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E.Michael Helms's Blog: Michael's Musings, page 12
August 28, 2013
5-Star Review from InD'tale Magazine!
Review by Rose Mary Espinoza, for InD'tale Magazine
OF BLOOD AND BROTHERS: BOOK ONE
E. Michael Helms
Genre: Historical Fiction
In 1863 Daniel Malburn, while still a teenager, decides to join the confederate army along with his buddies. Nothing has prepared them for the atrocities they have to endure. Daniel’s memories of his sweet love, Annie, keeps him going. But when he sees his good buddy Hamp blown apart right before his eyes he is devastated and can’t wipe the horror from his mind.
Elijah Malburn, is only sixteen and feels guilty for not joining the war with his brother. He loves Annie too and can’t forget her. In order to help his widowed mother, Elijah takes the family slave, Jeff, to work in the salt fields. When he and Jeff are captured, however, he is given the chance to either join the Union Army as a scout or be imprisoned. Jeff had been inducted into the Union Army already, so Eli decides to join up with the North.
E. Michael Helms describes the horrors of the worst war the United States has ever been involved in with honesty and brutality. The story of two brothers on opposite sides of the war and in love with the same girl is complex and yet simple in the ways of human nature. The reader will be swept away by the story of these two small town young men who have to grow up fast and think quickly to save themselves from the ravages of war. Sadly turning the last page, one is both moved yet anxious for more of the Malburn brother’s story!
Rose Mary Espinoza
OF BLOOD AND BROTHERS: BOOK ONE
E. Michael Helms
Genre: Historical Fiction
In 1863 Daniel Malburn, while still a teenager, decides to join the confederate army along with his buddies. Nothing has prepared them for the atrocities they have to endure. Daniel’s memories of his sweet love, Annie, keeps him going. But when he sees his good buddy Hamp blown apart right before his eyes he is devastated and can’t wipe the horror from his mind.
Elijah Malburn, is only sixteen and feels guilty for not joining the war with his brother. He loves Annie too and can’t forget her. In order to help his widowed mother, Elijah takes the family slave, Jeff, to work in the salt fields. When he and Jeff are captured, however, he is given the chance to either join the Union Army as a scout or be imprisoned. Jeff had been inducted into the Union Army already, so Eli decides to join up with the North.
E. Michael Helms describes the horrors of the worst war the United States has ever been involved in with honesty and brutality. The story of two brothers on opposite sides of the war and in love with the same girl is complex and yet simple in the ways of human nature. The reader will be swept away by the story of these two small town young men who have to grow up fast and think quickly to save themselves from the ravages of war. Sadly turning the last page, one is both moved yet anxious for more of the Malburn brother’s story!
Rose Mary Espinoza
August 27, 2013
4 DAYS AND COUNTING!!!
Four more days to get in on the giveaway of my Civil War novel, OF BLOOD AND BROTHERS: BOOK ONE. Can we top 600 entries by the 31st?
August 24, 2013
Final Week for Giveaway!
Seven days and counting down quickly. If you haven't already signed up for the chance to win an autographed copy of my Civil War novel, OF BLOOD AND BROTHERS: BOOK ONE, now is the time to do so. Thanks to all who've entered, and GOOD LUCK!!!
August 6, 2013
OF BLOOD AND BROTHERS back up at Amazon
Amazon has relisted Of Blood and Brothers: Book One as "Available for sale and open for review" at their website. Here is the URL if you'd like to take a look:
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Brothers-...
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Brothers-...
July 31, 2013
Sterling review for Of Blood and Brothers
Of Blood And Brothers: Book One
E. Michael Helms
Koehler Books (2013)
ISBN 9781938467516
Reviewed by F.T. Donereau for RebeccasReads (6/13)
Perhaps the greatest feat achieved by E. Michael Helms in his novel on the Civil War, "Of Blood And Brothers," is the authenticity of the voices: they ring southern and direct, as if they were alive today, telling their story to you at a backyard barbecue, or around a pot bellied stove in some quaint kitchen. The premise of the books confessional tale is the delving into a family saga by a cub reporter, Calvin Hogue. He is sent by his boss to interview brothers Daniel and Elijah Malburn. Helms manages to capture the feel of a reporters way in 1927; you can truly sense the era and the person in reporter Hogue. And this is only the jumping off point. The story really is of the Civil War and its aftermath, the hell the brothers and the Malburn clan suffer because of this bloody, incestuous calamity.
Certainly the other great gift E. Michael Helms brings to the table is that he himself is a veteran, a former U.S. Marine who served combat in Vietnam. Is it his experience with war, or his ability as a scribe, that brings this historical work of fiction alive on the page? It would be impossible to say. Thankfully, it is unnecessary to try. The action on the fields of battle are rendered faultlessly; you do not feel you are being fed some movie makers idea of conflict and death. The language is plain, colloquial. The taste is of people, not Hollywood's cut from the mold presentation of soldiers. The home life rendered here stands alive as well, real and pulsing, ringing with truth. A soldier perhaps could bring forth one aspect but not the other. A writer who happens to have once been a soldier, can do both. Mr. Helms delivers the full package.
We all know war is hell. It would be foolish though, not to admit we have a fascination with it. However, too few who set out to depict it delve into the full ramifications. "Of Blood And Brothers" lets you see deep into the bone of those afflicted by combat. The Civil War itself famously pitted brother against brother, all but tearing a nation asunder. By focusing on a family, on two brothers, Helms is able to get down into the horror of what occurs while battles rage, to get at what lingers long after, what carves away at the men and women who have suffered through it.
Thankfully our author keeps his prose steady to the wall; he does not indulge in flowery sentiment. He lays the story down and lets it tell itself. He brings it fully alive, most often in the narrative flow of the singular voice of Daniel Malburn.
Here, as an example, is Daniel's voice:
Daniel scraped his shoes on a woven rope mat in front of the stoop, then opened the unlocked door and stepped inside. “Ain't no telling when this rain'll let up. No sense trying the road to Bennet in this gullywasher." He turned and motioned to me. "Come on in and sit a spell.”
All is straight language here, but for the small use of "gullywasher" and "sit a spell." These turns of phrases, employed as they are, are enough, and not too much, all at once. Such writing allows the taste of a place and an era, without overselling the mood. This passage takes place at the beginning of the book. I assure you the essence of Daniel, his folksy southernisms, his charm and directness, survives throughout. His voice remains alive. His telling of things, the style of the man remembering, the way in which he imprints all, brings each character wholly to life.
There is death in this story, senseless and true. There is honor and forthrightness too. You will also find a love story of a kind. The Malburn brother's hearts each go in the same direction. The ladies name is Annie Gainer. You will know her and all she brings forth. You will bear witness to the joys, pains and wonders of the fast moving world realized between these covers. The brother's battles will sit with you as your own. Really, more than a single war, "Of Blood And Brothers" speaks of war all the time.
Gracefully, it allows for redemption, for reconciliation. Full lives are lived here, tragically and happily. I implore you, take this novel and read it, and allow it to come alive inside you.
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E. Michael Helms
Koehler Books (2013)
ISBN 9781938467516
Reviewed by F.T. Donereau for RebeccasReads (6/13)
Perhaps the greatest feat achieved by E. Michael Helms in his novel on the Civil War, "Of Blood And Brothers," is the authenticity of the voices: they ring southern and direct, as if they were alive today, telling their story to you at a backyard barbecue, or around a pot bellied stove in some quaint kitchen. The premise of the books confessional tale is the delving into a family saga by a cub reporter, Calvin Hogue. He is sent by his boss to interview brothers Daniel and Elijah Malburn. Helms manages to capture the feel of a reporters way in 1927; you can truly sense the era and the person in reporter Hogue. And this is only the jumping off point. The story really is of the Civil War and its aftermath, the hell the brothers and the Malburn clan suffer because of this bloody, incestuous calamity.
Certainly the other great gift E. Michael Helms brings to the table is that he himself is a veteran, a former U.S. Marine who served combat in Vietnam. Is it his experience with war, or his ability as a scribe, that brings this historical work of fiction alive on the page? It would be impossible to say. Thankfully, it is unnecessary to try. The action on the fields of battle are rendered faultlessly; you do not feel you are being fed some movie makers idea of conflict and death. The language is plain, colloquial. The taste is of people, not Hollywood's cut from the mold presentation of soldiers. The home life rendered here stands alive as well, real and pulsing, ringing with truth. A soldier perhaps could bring forth one aspect but not the other. A writer who happens to have once been a soldier, can do both. Mr. Helms delivers the full package.
We all know war is hell. It would be foolish though, not to admit we have a fascination with it. However, too few who set out to depict it delve into the full ramifications. "Of Blood And Brothers" lets you see deep into the bone of those afflicted by combat. The Civil War itself famously pitted brother against brother, all but tearing a nation asunder. By focusing on a family, on two brothers, Helms is able to get down into the horror of what occurs while battles rage, to get at what lingers long after, what carves away at the men and women who have suffered through it.
Thankfully our author keeps his prose steady to the wall; he does not indulge in flowery sentiment. He lays the story down and lets it tell itself. He brings it fully alive, most often in the narrative flow of the singular voice of Daniel Malburn.
Here, as an example, is Daniel's voice:
Daniel scraped his shoes on a woven rope mat in front of the stoop, then opened the unlocked door and stepped inside. “Ain't no telling when this rain'll let up. No sense trying the road to Bennet in this gullywasher." He turned and motioned to me. "Come on in and sit a spell.”
All is straight language here, but for the small use of "gullywasher" and "sit a spell." These turns of phrases, employed as they are, are enough, and not too much, all at once. Such writing allows the taste of a place and an era, without overselling the mood. This passage takes place at the beginning of the book. I assure you the essence of Daniel, his folksy southernisms, his charm and directness, survives throughout. His voice remains alive. His telling of things, the style of the man remembering, the way in which he imprints all, brings each character wholly to life.
There is death in this story, senseless and true. There is honor and forthrightness too. You will also find a love story of a kind. The Malburn brother's hearts each go in the same direction. The ladies name is Annie Gainer. You will know her and all she brings forth. You will bear witness to the joys, pains and wonders of the fast moving world realized between these covers. The brother's battles will sit with you as your own. Really, more than a single war, "Of Blood And Brothers" speaks of war all the time.
Gracefully, it allows for redemption, for reconciliation. Full lives are lived here, tragically and happily. I implore you, take this novel and read it, and allow it to come alive inside you.
Share on facebook Share on linkedin Share on twitter Share on email More Sharing Services 0
July 30, 2013
Now Available at Amazon!
The first volume of my two-part Civil War historical, Of Blood and Brothers, is now available at Amazon.com.
Here's the page:
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Brothers-...
Here's the page:
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Brothers-...
July 17, 2013
Mac Rides Again!
Just signed the contracts for the second Mac McClellan Mystery, DEADLY RUSE. Wrapped up Mac #3, DEADLY DUNES, this week. Yesterday I wrote 800-plus word opening of #4, DEADLY SPIRITS. Yay, only 70,000 or so words to go!
July 15, 2013
A Great E-Magazine
Anyone interested in the Civil War will enjoy The Stainless Banner, one of the finest publications on the War I've come across. And subscriptions are free!
Check it out at: www.thestainlessbanner.com
Check it out at: www.thestainlessbanner.com
July 13, 2013
Giveaway
The numbers are growing for the giveaway for Of Blood and Brothers: Book One. Click on the cover to get in on the action. Thanks!
Michael's Musings
The giveaway for my Vietnam memoir, THE PROUD BASTARDS, ends on Halloween! If you'd like to add a signed copy to your Trick or Treat bag, then click on the book's thumbnail which will take you to the
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