know About the ABCs of Writing Fiction book., available in paperback, eBook and Kindle. The hilarious third Silver Sisters Mystery, Vanishing Act in Vegas, was also released in August.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It 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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Award-Winning Author Mary Green Gives New Frugal Book Promoter Heads Up

The Frugal Book PromoterBy Carolyn Howard-Johnson416 pages
ISBN: 9781463743291
Available in paperback or for Kindle
Also available as an e-book at http://createspace.com/3656422
Author's Web site: http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com

 

 

 

 

 

Everything you wanted to know about book promoting and much

much more., September 25, 2011

Reviewed by

mary greenwood

originally for Amazon

This review is from: The Frugal Book Promoter: Second Edition: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher. (Paperback)

When I saw the Table of Contents for this promoting bible, I was hooked. There was a chapter on everything I wanted or needed to know. I have written three "How To" books and have had a number of reviews and awards, but I am looking to go to the next level with some fresh new ideas. In other words, I had reached a plateau and did not want to repeat the same old methods.

When I first started reading the book I immediately liked the tone. It was as though the author was in my living room saying: Mary, why don't you try this and maybe you don't want to do this." Her books, like mine, are based on her personal experience. She has done book fairs; she has taught classes and consulted with authors; she has written award-winning books. She is an expert. That is what makes the book so powerful. I have read books that make me feel guilty if I haven't done ten things for my book that day.

Yesterday, I exhibited at a book festival and most of the authors were complaining that they had few sales. I looked up the topic in my new book. The author says "Book festivals are for readers." I knew intuitively that she was right. She goes on to say that these are really networking opportunities for the writers and not that many books are sold. That shift made me feel encouraged rather than discouraged at the book festival's results. Even though I did not sell tons of books, I did meet a lot of people: readers, writers and bookstore owners. I got a few tips and gave a few tips. I reconnected with people I had seen at previous events and got some recommendations for the best venues for future events. The author was spot on.

I also checked the chapter on book awards. I have won a total of 28 book awards for my three books and thought I knew all there was to know about awards and have spoken on the subject. However, after reading that section on book awards, I realized that I was not doing enough publicizing after I won the book awards and I am going to remedy that situation. Another tip I picked up. I am now going to say Mary Greenwood, multi-award winning author, instead of award-winning author.

Of course, I wished I had seen this book when my first book came out, but I can see that this book is useful for all authors, those working on their first book and authors who already have published several books and need some new ideas. I know I will go back and reread a chapter when I am starting a new task such as a press release or am thinking about doing a new blog or sprucing up my website.

I am just starting on my new book about "How to Negotiate With Your Dog" (hint: you don't.) I am going to use The Frugal Book Promoter Second Edition, the whole way. I can't wait to get started!
~Reviewer Green is author of How to Interview Like A Pro: Forty-Three Rules for Getting Your Next Job
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It 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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

FREE Bonuses for Buying the ONE Book You Need for YOUR Book

Please come help me with the online launch for the updated and expanded (now 416 pages!) Frugal Book Promoter! I'd like to see it become a best seller and today you'd get free bonuses from amazing authors and marketers like Shelley Hitz, DanPoynter, Kathleen Gage, D'vorah Lansky and so many more! They add to the value as do some of the discount ads in the back of the book. It will pay for itself this way--and with what you'll learn to sell more of your own book!

The second edition of The Frugal Book Promoter is an updated version of the multi award-winning first edition. It has been expanded to include simple ways to promote books using newer technology--always considering promotion and marketing techniques that are easy on the pocketbook and frugal of time. It also includes a multitude of ways for authors and publishers to promote the so-called hard-to-promote genres. The award-winning author of poetry and fiction draws on a lifetime of experience in journalism, public relations, retailing, marketing, and the marketing of her own books to give authors the basics they need for do-it-yourself promotion and fun, effective approaches that haven't been stirred and warmed over, techniques that will help rocket their books to bestselling lists. You'll also l earn to write media releases, query letters and a knock 'em dead media kit--all tools that help an author find a publisher and sell their book once it's in print

When you buy the book today, you'll receive more than a dozen great bonuses for writers1

Click here to Buy the Book
And See and Collect the Bonuses!

Launch powered by Denise Cassino, dencassino@gmail.com

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It 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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Georgi's Greek Tragedy is history and fiction at it's finest !

Title: Giorgi’s Greek Tragedy

Author: Pauline Hager

Author’s website: www.ilovetoreadbooks.com
Genre: Historical –Fiction
ISBN: 978-0-7414-6034-9

Reviewed by Cindy Taylor originally for AllBooksReviewInt.com

To take a period in history and weave it into a fictional account of the survival of a family through three generations of their struggles and successes and still create an interesting and exciting page- turner is not an easy feat. However, to Pauline Hager it is like second nature in Giorgi's Greek Tragedy as she tells us the story of Giorgi Papakalos and his family and their lives in the beautiful mountains of the Peloponnese region of Greece during the final years of the Ottoman Turks´ occupation of Greece. So many periods in history such as World War I, World War II, the Holocaust, Slavery, and the Russian Revolution, to name just a few, have been written about in abundance and depicted in movies, but I found this riveting account of Greece's struggle for independence to be very refreshing because it was a period in history that I was not at all familiar with. It became not only a pleasurable read but also a history lesson that kept me engrossed in the story from start to finish and left me fascinated and yet deeply disturbed and thoughtful. However, the historical aspect of the story was not overwhelming because it was chronicled in an easy to understand manner with a nice mixture of the history lessons and the personal stories of the characters. The story centres on the Papakalos and Leonidis families as they struggle to raise their families by strict Greek tradition during turbulent times. They all work incredibly long hours in the fields to be able to save a little money even after paying heavy taxes to the Turks. Even when Mother Nature wreaks havoc on their crops or Turkish officials kill one of their own, they still endure and carry on through their intense pain and suffering and find some measure of contentment in their everyday lives. After finding his parents murdered by Turkish scouts who take his older brother away to be trained for the Janissary Corps, Giorgi Papakalos vows to join the freedom fighters, known as kleftes, to fight for the freedom of his people and to avenge his parents´ deaths. Giorgi's brother, Yianni, joins Giorgi on his adventures, and we follow them as they endure severe hardships training as kleftes and grow into two very different personalities, but still with the common dream of freedom and an intense dedication to and love for each other.

Hager takes the themes of struggle and survival and challenges us to consider the struggles that all groups of people go through to differing degrees and to ponder where human beings get the undying will to survive. What keeps people fighting even when up against the greatest adversities? It also gave me great admiration and respect for the tenacity of these strong, resilient and yet impoverished and downtrodden Greek people who toiled and endured every day in the fields just for basic survival and gained great satisfaction from their accomplishments, no matter how small. Through it all they never gave up on their dream of independence and still managed to live by ancient Greek traditions and raise loving and moral families. Hager is a very gifted writer, creating rich and memorable characters who we never stop rooting for throughout the story. We watch their patience and dedication to their traditions and their cause and want them to achieve their goal of freedom from the Turks. Hager is skilled at making the reader experience the whole gamut of emotions from anger when the Turks kill innocent Greek peasants, frustration when everything seems futile, happiness when something goes right, guilt, shock, heartbreak and anticipation of freedom near the end. When The Great Powers of Europe finally pressure the Sultan into recognizing Greece as an independent nation and the Treaty of Adrianople is signed, it is heart-warming to see how the years of struggle, loss and persistence did eventually lead to the fulfillment of a family's dreams. Another aspect of this book that I found invaluable considering the vast cast of characters was the list of characters grouped by family, the map of Peloponnese, and the bibliography iof books and website consulted for anyone who wishes to learn more about this incredibly important time in history. Hager definitely leaves no stone unturned to her research and her finished masterpiece. I am extremely impressed by this first novel from Pauline Hager, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys epic historical novels. You will not be disappointed, and I personally look forward to Hager's future work. Return to Reviews Page

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It 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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Green Thriller? Yes.

Title: The End of The Computer

Author: Andre Mikhailovich Solonitsyn
Author's Web site link: http://theendofthecomputer.com/
Amazon link
Genre: Thriller, Green Thriller
ISBN
eISBN: 9781618420169 (Kindle)


Reviewed by Catherine C. Gorski "CateArtdotcom" (Portland, OR), originally for Amazon

The synopsis for this book boasts that this story is full of intriguing thoughts. 'Yeah sure,' I thought, 'in an action book?' It also promised whimsical humor, unexpected joy, and deep fulfillment. High marks to achieve!

So, I decided to give it a whirl. Besides, the cover was intriguing. I love me some nukular 'splosions!

Turns out, the claim on the virtual jacket underestimated the impact this story had on me; calling those thoughts intriguing was a very mild way of putting it - and now, that deep thinking stays with me, and has actually had an impact on several conversations. As one of the characters explains: 'it's a little bit like dying, and entirely like being born.' I looked at where these ideas came from, what the dry facts are - though I had to dig - and now I have a sense that if we don't do something soon, drastic measures similar to some in this story might have to take place.

But, I am not a resident of the Valley of Thunder yet, so let me tell you more about the book!

Like precious carvings being placed in niches made specially for them, beautiful bits of speech are laid in here with simple care; they stand out, but are set in their perfect environment. When Berkeley is described, I know without a doubt the author sees it both as it is today, and as it was in times past. When the women are conversing, they talk like actual women. When men talk, even when they express things you don't often hear men verbalize, they sound like real men.

A favorite line of mine is given by a fella who has seen too much and done too much, who is being asked to do it all over again - bigger, and right this time - who has a soul-rendering, very personal revelation (tissue box time, btw). He gives this explanation that should be so obvious, and yet it's ignored all the time: "You can't fight for a noble cause with heinous actions."

I don't want to give away too much of the plot. The truth is, I can't: it's unique in many ways and has a cheeriness to it that belies it's origins and the deeper meaning behind the words. Once the story starts gaining speed, you're treated to chapters so different from each other, there's no way of explaining how they form such a coherent whole. Let's just say... the payload is worth the wait!

Oh, and you must read all the way to the end. Yes, the ~story~ ends about 20 pages before the book does, and it's easy to miss on first run-through, but if you miss what comes after the story, you'll be very sad, and your tummy will stay empty.

Despite everything that happens during the telling of this tale - and there's a bunch of not-good-for-our-protagonists stuff going on there! - when you put it down, you feel fulfilled. Happy, even. Which is totally amazing, given what happens in the later chapters. But it makes you want to read it again. I've already read it twice, and now I'm a little sad that I'll have to put it down for a while for my brain to refresh so I can read it again... for the third time. I want to go back to Vallee de Tonnerre. See you there. ;)

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It 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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Vine Voice Reviewer Thinks William Rea's Toilet Humor Hilarious! (-:

Title: An Ant in the Toilet

Author: William M. Rea

Genre: Humor/Comics & Art

Review: Amazon.com

Five Stars!

5.0 out of 5 stars Hysterical!, September 6, 2011

Reviewed by Kathy W (Baltimore, MD, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: An Ant in the Toilet (Kindle Edition)

OMG! I laughed sooooo hard. Yeah, it's a little gross. I mean, it IS bathroom humor. It is not a child's book. It is adult humor from 2011.

It's short, sweet, and to the point. Maybe a 5 minute read. An ant is hanging out in a toilet bowl, so what do you think he sees? There are illustrations. The ant is telling you what he sees, from his perspective, so the pictures are fine.

This is an ebook, but a printed book would be something you could put in the bathroom for guests to look at while they are cozying up to the porceline bowl.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It 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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :