Rolf Margenau's Blog, page 3
December 21, 2016
Reviewers Needed
This is to ask whether any of my friends would be interested in reading and reviewing the second edition of my novel about a young man growing up during the Korean War. When first published five years ago, The New York Review of Books called it a "modern Candide. Warm and funny. Veterans and adult readers love it."
Publishers Weekly said, "The sense of place he (Margenau) creates is strong and true. He also ably fleshes out his supporting characters and brings the disparate elements of his plot to a satisfactory conclusion."
The second edition of the book includes recently disclosed information, and scenes and observations drawn from the comments of many veteran readers. Since the second edition has an ISBN number different from the first, Amazon and other sellers can’t refer to reviews from the first edition. Hence, the need for fresh reviews.
Critics have called the story “CANDIDE meets MASH.” A curious, bright, but naïve young man arrives as an infantryman during the bloody conflict of the Korean War. Every indication is that he has limited chances for survival. Wylie Cypher is recruited to join the staff of a Division Public Information Office (PIO) where he reports on many aspects of the conflict. He uses his infantry training in bloody combat, makes many colorful new friends, learns how to maneuver through the military system, finds love and loss, and grows up in the turmoil of combat and the war’s aftermath.
Veterans have hailed the story as accurate, believable, touching, funny, and “the way it really was.”
The story is based on my experiences, careful historical research, and the 300 letters I sent my future wife from Korea. The story touches on prisoner of war experiences on both sides of the DMZ, the armistice, realistic scenes of combat, the many United Nations forces engaged in the war, and poignant and funny aspects of military service.
Please contact me at rolf@frogworks.com and I'll forward a copy.
Publishers Weekly said, "The sense of place he (Margenau) creates is strong and true. He also ably fleshes out his supporting characters and brings the disparate elements of his plot to a satisfactory conclusion."
The second edition of the book includes recently disclosed information, and scenes and observations drawn from the comments of many veteran readers. Since the second edition has an ISBN number different from the first, Amazon and other sellers can’t refer to reviews from the first edition. Hence, the need for fresh reviews.
Critics have called the story “CANDIDE meets MASH.” A curious, bright, but naïve young man arrives as an infantryman during the bloody conflict of the Korean War. Every indication is that he has limited chances for survival. Wylie Cypher is recruited to join the staff of a Division Public Information Office (PIO) where he reports on many aspects of the conflict. He uses his infantry training in bloody combat, makes many colorful new friends, learns how to maneuver through the military system, finds love and loss, and grows up in the turmoil of combat and the war’s aftermath.
Veterans have hailed the story as accurate, believable, touching, funny, and “the way it really was.”
The story is based on my experiences, careful historical research, and the 300 letters I sent my future wife from Korea. The story touches on prisoner of war experiences on both sides of the DMZ, the armistice, realistic scenes of combat, the many United Nations forces engaged in the war, and poignant and funny aspects of military service.
Please contact me at rolf@frogworks.com and I'll forward a copy.
December 10, 2016
Second edition of my Korean War novel here soon.
In 2011 I published Public Information, a story about a young man coming of age during this bloody and almost forgotten war. It became an Amazon best seller that summer, encouraging me to write three more novels. Many veterans of that war were generous with their comments, mostly positive, and some shared anecdotes of their own. Since then, new historical information (Japanese confirmation of their use of Korean “comfort women” and corruption in Syngman Rhee’s government, for example) has become known.
There is a rumor that Public Information is slightly autobiographical since some of it is based on the 300+ letters I wrote to my future wife when I was in Korea. This I neither confirm nor deny. However, the other veterans’ comments and new information refreshed old memories and, last year, I considered revising the novel to include new material.
Editing took longer than I expected. Beside adding fresh material, I needed to look again at the characters born five years ago, add dimension when needed and cut things that bogged down the narrative. Then my editor, proofreader and printer added a few more months.
However, the second edition will be available in about two weeks. The Midwest Book review said the first edition was “a fine read well worth considering for historical fiction collections.” And a fan, Ford Fifty-Six, called it “a new perspective on the military, war, love, journalism, humor and youth. Enjoy.”
In addition to blood and guts, glory and honor, the novel has accuracy, realism, and humor. Lots of humor. Veterans say it “tells it like it was.” The novel also explains the origins and history of the war, and is dedicated to the tens of thousands of GI's who served there. My hope is that younger readers will gain entertaining knowledge of this distant conflict and will wonder, as I do, why it cost the lives of over thirty-five thousand young Americans.
There is a rumor that Public Information is slightly autobiographical since some of it is based on the 300+ letters I wrote to my future wife when I was in Korea. This I neither confirm nor deny. However, the other veterans’ comments and new information refreshed old memories and, last year, I considered revising the novel to include new material.
Editing took longer than I expected. Beside adding fresh material, I needed to look again at the characters born five years ago, add dimension when needed and cut things that bogged down the narrative. Then my editor, proofreader and printer added a few more months.
However, the second edition will be available in about two weeks. The Midwest Book review said the first edition was “a fine read well worth considering for historical fiction collections.” And a fan, Ford Fifty-Six, called it “a new perspective on the military, war, love, journalism, humor and youth. Enjoy.”
In addition to blood and guts, glory and honor, the novel has accuracy, realism, and humor. Lots of humor. Veterans say it “tells it like it was.” The novel also explains the origins and history of the war, and is dedicated to the tens of thousands of GI's who served there. My hope is that younger readers will gain entertaining knowledge of this distant conflict and will wonder, as I do, why it cost the lives of over thirty-five thousand young Americans.
October 26, 2016
Bargain Thriller
Early notice! This high octane thriller set in the Andes mountains of Peru in 1980 is a Kindle countdown beginning at 99 cents on October 27th.
Burned out lawyer, Wylie Cypher, plans a trekking vacation with his daughter—trying to get in touch with lost youth and recover from a failed marriage. Instead, he discovers secret information about the government’s murderous program of “disappearances.” He tries to escape Lima with that information, intending to deliver it to the CIA.
His path to safety is by trekking over the high Andes. But, he is tracked by Government thugs and Shining Path killers. Will he make it across the treacherous Cordillera Blanca? And what about his daughter, Mercy? Featuring murder, mayhem, duplicity, the CIA, and a 500-year-old child mummy.
Burned out lawyer, Wylie Cypher, plans a trekking vacation with his daughter—trying to get in touch with lost youth and recover from a failed marriage. Instead, he discovers secret information about the government’s murderous program of “disappearances.” He tries to escape Lima with that information, intending to deliver it to the CIA.
His path to safety is by trekking over the high Andes. But, he is tracked by Government thugs and Shining Path killers. Will he make it across the treacherous Cordillera Blanca? And what about his daughter, Mercy? Featuring murder, mayhem, duplicity, the CIA, and a 500-year-old child mummy.
October 21, 2016
Bargain High Andes thriller
Your patient wait has been rewarded. The high octane thriller set in the Andes mountains of Peru in 1980 is a Kindle countdown beginning at 99 cents on October 27th.
Burned out lawyer, Wylie Cypher, plans a trekking vacation with his daughter—trying to get in touch with lost youth and recover from a failed marriage. Instead, he discovers secret information about the government’s murderous program of “disappearances.” He tries to escape Lima with that information, intending to deliver it to the CIA.
His path to safety is by trekking over the high Andes. But, he is tracked by Government thugs and Shining Path killers. Will he make it across the treacherous Cordillera Blanca? And what about his daughter, Mercy? Featuring murder, mayhem, duplicity, the CIA, and a 500-year-old child mummy.
Burned out lawyer, Wylie Cypher, plans a trekking vacation with his daughter—trying to get in touch with lost youth and recover from a failed marriage. Instead, he discovers secret information about the government’s murderous program of “disappearances.” He tries to escape Lima with that information, intending to deliver it to the CIA.
His path to safety is by trekking over the high Andes. But, he is tracked by Government thugs and Shining Path killers. Will he make it across the treacherous Cordillera Blanca? And what about his daughter, Mercy? Featuring murder, mayhem, duplicity, the CIA, and a 500-year-old child mummy.
September 15, 2016
Bargain Master Gardener
For the next few days, my novel about magic seeds, corrupt BIG AG, Master Gardeners, and saving the Monarch butterfly is on sale at Amazon for the ridiculously low price of 99 cents. This books is for all who love our environment and enjoy laughing. The sale lasts only four more days!
September 8, 2016
Correction about National Parks
National Parks, number one in amazon's political satire category, is briefly available for reviewers at Choosy Bookworm here: https://choosybookworm.com/read-revie...
Just released and receiving plenty of favorable buzz, this is a funny book about a serious issue--how congress is screwing up our country through inaction and ignorance. It is also feminist (three strong women warriors involved) and, as one reviewer has said, " is a snidely, snarkily, sarcastic, satire denoting improbably delightful answers to the question of how to turn things around before it's too late for all of us."
Just released and receiving plenty of favorable buzz, this is a funny book about a serious issue--how congress is screwing up our country through inaction and ignorance. It is also feminist (three strong women warriors involved) and, as one reviewer has said, " is a snidely, snarkily, sarcastic, satire denoting improbably delightful answers to the question of how to turn things around before it's too late for all of us."
September 7, 2016
Free book to review
National Parks, number one in amazon's political satire category, is briefly available for reviewers at Underground Book Reviews, here: https://choosybookworm.com/read-revie...
Just released and receiving plenty of favorable buzz, this is a funny book about a serious issue--how congress is screwing up our country through inaction and ignorance. It is also feminist (three strong women warriors involved) and, as one reviewer has said, " is a snidely, snarkily, sarcastic, satire denoting improbably delightful answers to the question of how to turn things around before it's too late for all of us."
Just released and receiving plenty of favorable buzz, this is a funny book about a serious issue--how congress is screwing up our country through inaction and ignorance. It is also feminist (three strong women warriors involved) and, as one reviewer has said, " is a snidely, snarkily, sarcastic, satire denoting improbably delightful answers to the question of how to turn things around before it's too late for all of us."
August 12, 2016
National Parks Scores
Very pleased to discover that National Parks was the number one seller in Kindle’s political humor department, and surprised that it ranked 67th in Children’s eBooks.
• #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Political
• #67 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Children's eBooks
I’ve known for some time that children and dogs treated me as an equal, but this is the first time I realized children enjoyed political satire. Or, is it their parents who satisfy their hunger for humor by reading it to their children (leaving out the nasty bits, of course).
The book is still available for a paltry $2.99, here: https://www.amazon.com/National-Parks...
No guarantees, but if children, dogs and large people like the book, you might too.
• #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Political
• #67 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Children's eBooks
I’ve known for some time that children and dogs treated me as an equal, but this is the first time I realized children enjoyed political satire. Or, is it their parents who satisfy their hunger for humor by reading it to their children (leaving out the nasty bits, of course).
The book is still available for a paltry $2.99, here: https://www.amazon.com/National-Parks...
No guarantees, but if children, dogs and large people like the book, you might too.
August 8, 2016
FREE eBook - National Parks
In a rare moment of generosity, Amazon is giving away FREE copies of my latest novel, National Parks. It won't last long. Go here
https://www.amazon.com/National-Parks...
If you download it and like it, would it kill you to post a short review? I didn't think so.
Love, Rolf
https://www.amazon.com/National-Parks...
If you download it and like it, would it kill you to post a short review? I didn't think so.
Love, Rolf
May 23, 2016
National Parks finally here!
Finally, my National Parks novel is available to all fans of dystopian, satirical send-ups of the beltway culture. Hard to imagine since Donny T. Rump's ascendancy has almost single-handedly killed satire. Nevertheless, for the astonishingly low price of $2.99 (breaks down to .05 cents per belly laugh, .025 cents per guffaw, and .02 cents per snicker) the eBook can be found on amazon
Here's more information about the book:
In the near future, the San Andreas Fault ruptures, sending Los Angeles beneath the Pacific Ocean, the Midwest is gripped by famine, and massive gates keep the Potomac River from flooding the Capitol. Congress, through gridlock, inactivity, and disastrous economic policies, has brought the nation to the brink of bankruptcy. As a way to generate enough money to avoid default, Congress plans to sell the national parks to the highest bidders. Three strong women intend to stop them.
This is a delicious satirical send-up of the beltway culture, a paean to our national parks, and an exposition of characters, hilarious, irritating, and very human, who struggle in the Washington web. The author predicts how new inventions will affect our future lives and mixes noble and base characters in a froth of comic conflict.
There are a lobbyist with a secret toe fetish, a computer genius who creates an x-rated video avatar game, a Chinese gangster looking for respectability, an industrialist intending to dam the Grand Canyon and sell high-priced water to California, corrupt legislators, and, of course, lusty heroines, birth, death, and betrayal . In other words, business as usual.
Here's more information about the book:
In the near future, the San Andreas Fault ruptures, sending Los Angeles beneath the Pacific Ocean, the Midwest is gripped by famine, and massive gates keep the Potomac River from flooding the Capitol. Congress, through gridlock, inactivity, and disastrous economic policies, has brought the nation to the brink of bankruptcy. As a way to generate enough money to avoid default, Congress plans to sell the national parks to the highest bidders. Three strong women intend to stop them.
This is a delicious satirical send-up of the beltway culture, a paean to our national parks, and an exposition of characters, hilarious, irritating, and very human, who struggle in the Washington web. The author predicts how new inventions will affect our future lives and mixes noble and base characters in a froth of comic conflict.
There are a lobbyist with a secret toe fetish, a computer genius who creates an x-rated video avatar game, a Chinese gangster looking for respectability, an industrialist intending to dam the Grand Canyon and sell high-priced water to California, corrupt legislators, and, of course, lusty heroines, birth, death, and betrayal . In other words, business as usual.
