Cindy Bauer's Blog: Authors Express Promotion, page 2

Review (Chamberlain) of Novel by Vaughan Rapatahana...

The expatriate award winning New Zealand poet Vaughan Rapatahana has recently extended his writing to the novel. His first work in this domain, Toa, was published in 2013 by Atuanui Press in New Zealand. The latest, Novel was published in August 2018 by Rangitawa Publishing, also in New Zealand. 
The title indicates that it is a “new” novel, although all novels can be seen as “new”, since the word comes from the Latin novum (“new thing”). The cover illustration shows a young child observing an “new” emerging plant.
Novel can clearly be classified as a multiple narrative, a novel where the events experienced by diverse characters are described by a reliable narrator. This results in a challenging but captivating read. There is often a multiplicity of perspectives and the reader has to figure out connections between the various narrative threads.  David Michell’s Cloud Ghostwritten (1999) and Cloud Atlas (2004) are examples of this genre. However, the events in Rapatahana’s Novel are more tautly woven than in other multiple narratives. Several of the characters in Novel are close relations.   
The developing action in Noveltakes us to a variety of settings, from Aotearoa/New Zealand to Hong Kong SAR (“Special Administrative Region”), the Peoples’ Republic of China, the Philippines, Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands) and Laos. The tone of Novelis sardonic, dark and the action is often violent. The diverse characters struggle to survive, either because of poverty, accusations of murder, or oppression from local or foreign powers. 
The chapters (referred to as “parts”) in this 320- page switchback account are relatively short, from 2 to 6 or 7 pages. Each setting is indicated by numbers: 1. Aotearoa/New Zealand; 2. Hong Kong; 3. Philippines; 4. Philippines Sea; 5. Mainland People’s Republic of China  and, towards the end of the novel, 6. Marianas, 7. Okinawa and 8. Laos. The characters tend to move from one setting to another (if they are not dead).  For example, the Māori Norton, the main protagonist, turns up in the Philippines after being suspected of two murders in Aotearoa. 
The sequence of the chapters/sections is original, unlike most novels. Novel begins with an “Afterword” set on a beach in the Marianas,, where the major female character Ruby reflects on her experiences with men, Filipinos, Chinese, American and her last lover, the Māori Norton. “Peace at last”, she thinks. Then, in the first “part” or chapter, the action starts in an Aotearoa slaughter-house. Murder or slaughter? We are not sure. The novel ends with a “Prologue” set in Laos, revealing that Norton had served with a New Zealand undercover infantry platoon supporting the Americans just after the end of the Vietnam War. 
Given the diverse cultures in which the action develops, there are many local expressions, both in dialogues and the narration, including Māori, Tagalog, Cantonese and Mandarin. These snippets of local languages open the reader’s understanding of these cultural settings, e.g. “hindi kona problema iyan” = “not our problem”. A glossary of these expressions is provided at the end of the book.
The main characters include Norton and his lover Ruby, her two previous lovers (her ex-husband Godfrey Woo and the American agent/assassin Dr. Cross), her cousins Canlas and Ivy, Norton’s erstwhile friend, now enemy, Monaghan, the triad leader Ho Fat Kit, the Chinese PLA officer Da Zi, the American agent Walter Wyshnowski and the young Hong Kong militants Lok Yi Yi and Lok Mai Chun. 
The style of Novel follows the tradition of the thriller although with aspects typical of Rapatahana’s other work: short paragraphs, truncated sentences, colloquial expressions, embedded questions from the protagonists and irony. This creates the impression of an oral recount shared by the writer and the characters. 
The tension is skillfully presented. In part 14/1, Norton is suspected of two murders, including that of his wife. He lies down in the long grass near the urupā (cemetery) and mulls over the issues, ruminating on what to do next, with these thoughts:
“It was just that no one could quite work out how and when he had managed to do it, eh.”“And where was the knife?”“Bound to be a punch-up. With him involved somewhere.”“So Norton just sprawled there and waited.”    Short or truncated expressions are used to advance the narrative with urgency, at times with echoes of hard-boiled detective novels such as Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep. In this extract, the deadbeat Godfrey Woo, having abandoned two families and squandered all his money through gambling, is followed by triad hit-men:  “[Godfrey] knew he had to keep on moving.Right now.”
This writing style creates a taut, clear and fast-paced narration. Characters chase down others at the behest of nefarious organizations seeking to eliminate undesirables: these powers that be include Chinese triads, American secret services, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the Aotearoa/New Zealand police, Interpol and the Filipino police. Not to mention those seeking vengeance.
There are several cases where the reader is challenged to determine what is true and what is false. In the “Afterword” section, Ruby thinks she sees Dr Cross, the American hit man she once lived with. But isn’t he dead? Later, we are told that Ruby’s niece Euris has disappeared. Then it appears that she is dead. But how and why?  Other characters make false assumptions.  While driving an old van in Hong Kong, Godfrey Woo thinks he sees a gunman about to shoot Ruby, the wife he abandoned. He drives the van into the gunman and kills him.  However, the gunman was trying to kill her companion Norton and not Ruby. Why? Because Norton has killed Trevor King? Or his wife, Makere? Or someone else? 
These true/false conundrums pepper the novel. Many readers will be galvanized by the sophisticated and many-sided narrative in order to extract the truth.
 Overall, Novel presents a dark vision of the world as it is now, a world where truth is hard to find, where despair promotes violence and where power is imposed through electronic surveillance and the spreading of falsehoods. In Hong Kong, after finding out that he is wanted by Interpol in the Philippines with a huge price on his head, Norton buys a copy of the South China Morning Post. He reads that “Arabs [are] killing Arabs”, “Syrians [are] skewering Syrians”; trained marksmen in the USA are killing their fellow countrymen with guns bought at Walmart. “And Russia [has] invaded Ukraine – once again.”
Norton’s thoughts on this: 
“The World had – somehow – gotten even nuttier than yesterday.
Way crazier than any of those clever dick scriptwriters in Hollywood and Bollywood could ever conjure up, eh?”
Not all the violence and upheavals described in Novel are real current events – for the moment.  In New Zealand/Aotearoa (“the skinny country”) the Māori population has started an uprising against the government, itself having become a police state controlled by foreign interests. America has sent troops to put down the uprising and the Māori dissenters’ forces have been strengthened by Pacific islanders, Māori who have settled in Australia. And of course, the Māori women warriors. 
Novel is an innovative and complex creation, both a thriller with fast-moving pace and a meditation on today’s and tomorrow’s world. It is an absorbing read, a journey to diverse cultures where the reader encounters a disparate group of characters from the desperate struggling to survive, the militants striving to overthrow injustice, the agents of evil trying to destroy them and the many ordinary people caught in the maelstrom. The story weaves back and forth through a multiplicity of unfolding situations both gripping and thought provoking.  
Be afraid. Or not.

Introducing Children's Book: Katie Bear and Friends..

The adventures of Katie Bear and her friends will captivate your child and also teach them some valuable lessons in the process.

Delightfully illustrated by Donna Wulf.
 Amazon Paperback:
https://www.amazon.com/Katie-Bear-Friends-V-K-Sansone/dp/1479175978/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1548210198&sr=8-1&keywords=v+k+sansone



Katie Sansone is the author of ten books, most of which were written for children. She and her husband live in Kentucky. They have two daughters and six grandchildren.
With a passion for storytelling and a very creative imagination, her children's books are for readers ages 7-10, or to be read to children ages 3-6. There's also one just for tweens, ages 11-12.
For the adults, she has two non-fiction works, one of which is a memoir filled with stories, poems, letters and a look into the author's personal life; the other, a very vivid recollection of a dream.
Learn more about Mrs. Sansone and her books at https://www.authorsexpresspromotion.com/katie-sansone

Travel Writer Linda Ballou announces the release of her newest adventure...

Travel Writer Linda Ballou announces the release of her newest adventure - Lost Angel in Paradise: Great Outdoor Days from Los Angeles to the Lost Coast

Escape with Linda Ballou as she takes you on her favorite power-packed outdoor days along the sun-splashed California Coast from Malibu to Mendocino. Let your spirit free strolling long stretches of sand in solitude. Breathe deeply of the restorative energy of fern forests shaded by towering redwood giants. Kick-start creativity while meandering among flower-infused meadows, listening to wind voices off a full-blown sea. Get the rust off your soul and find harmony in nature. When you are done with your hike, tuck into tasty treats at a sweatband-friendly eatery Linda has tested personally. You have earned your calories! Linda implores you to explore, and to seize your day in the “Beauty Way”—a state of harmony in nature that the Navajo call Hozho. These daytrips can be enjoyed by anyone with a modicum of fitness and a spirit of adventure.
Kindle Purchase Link:https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Angel-Paradise-California-Adventures-ebook/dp/B07N32LZ19/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1548703807&sr=1-4&keywords=Linda+Ballou
Lost Angel Website:https://lostangeladventures.com/

Katie Sansone joins Authors Express!

V.K. (Katie) Sansone is the author of nine books, most of which were written for children. She and her husband live in Kentucky. They have two daughters and six grandchildren.
With a passion for storytelling and a very creative imagination, her children's books are for readers ages 7-10, or to be read to children ages 3-6. There's also one just for tweens, ages 11-12.
For the adults, she has two non-fiction works, one of which is a memoir filled with stories, poems, letters and a look into the author's personal life; the other, a very vivid recollection of a dream.

JENNIFER ROBINS announces the release of her newest novel, Emily's Other Face

Jennifer Robinstook up writing about the paranormal after a long time in the business world. She attended Cuyahoga Community College in Ohio (TriC). Her interest in the unexplained we live with has taken her to some intense research of many intriguing subjects. These findings have inspired her to write the stories she puts into words for others to enjoy. She lives with her husband and a few wonderful pets, spends time with her grown family, loves to write, paint in oils and play the piano.
Jennifer has authored over 20 novels. Visit Jennifer to learn more at www.jenniferrobins.com

What's happening while she sleeps? Could she be sleep walking, or is there something sinister going on? She was told by a doctor, she has multiple personalities but there is another unexpected surprise for her about what's been happening to her. It will take a gifted Psychic to help her find out.
Now available at Amazon.
Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Emilys-Other-Face-Jennifer-Robins/dp/1983272388/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1547339053&sr=1-1&keywords=emily%27s+other+face+by+jennifer+robins
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Emilys-Other-Face-Jennifer-Robins-ebook/dp/B07DD44GMN/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1547339053&sr=1-1



Authors Express Promotion http://authorsexpresspromotion.com authorsexpresspromotion@gmail.com

Coming Soon: Sweet Abandon by Phyllis Langton...

Coming Soon....
Sweet Abandon:

What is it like to be born and face life when nobody wants you so they give you away? SWEET ABANDON is a story of how I was affected by my unwed mother’s abandonment of me at birth during the Great Depression. It is a story of how I found my way in the world without having known a mother-daughter relationship, without a father, and without a home. Teachers and librarians nurtured me towards a lifetime of achieving.
It is a story about my mother, who dipped in and out of my life starting when I was already in my teens. When my older sister died at age fifty-seven in 1987, my mother needed me to console her and care for her until her death, eight years later.
It is a story of how my mother’s choices inspired me to be more than I otherwise would have been; and how years after her death, I learned about the mother who abandoned me. I learned that she, too, was abandoned by her family as an unwed mother at age twenty. Ever after, she lived a life of secrets and lies. I was one of them. 

During March 2017, Langton was a Resident Fellow at the Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences, Rabun Gap, Georgia, working on the final revision of SWEET ABANDON: An Orphan’s Life Amid Secrets and Lies - A story about families that live with secrets and lies grounded in shame.
In the summer, Dr. Langton volunteers at Camp-to-Belong in Georgia at the Roosevelt estate working with children who have been separated from their siblings early in life. The children spend a week together in June with their siblings, some whom they meet for the first time at camp. It is a great program.
From 2007 to 2010, she published chapters in eight anthologies published by Wising Up Press, Georgia. The stories drew from Last Light Out and my current memoir, Sweet Abandon. In 2010, she co-edited one anthology with Heather Tosteson and Charles Brockett-owners of Wising Up Press: View from the Bed, View from the Bedside. Knowledge for this anthology drew from my years as a Registered Nurse and as a Medical Sociologist.
Website: http://phyllisalangton.com
"Words are my passion. It began as a young child when I lived in foster homes and a Children’s Home during the Great Depression in the 1930s and continued through the 1940s. I learned to write and tell stories to anyone who would listen as a way to connect with the people in my life. I didn’t understand why my friends and schoolmates lived a different life from mine: pretty clothes, bicycles, parents who picked them up in big, black cars, while I wore second-hand clothes and walked everywhere.
My writing passion flourished during the early 1950s, when as a student nurse, I learned to write narrative non-fiction in the form of 'nurse’s notes' on patients' charts that described in detail: how the wound smelled and the color of the wound drainage. Again, the medium was words.
My next writing journey began in the 1960s with my graduate education to earn a PhD in Sociology where the predominant medium was numbers. I learned a new form of thinking and writing that was heavily focused on the manipulation of quantitative data. Writing science was a challenge because I preferred words to numbers. But I accepted the challenge and evolved into a social science researcher, publishing books and articles as an academic sociologist. But my thirst for narrative non-fiction remained. This hunger led me to my current journey: creative non–fiction.
Early in 2000, my husband showed physical signs of a severe neurological disease: hand tremors, facial tremors, and slightly slurred speech. I began writing a journal of my observations. On Friday the 13th, 2000, he was diagnosed with ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. I continued this journal throughout our journey. Journaling exposed me to myself. I found that sometimes I wanted the dying to happen sooner so I didn’t have to watch his pain and he would be free of this ugly disease, but then he would be free of me. The contradictions loomed large during the journey we shared."

Last Flight Out: Living, Loving, & Leaving
How do you live the rest of your life when your doctor says, “You have Lou Gehrig’s disease, you probably have six months to live. Go out and have fun, do all the things you’ve wanted to do while you still can and prepare to die?”
Americans continue to fear death and dying. Comedian Woody Allen said, “I’m not afraid of death, I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” Phyllis Langton’s memoir, Last Flight Out: Living, Loving, & Leaving , is a passionate love story, one that deepens as she and her husband George Thomas live their way into the experience of ALS, its unremitting losses and its surprising gifts, with dignity, keen humor, a fighter pilot’s courage and a nurse’s unsentimental pragmatism. 
“I know what’s going to be on my death certificate. That’s more than you can say,” George tells her after receiving his diagnosis. 
How they are going to live the time that remains to them as a couple is also not in question, for they are equally committed to savoring every minute, respecting George Thomas's choices about what makes for a meaningful life, a meaningful death.  
Supporting her husband's wishes is a moral as well as emotional choice on Langton's part, and definitely not always an easy one. As a medical sociologist, she invites her readers into an open discussion of some of these choices through a thoughtful discussion guide.  Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

"Phyllis Langton has had as illustrious a career as anyone in academia, but she has taken infinite pains now to write a different kind of book. Her story of her husband's life with and death from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) yields many a valuable lesson, but this lesson above all: that dying, whatever its pains, can be both a negative and a positive experience. Here love and mortality, laughter and sorrow are all but inseparable, and their inseparability may help lessen a reader's fear of death and dying. Anyone who enjoys a deeply moving story will want to read this wondrous, indispensable book, and anybody who faces adversity, that is to say everybody, will need to read it." Jeffery Paine––author of Father India, Re-enchantment, Adventures with the Buddha, and Tales of Wonder (with Huston Smith). Judge for the Pulitzer Prize and former vice-president of the National Book Critics Circle.
"Like many others, I've not been comfortable with the subject of death––the death of my loved ones or myself. How lucky we humans are to have Phyllis Langton's story as part of our lives. This moving book has allowed me to look death in the eye, and even find a way to laugh about it. Langton shows us that deep love and laughter make the sorrow and loss bearable, paving the way for this ultimate journey and beyond. . . ."
Jill Breckenridge––author of The Gravity of Flesh and Miss Priss and the Con Man.
“I couldn't put Last Flight Out down. I wanted it to go on so I could learn more about Phyllis and George and their story about facing ALS together. George had a terminal disease and he and Phyllis chose to live and love to the fullest! What an incredible message to read especially with a disease that takes and takes.”
Sharon J. Matland, R.N., M.B.A.––Vice-President of Patient Services, The ALS Association
“Who would have thought that disease can be a page-turner? But Phyllis Langton's bittersweet memoir of her fighter-pilot husband's last years shows that a good marriage can be as joyous in sickness as it is in health. Last Flight Out is a vivid, sparkling story about facing death with grace and high spirits.”
Mark Weston—author of Giants of Japan and Prophets and Princes: Saudi Arabia From Muhammad to the Present.
“Last Flight Out really touched my heart. As the hospice physician who cared for George, I found the description of the denial of his symptoms extremely compelling and riveting and it taught me to appreciate more deeply the psychological defenses which patients use to protect themselves against the perception of their own vulnerabilities. In addition, this memoir reminds all who read it of the paramount need to honor and respect a patient's wishes to control the conditions of care and medical treatment. George achieved a wonderful peace of mind as his disease relentlessly progressed. Everyone should be so fortunate to have such a resourceful and loving advocate for their partner.”
Dr. Henry Willner––Hospice Physician and Palliative Care Consultant, Capital Hospice.
Authors Express Promotion www.authorsexpresspromotion.com cindybauer@authorsexpresspromotion.com

Willie Wideman-Pleasants announces her latest book release, Stretching the Truth

Willie Wideman-Pleasants is an  author, poet, producer, speaker and cable show host. 



Her books are conversational, easy-reads for the hurry up world. Each book is comprised of educational, entertaining, uplifting, and thought-provoking short stories and poems. Her main goal is to encourage reading and inspire with her spoken word.
She is the producer and host of her own Boston Neighborhood Network (BNN) cable television show called "Willie's Web." She interviews other authors and artists to share their journey. 
As a volunteer Team Leader for a program called Jumpstart, she inspires three and four-year-old children to help build crucial learning skills.

As a facilitator for the Olli program at the University of Mass, Boston, she uses her books in her class, "Story telling at Tea." The goal is to inspire new readers. 
For more information, visit www.awb6.com. Her books are available in paperback format Amazon.com.


Stretching the Truth
Relax with this easy-read book of short stories and poems. They contain laughter, mystery, and deception. It's thought-provoking themes will have you recalling special events in your life.  Paperback


Make Truth a Habit
Have a cupful of short stories with a dash of adversities, and a spoonful of the truth, served with uplifting and spiritual poems. The author's life and those around her inspired both.
Paperback


Ain't That the Truth
A collection of short stories and spiritual poems inspired by the author's life and those around her.
Paperback








Authors Express Promotion http://authorsexpresspromotion.comauthorsexpresspromotion@gmail.com

VAUGHAN RAPATAHANA announces the release of his newest book, NOVEL...

Vaughan Rapatahana commutes between Hong Kong SAR, the Philippines and Aotearoa New Zealand. He is widely published in several genres in Māori, English and other languages. He was a semi-finalist in the Proverse Prize for Literature in 2009, highly commended in the 2013 erbacce-prize for poetry from more than 6000 entries, and won the inaugural Proverse Poetry prize in 2016, the same year as his poetry collection Atonement was nominated for a National Book Award in the Philippines. His latest poetry collection is ternion (erbacce-press, Liverpool, England). Vaughan has a PhD in existential philosophy from the University of Auckland on the novels of Colin Wilson, whom he has written extensively about and lectured at the Wilson conference in Nottingham in July, 2018. Vaughan is also a language critic and instigated and co-edited English language as Hydra and Why English? Confronting the Hydra (Multilingual Matters, UK, 2012, 2016). He has also written commentaries for Jacket2 (University of Pennsylvania), including a 2015–2016 series and a new series currently in progress.
Rapatahana has authored or co-authored over 30 books.
Website: http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/Writers/Profiles/Rapatahana,%20Vaughan

A violent murder in a rural New Zealand slaughterhouse is the catalyst for a series of fast moving events that ultimately have geopolitical consequences. The rapidly developing action of 'Novel' straddles Aotearoa New Zealand, Hong Kong SAR, Phillipines and beyond. In our contemporary world of increasing electronic surveillance from hegemonic national administrations, several diverse characters struggle to survive and to resist in a variety of ways. At the same time the so-called established methods of writing fiction undergo deconstruction.
Available now in paperback or kindle at Amazon. 


Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Novel-Vaughan-Rapatahana/dp/0995104662/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1546548263&sr=1-1&keywords=9780995104662
Kindle:https://www.amazon.com/Novel-Vaughan-Rapatahana-ebook/dp/B07HDFTFVQ
Authors Express Promotionhttp://authorsexpresspromotion.comauthorsexpresspromotion@gmail.com

Stretching the Truth by Willie Wideman-Pleasants

Relax with this easy-read book of short stories and poems. They contain laughter, mystery, and deception. Its thought-provoking themes will have you recalling special events in your life.



Available in paperback at Amazon.


Paperback:https://www.amazon.com/Stretching-Truth-Willie-Wideman-Pleasants/dp/1495810267/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1547619589&sr=8-2&keywords=willie+pleasants 

The Cowgirl Jumped Over the Moon by Linda Ballou

Gemcie and her Irish Hunter, Marshal, are about to capture the World Cup when a nasty fall dashes their chances. While she is mending, her arch rival seizes this opportunity to catch a ride on Marshal, and to seduce her young husband. Confused and dazed by her new circumstances, Gemcie heads for the high Sierras hoping the majestic spires that captured the heart of the father she never met will provide the answers she seeks. She finds strength and solace riding solo on the John Muir Trail, but a bear attack ends her time of introspection and places her in the care of a solitary cowboy manning a fire lookout. Brady shows her love and gives her the courage to get back in the saddle. Haunted by images of Marshal being abused by his owners, Gemcie returns to rescue him and fly high with him once more. Ballou’s prose gallops ahead at breakneck speed as she takes you along on this wild ride.







Available now in paperback, kindle or audiobook.
Paperback:https://www.amazon.com/Cowgirl-Jumped-Over-Moon/dp/1512009342/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= 
Kindle:https://www.amazon.com/Cowgirl-Jumped-Over-Moon-ebook/dp/B00ZCPF45O/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= 
Audiobook: https://www.amazon.com/Cowgirl-Jumped-Over-Moon/dp/B076BVR4L4/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=