Rod Raglin's Blog, page 6

For a journalist, credibility is everything – and Matt’s about to compromise his.

Read another excerpt from The Thin White Line – A racially charged novel of political suspense, domestic terrorism and murder. Watch for the release date here.

https://bubli.sh/g9Y21cX

https://bubli.sh/g9Y21cX

#amreading #readingcommunity #readers #newfiction #politics #race #action #suspense #murder #publishing

Stuck in a rut? Consider reinventing yourself.

Read another excerpt from my soon to be released novel The Thin White Line – Culture War with Deadly Consequences. A racially charged novel of political suspense, domestic terrorism and murder. httphttps://bublish.com/bubble/stream/rodraglin/the-thin-white-line-36566?share=fb#

#amreading #readingcommunity #readers #newfiction #politics #race #action #suspense #murder #publishing

Meniere’s – A Love Story, my creative non-fiction published in Storytellers’ True Stories About Family

Meniere’s – A Love Story, is my creative non-fiction published in Storytellers’ True Stories About Family, a new anthology by Chicago Story Press, Inc.

“Being in love is not only about what you gain,

it’s also about what you’re willing to abandon.”

Now available on Amazon

Fight or flight? Another excerpt from The Thin White Line

Read another excerpt from my soon to be released novel The Thin White Line – Culture War with Deadly Consequences. A racially charged novel of political suspense, domestic terrorism and murder. https://bubli.sh/p5X09qM

#amreading #readingcommunity #readers #newfiction #politics #race #action #suspense #murder #publishing

The unofficial video of the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival streamside lantern display

The Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival is “A fusion of art, nature, and community. This month-long festival celebrates the Harvest Moon, Still Creek, local art, and the diverse cultural traditions of Vancouver’s Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhood.” These images were taken at the Streamside Lanterns display.

Do you think marginalized authors get preferential treatment from publishers?

Matt didn’t either until he began submitting his novel and noticed submissions pages openly giving priority to those who identified as BIPOC, LGBTQ+ or other groups. The assumption was that prejudice in the publishing community had prevented these authors from getting their work published.

But was that the case?

Being an investigative reporter as well as an author he did the research and discovered the opposite was true. As a percentage of the population, it was white authors who were discriminated against.

 All this was backed up with facts and links as listed at the bottom of the article he was about to send to the daily newspaper.

But what about blowback – from the literary community, the public at large and his wife specifically, a celebrated BIPOC author about to start a book tour for her highly acclaimed third collection of short stories?

The Thin White Line

A racially charged novel of political suspense, domestic terrorism and murder.

Watch for the release date here.

Read and excerpt at https://bubli.sh/8bkYcK7

Indian Summer published in Highland Park Poetry

You can also view this on the Highland Park Poetry Facebook page at

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1093855998997133&set=a.579194347129970

The Mattie Saunders Series and its link to Ara Manzanillo

Mattie Saunders, the protagonist in my five book Mattie Saunders Series, loves birds but has little time for people. A childhood spent in one foster home after another has made her wary of commitment as evidenced by an absence of close friends and difficulty with intimate relationships. Instead, she’s filled her life rescuing and rehabilitating exotic birds people buy as pets and then abandoned.

Her lifelong companion has been one of her rescues, a Blue and Gold Macaw named Pickles. Over the course of the first four books, Pickles has stood by her through triumphs and tragedies, but how natural is it for a bird to live its entire life in captivity when that life can be as long as 50 years.

At the beginning of book 5 (The Flock – available on Amazon), Mattie has decided to rewild Pickles. However, rewilding involves more than opening the cage door and letting the bird out especially if it has only experienced life as a pampered pet.

To understand what’s involved in breeding, raising and rewilding Macaws my research led me to Ara Manzanillo and their amazing program to reintroduce the Great Green Macaws their native habitat in Costa Rica’s Caribbean corridor.

Starting in 2010, Ara Manzanillo has contributed approximately 100 Great Green Macaws to the free flying population, increasing the country’s Great Green populations by 40% and the population by 10%. Few conservation projects have had such significant impact on the comeback of a species in grave danger of extinction.

This breeding season they welcomed to the world seven new chicks!

Ara Manzanillo is a Costa Rican licensed, non-profit organization with government oversight. The project was also designated as being of national public interest in Costa Rica. The project is professionally staffed and works in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment.

For more information visit their website at https://aramanzanillo.org/ or their Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075604910711

#macaws @aramanzanillo #parrots#romance#action#birds

#birdlovers #amreading #readingcommunity

#FreeEbook. Abandoned Dreams

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?

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 Aug, 22 at https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU

during the Summer Backlist Blowout 2024

#amreading #readingcommunity #readers #romance #oldermanyoungerwoman #art #poetry #creativity

FreeEbook. The Bird Witch – Mattie Saunders Book 3

Can you love someone whose worldview is different from yours, someone who keeps secrets? Someone who is committed to a cause that excludes you because of your race.
Simon is an indigenous person committed to the First Nation causes. Mattie loves him, but is love enough?

Free til Aug, 18 at https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU
during the Summer Backlist Blowout 2024

#amreading #readingcommunity #readers #interracial #romance #action #politics #drugcartels #Indigenouspeople #exoticbirds #conservation