Rod Raglin's Blog, page 18
March 29, 2021
The death of love – and what comes after
Review: 
“Ah, so this is what the world looks like from the epicenter of grief–”
Songs for Solo Voice
By James R. Whitley
This quote from Here, one of the poems in James R. Whitley’s Songs for Solo Voice, sums up this entire book of thirty-five poems.
After a second reading, I realized the works reminded me of the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally, acceptance. Though Whitley’s book only has four parts, with a little rearranging and a bit of imagination the poems began to take on a significance for me they didn’t have initially.
The entire collection appears to focus on a failed relationship, the death of love, and begins with works that address anger and bargaining. A stanza from Souvenir says it best, “If I take it all back—the jagged insults hurled like careless daggers, the failing stargazer lilies and their accusations of neglect, every unconscionably late anniversary gift—could there be room left for negotiation?”
In Quite Taken, the bargaining continues for a reprieve from the unrelenting pain: “Does it explain my pleas for mercy that continue long after the church has crumbled to dust around me?”
Depression that comes with loss is expressed in Sostenuto, “No matter how striking the tune, the sound after a song has been sung is no sound at all.”
The suffering continues, but with a glimmer of acceptance with the realization in Here, “is not just where I am, but where I am meant to be.”
Gradually the poems convey a hint of optimism as in Here, Finally, “…there comes a point when you realize that, no matter how long or torturous, no road is your enemy.” By the end of Songs for Solo Voice, the impression is one of reconstruction and working through, “but know that, when it comes to loss, none of us is immune.” (Trembling Deliciously) and “…a game played—however badly, however distressing the ultimate defeat— was an option to win something. (The Inside Story of It)
And finally, in She Hangs Brightly, a declaration of hope; “Trust me when I say you will survive this, despite the difficult music lurking in the background. This is just the music of never-forgetting-her, the score of the rest of your life.”
Whitley uses a number of musical terms, which this reviewer did not understand or initially appreciate. But after looking up their definition found them to be remarkably appropriate in subsequent readings.
When read individually, most of the poems in this collection are exceptional for their raw beauty and intensity. However, as a theme, the bitterness and disappointment, the self-flagellating, and accompanying insecurity become burdensome.
Regret, like worry, is unproductive and tedious
Original post:
rodraglin.booklikes.com/post/4141607/the-death-of-love-and-what-comes-after
March 27, 2021
The Rez: Brutal truth – no blame assigned
Review:
Brutal truth – no blame assigned
The Rez: An American Love Story
By g. Michael Madison
★★★★★
It’s 1956 and the Tulalip Indian Reservation on the coast of northern Washington State is not where Ginny Thomas wants to live, nor is it where she wants her daughter Nikki-D, to be brought up. But it’s where her husband, Nick, is able to get a job managing a small regional bank. Despite her disappointment, the family still lives in the biggest house at the top of Mission Bluffs, looking out over Puget Sound and down on The Rez.
It’s a “them and us” community separated by wealth (or the lack of it), race, and elevation. The Indians stay below near the shoreline. Going where you don’t belong can be met with derision and violence, so it’s not surprising when Jonny, a young Indian boy, climbs the bluffs he’s confronted by two older white kids who set about beating him up. What is surprising is when Nikki-D happens upon this altercation and takes the side of the Indian boy. This chance meeting leads to a life-long friendship that has ramifications that change the perspectives, if not the lives, of both individuals, as well as their families and community.
The Rez: An American Love Story is set in a tumultuous time in America’s history and the characters are impacted by events including the Vietnam War but because of their disparate circumstances, each experiences them differently.
The powerful narrative voice of author g. Michael Madison imparts the story with brutal honesty and authenticity. His use of multiple points of view, not just that of Indians, bestows impartiality to the message. The multitude of characters wash over the reader like an extended family and are depicted not as stereotypical victims or oppressors but as genuine individuals.
Madison addresses prejudice, discrimination, and how the gap between rich and poor affects a community providing advantages for some and denying the opportunity for others, but he does it without assigning blame.
Despite the extremes, the author manages to instill empathy for even the most privileged. There is suffering and success, anxiety and joy despite their situations.
The Rez: An American Love Story, is not only about romantic love, but it’s also about loving yourself, loving your neighbors and community, and even loving your country. It’s about being tolerant and understanding of their flaws and shortcomings and striving to improve all that it entails. The deep humanity depicted by Madison can serve as a guide toward truth and reconciliation with First Nations people by acknowledging that accepting and encouraging diversity neither denies nor diminishes ourselves.
Reviewed by Rod Raglin
Original post:
rodraglin.booklikes.com/post/4138634/the-rez-brutal-truth-no-blame-assigned
March 18, 2021
Mutane Town chilling blend of fact and fiction
Review:
What kind of people would choose to live in such a toxic environment,
even fight to stay there?
What’s wrong with them?
What are they hiding?
It’s 1975 and the American military is about to undertake a two-day top-secret mission. It involves helicopter insertion of a four-man camera crew in full battle gear into a government-ordered abandoned town. Their assignment is to film any evidence of anyone still there, then return and report their findings.
The town is Boston Mills, Ohio.
Chief Corporal Mason Wyatt and his three-man team have been cautioned that those who are left may not appreciate them coming it. In which case they could be armed.
But as far as the unit is concerned, this mission is just routine. After all, this is Ohio, not hillbilly country or Vietnam, and it’s only for 28 hours. It can’t be dangerous. It will be a cakewalk.
But Boston Mills isn’t just another hamlet in the rural Midwest. It’s now known as “Hell Town” and is home to a hazardous waste dump where the nearby river is so polluted it can actually be lit on fire. The poisoned environment smells like sulphur and has propagated mutant weeds that have overrun the landscape growing up through asphalt and blocking roads.
What kind of people would choose to live in such a toxic environment, even fight to stay there? What’s wrong with them? What are they hiding?
Corporal Mason and his team are about to find out.
Mutane Town is Clark Wilkins at his best, blending fact with fiction creating the eerie feeling perhaps the author has some insight into these macabre actual events that are the basis of many of his stories.
His extensive research and use of bona fide findings from government reports give this fast passed story a chilling sense of authenticity. Indeed, as Wilkins points out, what the reports don’t reveal is even more disturbing.
Original post:
rodraglin.booklikes.com/post/4112528/mutane-town-chilling-blend-of-fact-and-fiction
March 12, 2021
Online Reviews – Is it time for an integrity check?
Manipulating book reviews is hurting readers and writers alike.
First, I must disclose I get paid to write book reviews.
I’m contracted by a company that gets paid $200 by the author, publicist, marketing agency, publisher, someone, anyone, to have a book reviewed. They send me a list, I choose the book I want to read and then write an honest review. They pay me 20% or $40.00USD. I’m not told what to write only that it has to be thorough, well-written and between 400 and 450 words.
What’s a bit disconcerting is I don’t own the review, the client who paid for it does. My review goes back to the client and they decide whether or not it gets posted. Not surprising, anything less than four stars gets killed.
But as a writer for hire that’s the deal. Hey, as a journalist I’ve had news stories killed because they offended the publisher’s golfing buddy.
The difficulty I’m having is when it comes to reviews of my own fiction.
I won’t pay for reviews. I know it doesn’t make sense does. I get paid to write reviews of other people’s books, but I won’t pay to have people write reviews of mine. Anyhow, I can’t afford to pay $200 for a bad review, and, yes, at least half of the reviews I get paid to write you wouldn’t be posting on the back cover of your book or highlighting on your author’s website.
As I’m sure you have, I’ve tried many ways to attract reviews, mostly with free books. I ask the recipients to write and post an honest review though less than one percent do and some aren’t favourable.
But let’s talk about those unfavourable reviews.
I’ve learned a lot from well-considered bad reviews and unfortunately, there have been quite a few. I’ve been told my characters are stereotypes, had plot holes pointed out and been condemned for not tying up the loose ends in the denouement. What I’m saying is you can learn from bad reviews, but not if you don’t allow any to be posted.
This brings me to the point, (finally, you say),
of authors collaborating in review exchanges.
When I’ve entered into these collaborations, I’ve frequently been asked to agree not to post our reviews until each of us has had an opportunity to review the review. I’ve agreed on their behalf but suggest they post the review of my work regardless. However, if my review of their book is less than four stars or even has a hint of criticism it’s invariably declined.
The other disconcerting thing is getting a five-star review when it’s apparent the reviewer never read my book. The review is a couple of paragraphs scant on details and big on generalizations like “unique voice”, “great find”, “memorable characters”, “thrilling plotline”.
So, my question is, who is benefitting?
– Certainly not the reader if he or she is buying a book on the strength of the review rating.– Not the author who refuses to accept legitimate criticism thus never improves as a writer.– Not authors who let legitimate criticism stand if they’re compared against bogus good ones.– Not the writing community since the pool of reviews has been poisoned by bogus ones and no longer has any credibility
I understand how important it is to have our work reviewed, but I’m urging you to not only let the opinion of the reviewer be posted regardless of the rating, insist upon it. That will motivate you to improve your craft and also begin to return credibility to the review pool. A fringe benefit may also be keeping your integrity intact, though today that’s becoming more a liability than an asset.
To paraphrase, you can fool some of the readers some of the time. In other words, it’s highly unlikely you’ll achieve a level of real success on the strength of bogus reviews. If you’re going to become truly successful you must first become a good writer. Participating in anything less than ethical reviews won’t help you succeed and you’re making it more difficult for everyone else.
BOYCOTT BOGUS REVIEWS
As a reader and as a writer, I will no longer purchase books I believe have achieved their rating through less than ethical means. If you’re serious about writing I encourage you to consider adopting this policy as I believe it will benefit us all in the long run and face it, it is a long run.
Here are some tips that may indicate
reviews have been less than ethically achieved:
– A new self-published book has a lot of 4-5 star reviews in a short period – 3 months.
– There are more ratings than reviews and all of them are 4-5 stars.
– Do a web search of the reviewer. If it’s a company like Kirkus, then their policy is likely not to publish reviews of less than 4-5 stars.
– There are no bad or even mediocre reviews or ratings.
– Reviews use generic language and don’t address the story. Examples would be “original voice”, “thrilling plotline”, “memorable characters” “great find”.
– Read the preview. Do the reviews reflect the level the author is writing at?
Do we have the courage to do this?
30
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU
Original post:
rodraglin.booklikes.com/post/4090279/online-reviews-is-it-time-for-an-integrity-check
March 1, 2021
Project Renaissance mostly notable for seamless morphing of multiple tropes
Review: 
Project Renaissance: White Wings
by Brian Gates
Booker Vaux and his friend and partner Sam Murphy are best buddies and super cops, you know the kind who wisecrack when facing down violent criminals armed to the teeth intent on killing them and a host of innocent bystanders. Outnumbered, outgunned, they take down the bad guys without even losing their sense of humour.
When Booker’s devoted wife and two loveable kids are kidnapped without motivation or ransom, he and Sam will stop at nothing to get them back. With the help of an anti-establishment hacker who feeds him clues, they set out on a search that includes a prerequisite car chase, numerous shootouts and gruesome murders all leading toward the high-tech mega-maniacal corporate mogul with plans to take over the world by introducing humanoid artificial intelligence who are programmed to do his bidding.
Project Renaissance: White Wings by Brian Gates is notable mostly for the morphing of several genre tropes into one seamless story. The introduction of some imaginative next-generation social technology also has to be appreciated, though unless you’re a gamer or have a keen interest in this area you may find the author’s extended explanations tedious. Plot twists keep the story interesting, but the outcome is never in doubt no matter how impossible it may appear to be.
#books #bookworm #twitterbooks #newbooksnetwork #goodreads #amreading #readingcommunity #booklovers #newfiction #readers #read
Original post:
rodraglin.booklikes.com/post/4060291/project-renaissance-mostly-notable-for-seamless-morphing-of-multiple-tropes
February 26, 2021
Tempest: Poems that provide personal poetic epiphanies.
Review:
You can’t expect in a book of fifty poems that each one is going to speak to you. If the majority do then I would suggest the poet has done a very good job.
In Tempest: Poems, poet, Ryan Meyer didn’t make the cut, but there still are a good number of poems in this collection that are nothing short of astonishing.
Meyer is at his best when he comes at a subject obliquely, understanding coming as a satisfying surprise. Examples, where this is best achieved, are with Flamingo, the weekend, and drinking and dreaming of being somewhere, anywhere else. And again in Straight Bs, “Still, the lights guide me, Inch by inch, to the dance floor, Where glances have evolved Into lower back rubs … It’s dim enough for anyone To be a dance partner.”
Good poets have a way of saying what you already know or have experienced but saying it with originality. Meyer taps into this secret to universal appeal in Somewhere Else, that “…ends up just as disappointing as right here.” And again, in Cavernous where “Even my dreams leave me An anxious mess, feeling as if I’ve missed something, that I Have reason to be worried.”
This originality can also be illustrated in a unique perspective as is the case in On Evolution, where the poet compares his own purpose to that of a caterpillar and worries, “I hope growing wings doesn’t have to hurt”. And then with Long, Long After, a unique reflection of the past “The way everything was Before pie tins on the kitchen table Became ashtrays beneath wrinkled faces”.
Sometimes it’s diction, cleverly choosing the exact words. This is exemplified in A Melancholy Album Cover for a Coffee Shop Artist where Myer nails the affectations of an amateur. He achieves it again in Come Around, with this description “… the women who wouldn’t have Let this go any other way, who stood, Arms crossed, one foot tapping, Eyes staring daggers, unmovable, In the way of all other outcomes.” Unique imagery that resonates on the periphery of your consciousness.
His success is with poems that are not momentous, but just moments, like the heartrending description of the death of a sparrow in No Science to Loneliness.
However, themes of relationship angst, reminiscences of misplaced or wasted youth and existential anguish are too often revisited. They’re accompanied by a lack of intensity along with lots of garden analogies and weather metaphors. A few resemble the self-indulgent verse of adolescents using clichéd phrases like “tear-stained pillows” and “You leave me speechless.”
But despite the shortcomings, Tempest: Poems by Ryan Meyer is worth the read for a handful of jaw-droppers that provide personal poetic epiphanies.
#books #bookworm #twitterbooks
#newbooksnetwork #goodreads #amreading #readingcommunity
#booklovers #newfiction #readers #read
#PoetryCommunity #poetry #poems
Original post:
rodraglin.booklikes.com/post/4051525/tempest-poems-that-provide-personal-poetic-epiphanies
February 7, 2021
Nowhere days
Original post:
rodraglin.booklikes.com/post/3991198/nowhere-days
February 2, 2021
Unexpected Find by Hayleigh Sol
Review:
Unexpected Find
By Hayleigh Sol
★ ★ ★ ★ 4 STARS
Original post:
rodraglin.booklikes.com/post/3978214/unexpected-find-by-hayleigh-sol
January 17, 2021
Free E-book – FOREST – Love, Loss, Legend
FREE E-BOOK
FOREST – Love, Loss, Legend
Free ’til January 19, 2021 at
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU
Matt Bennett grew up in a dying town on the edge of the rainforest on the west coast of Canada. He knows the dark secrets behind that impenetrable wall of green where species can come to life, thrive and die without anyone except God ever knowing they ever existed. Lost gold, lost love and lost hope compels Matt to return home. The Forest is waiting.
As soon as they can they plan to leave behind the small town and small minds of Pitt Landing. They will embrace life and experience the world, maybe even change it.
Man plans, God laughs.
Raminder’s father has a stroke and her commitment to her family means she must postpone her plans and stay in Pitt Lake. It’s just the opposite for Matt. A family tragedy leaves irreconcilable differences between him and his father and forces him to leave. They promise to reunite, but life happens.
Twelve years later, Matt is an acclaimed war correspondent. He’s seen it all and it’s left him with post-traumatic stress, a gastric ulcer, and an enlarged liver. He’s never been back to Pitt Landing though the memory of Raminder and their love has more than once kept him sane.
He’s at his desk in the newsroom, recuperating from his last assignment and current hangover and reading a letter from his father, the first contact they’ve had in over a decade. It talks about a legendary lost gold mine, a map leading to it, and proof in a safety deposit box back in Pitt Lake. He’s sent it to Matt in case something happens to him and cautions his son to keep it a secret.
Matt is about to dismiss the letter when the telephone rings. It’s Raminder telling him his father has disappeared somewhere in the wilderness that surrounds Pitt Lake.
Lost gold, lost love and lost hope compels Matt to return home to Pitt Landing, a dying town on the edge of the rainforest on the west coast of Canada. Will he find any of these, or does something else await him?
Free ’til January 19, 2021 at
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU
#books #bookworm #twitterbooks #newbooksnetwork #goodreads #amreading #readingcommunity #booklovers #newfiction #readers #read #environment #conservation #climatechange #endangeredspecies #habitatdestruction #Interracial #multicultural #environmentalfiction #ecofi #Mystery #romance #Sasquatch
Original post:
rodraglin.booklikes.com/post/3920927/free-e-book-forest-love-loss-legend
January 16, 2021
Free E-book – Abandoned Dreams
ABANDONED DREAMS
Free ‘til Jan. 19 at
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU
Have you ever wondered what dreams you might have fulfilled
if life hadn’t got in the way?
What if you had an opportunity to try again?
At twenty-seven years-old, George Fairweather is “the voice of his generation”, a poet whose talent has garnered him accolades from the literary establishment and homage from the disenfranchised “hippie” youth of the late 1960s.
George is the embodiment of the times with his long hair, rebellious attitude and regular use of mind-expanding psychedelic drugs.
Then the sudden and tragic death of Fallon, his friend, his muse and his lover shatters his world, his sanity and nearly ends his life.
Katherine is the one person who stands between George and destruction. A hanger-on, a groupie, a go-for, she’s a woman George never considered – for anything. Katherine idolizes George and makes it her personal mission to keep him alive, doing whatever it takes, twenty-four seven.
Because of Katherine’s sacrifice and devotion, George slowly begins to mend his soul and rebuild a life. But guilt and gratitude make it a much different life than he’d previously led.
Thirty-seven years later, George Fairweather is a husband, father and grandfather and a successful copywriter at an advertising agency. Another death, his wife Katherine’s, is about to change his life again.
Can dreams be resurrected?
Can a life you’ve abandoned be taken up again?
Is it worth it?
Will they let you?
Abandoned Dreams – Free ’til Jan. 19, 2021at
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU
#books #bookworm #twitterbooks
#newbooksnetwork #goodreads #amreading #readingcommunity
#booklovers #newfiction #readers #read
Original post:
rodraglin.booklikes.com/post/3917269/free-e-book-abandoned-dreams
