Olga Núñez Miret's Blog: Author Translator Olga, page 64

#Bookreviews THE ART OF EXILE. A VAGABOND LIFE by John Freely (@ibtauris) An Extraordinary Life Dedicated to Knowledge, Travel and Writing

Hi all:

As you know on Fridays I share new books and writers (today more than usual, but it’s a busy month). John Freely is not a new writer, far from it, but this is the first book I read by him and I expect now that I’ve discovered him, it won’t be the last one. In case you want to check a bit about him, you can check in Wikipedia or all his books (so far) in Amazon.

The Art of Exile. A Vagabond Life by Dr John Freely
The Art of Exile. A Vagabond Life. By John Freely

As you set out for Ithaka Hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery… ‘ Constantine P. Cavafy. By the time he was six, John Freely had crossed the Atlantic four times. His childhood was spent on the mean streets of 1930s Brooklyn, where he scavenged for junk to sell and borrowed money for books; his first love being Homer’s Odyssey. He was 15 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and 17 when he enlisted in the US Navy and embarked on the first great adventure of his life: joining a clandestine unit that helped the Kuomintang fight the Japanese. He served for two years, 96 days in combat and a total of 344 days overseas, which sparked a lifelong passion for travel. Returning home after the war, Freely fell in love with a beautiful girl who sang the blues. His own Penelope. Together they signed a blood pact to spend their life travelling the world. This unforgettable memoir takes the reader from the streets of New York to the corridors of provincial campus life; from World War II in the Pacific to the shores of the Bosphorus and from Ancient Troy to the isles of Dionysus and Ariadne. It is the story of a remarkable odyssey that has spanned nine decades, several continents and one great love. And still the odyssey continues, “as I ponder the meaning of an Ithaka and of exile as an art that takes a lifetime to master.”

Description

John Freely is a renowned travel writer and, as the first to popularise the history of Turkey and the Ottoman Empire for a general audience, he is one of our last great globe-trotting storytellers. After returning home from WW2 aged just 19, he fell in love with a beautiful girl who sang the blues. His own Penelope. Together they signed a blood pact to spend their life travelling the world.

This unforgettable memoir takes the reader from the streets of New York to the corridors of provincial campus life; from World War II in the Pacific to the shores of the Bosphorus and from Ancient Troy to the isles of Dionysus and Ariadne. It is the story of a remarkable odyssey that has spanned nine decades, several continents and one great love.

Advance Praise

“Imagine Zorba the Greek as a wandering Irishman from Brooklyn and you have the beginnings of John Freely. His odyssey has been a wild ride across continents, a microcosm of modern history. Freely is a born storyteller and an expert on everything from mysticism to physics to the back streets of Athens, Istanbul and Venice. The only danger of reading this book is envy for such a dazzling life.” – Stephen Kinzer

“John Freely provides a wonderful portrait of Istanbul and Athens in their bohemian heyday” – Philip Mansel

My review

Thanks to Net Galley and to I.B.Tauris for offering me a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I wish (like many of us) I was more of a traveller, but when I received an e-mail about this book, a memoir of sorts of John Freely, I was interested for many reasons. Although I hadn’t read his books, I’m always interested in books about writers (professional deformation, I guess). He’s written extensively about travelling, and as I said before I have a long list of places I’d love to visit, among them many Dr Freely has written about (and I’m always happy to be inspired and encouraged to take up more travel). And the title of the book, ‘the art of exile’ appealed to me because I’ve lived away from my own country for many years and I always feel an affinity for those in similar circumstances, even when their lives and mine couldn’t be more different.

John Freely has written many travel books, although as I understand from his own and others’ descriptions, they are not your standard travel book, but rather investigations and reflections about culture, architecture, literature, music, and he has researched extensively the topics of Istanbul, Greece, Physics, classical history, literature… He is a true polymath, a born lecturer and teacher, and knowledge pours out of every page.

Freely structures the book as an autobiography, and I found the story of his upbringing very touching, as it reflected that of many emigrants from Ireland (but not exclusively) who sailed away searching for a better life elsewhere. History has a way of changing settings and actors but it does indeed repeat itself, as we can see in the continued story of both emigrants and refugees that carries on to the present.

The author doesn’t dwell too much on the difficult circumstances of his childhood and family, lack of money, working as a child and living hand-to-mouth. That was how things were at the time and he was expected to live with it and did the best he could. He went to war when he was only 17 after dropping out of high school, and that was the beginning of a life of travelling. Even in those circumstances he loved books and reading (he had studied with fascination a book about the wonders of the world his grandfather had brought back to Ireland from the Crimean War as a young boy) and he educated himself by reading a catalogue of recommended lectures a military priest gave him whilst traveling to China. Mr Freely is a connector and communicator who made (and I’m sure still makes) friends everywhere he went and was lucky to get and take good advice. He decided to follow some such advice and took advantage of the GI bill; he studied Physics and he did well, as he reflects upon, with surprise, a few times throughout his life. His love for knowledge and his thirst for travelling combined into a lifelong journey and he found a more than willing partner in his wife, Toots.

Although he does not talk in detail about such things as feelings, it’s not difficult to read between the lines and sometimes he says more when he doesn’t elaborate on topics that when he does (his muted comments about his son’s difficulties are an example). His vignettes of early married life and his love for his wife come through loud and clear.

Once the couple move to Istanbul and Dr Freely starts his international teaching career the book becomes a catalogue of trips, not in detail but mostly as itineraries, interspersed with references to his career moves and to his published books. There are brief moments of lyrical descriptions that hint at wonders to be had in the full books, and he ponders upon those moments when they were the only western travellers in some of the locations and they could feel history at its fullest. He quotes the classics and is happy to share the experiences and moments he lived with his friends and collaborators, always giving credit where credit is due. He talks with warmth and affection of the institutions he’s worked in and is always grateful and happy to mention others’ achievements. I could not follow all the itineraries in detail and didn’t always know who everybody was, although it didn’t seem that important. I’m convinced the book would be a great read for those familiar with his work or interested in it that would be able to provide the background and fit all the pieces of the puzzle in, but it would also work well as an introduction to the topic of his books and his life.

There are moments that will feel familiar, easy to connect with and will touch everybody, like his visits to Ireland, back to the old family home, the autobiographical details of life in Ireland and old New York when he was a young man, and the latter part of the book, when his wife becomes ill and dies and he has to carry on the journey alone (not a spoiler as it’s not that kind of story).

I thought I’d share some of his comments towards the end of the book, which I must admit had me in tears (as by then I’d become another exile and vagabond with them). He is talking here about writing this book:

When the book on Homer was finished I began working in earnest on the story of our own odyssey, The Art of Exile, particularly after I looked at a photograph of Toots taken on her 80th birthday, when the sight of her wearing a Byzantine tiara reminded me once again that she was in fact my queen, though I’d had no kingdom to offer her, just a lifelong journey.

Now I have become my own Homer, composing the story of a life perpetually on the move, always an exile…

I’m not sure this is a book for everybody, as it’s full of brief descriptions, names, quotes, dates, and travels, although some parts of it would be enjoyed by most people. Personally, I’d love to go for a walk through Istanbul, Naxos, or anywhere with Dr Freely as a guide, telling me all he knows about the many places he’s visited, and with classical references thrown in too. As I don’t think that’s likely to happen, this book provides a good substitute, and has encouraged me to look into his other books.

And here, I share Dr Feely’s quote of the Odyssey that is perfect for the book.

As you set out for Ithaka

Hope your road is a long one,

full of adventure, full of discovery…

May there be many summer mornings,

when, with what pleasure, what joy,

you enter harbours you’re seeing for the

first time… But don’t hurry the journey,

at all,

Better if it lasts for many years.

So you’re old when you reach the island

… Ithaka gave you the marvellous

journey.

Without her you wouldn’t have set out.

Link:

The book is currently available in hardback copy here (I’m sure it will be published in other formats soon):

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Exile-Vagabond-Life/dp/1784534986/

I read an e-version of the book so I cannot comment on the possible differences between the versions, although being familiar with I. B. Tauris and their work I’m sure it won’t disappoint.

Thanks to I.B. Tauris and John Freely for sharing this journey with us, thanks to you all for reading and please, like, share, comment and CLICK!

#Autor, deberías pensar en traducir tu libro?

Hola a todos:

Como algunos de vosotros ya sabréis, aparte de publicar posts y artículos en este blog y en algún otro, soy escritora y traduzco libros del español al inglés y del inglés al español. Hace unos meses participé en una feria de libros en Gales, y como parte de las actividades adicionales me pidieron que hablara sobre traducciones y preparé unas notas. Aunque la charla es un poco larga para un solo post, se me ocurrió que podría compartir al menos una parte que trata sobre posibles razones por las que uno podría querer traducir su libro.

¿Por qué iba a querer un autor traducir sus libros?

Todos sabemos que nos enfrentamos a mucha competencia al intentar vender nuestros libros. Hacer que estén disponibles para una audiencia mayor es siempre buena idea. En el caso específico del inglés, hay más de 400 millones de personas que lo hablan como lengua materna (en 67 países) y más de 600 millones como segunda lengua. Es el lenguaje oficial en muchísimas instituciones internacionales.
Naturalmente eso también quiere decir que hay muchísimos libros publicados en inglés. Pero es cierto que el inglés abre las puertas a mercados en crecimiento con mucho potencial (como India) y ciertos servicios, por ejemplo usar opciones como Fiberead para traducir para el mercado chino, o ACX  para audios es mucho más fácil a partir de un libro en inglés. Y algunas opciones de marketing como Bookbub o NetGalley solo están disponibles (al menos de momento) exclusivamente para libros escritos en inglés.
Como pasa en inglés, también hay blogs, páginas de Facebook, reseñadores, reporteros, críticos, escritores y lectores que buscan libros en inglés. Y aunque yo sigo y me siguen muchos escritores españoles en Twitter, por ejemplo, mi lista de autores en inglés es muchísimo más larga. Y he conectado con blogs fabulosos y mucha gente que organiza eventos conjuntos, promociones conjuntas de libros, audios, etc…
Una nunca sabe cuando puede sonar la flauta por casualidad o por pura suerte. Seguramente muchos conocéis a Enrique Laso , cuyos libros se han traducido a muchos idiomas y que me comentó que aunque no sabe por qué, sus libros traducidos al griego han sido un gran éxito. Es imposible saber qué tema o personaje puede conectar con un mercado específico. Y todos conocemos historias de cantantes o directores de cine que son mucho más populares en otros países que en el suyo.
He leído muchos posts en los que autores comentaban  lo emocionante que es el ver tu primer libro publicado, y en el caso de la versión en papel, el tocarlo con tus propias manos. Bueno, pues tengo que confesar que el ver uno de mis libros traducido para el mercado chino me hizo mucha ilusión. (Aunque en Amazon.Chn no lo podáis comprar pero… ) Y aquí está.

Gemela Maldad, portada para el mercado chino. Por supuesto también disponible en inglés con el título Twin Evils?
Conozco a autores que están trabajando en crear versiones bilingües de sus libros y eso es una gran opción para promocionarlo como libro de ayuda para aprender los dos idiomas (doble mercado).

Gracias a todos por leer, y si os ha interesado, dadle al me gusta, comentad, compartid, y haced CLIC! Ah, y si alguno de vuestros libros está disponible en traducción al inglés, publico una seria de entrevistas sobre el tema en otro blog (aquí) y me encantaría incluiros a vosotros y a vuestro libro. 

Olga Núñez Miret

 

#Fitness YouTube sites. Keeping fit doesn’t have to be expensive. A non-fiction project.

Hi all:

You might remember that a while back I mentioned I was thinking about writing a non-fiction book sharing some of my thoughts on living alone. Here is that post. I must confess that between one thing and another I haven’t had much chance to work or even think about it (I’ve written some notes, but that’s about it) but a few days ago I decided to make a list of some of the YouTube sites I use that share fitness tips and workout videos.

I used to go to the gym and I’d been going for many years. Then when I decided to leave my job and explore other options (that didn’t go quite as planned, but when does anything?) I thought I might be better off finding other options to keep fit, as I might be travelling and not be able to find a gym conveniently located at all times. I must admit I might go for a run every so often but I don’t enjoy it that much.  Cutting out on expenses was also important not having regular employment (and no, don’t ask, I spend more money than I make with the books, so…), so I started exploring YouTube workout channels. And I think I’m probably fitter than I was before, or equally fit, and have tried a big variety of things. One doesn’t need a lot of equipment and if nothing else it can be handy if you’re away from your usual gym or you fancy trying something new.

So, here is my list:

General workout websites

These websites share videos with a variety of workouts, in general. You might want to check through their old videos as you’re bound to find something to suit your taste. And it’s always worth trying something new, even if only to discover it not for you.

The Body Coach TV. I discovered The Body Coach through a blog post. He’s British and has videos on food, books, cookery books, he’s been on TV, etc. His workouts are short or shortish (around 20 minutes or 30 minutes the longest one) and always HIIT style (High Intensity Interval Training. Quick intervals of exercising, mostly cardio but not only, followed by shorter intervals of rest, to increase the heart rate. Scientific studies indicate that is a good way of keeping fit and more effective than longer workouts where there is no change in intensity. Tabata workouts are intervals of 20 seconds on 10 seconds off, whilst others are just called HIIT). He’s very down to earth and his exercises aren’t complicated although require stamina for sure.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAxW1XT0iEJo0TYlRfn6rYQ

K’s Perfect Fitness TV: Short workouts, normally focused on working one area in specific. Soothing voice and many are pilates based.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGaweJW8AnsV2ogktwOaWhQ

Shelly Dose: I found Shelly about a year ago and she’s fabulous. She is very enthusiastic and motivating; she creates her own workouts and shares them on Mondays without a fault. Most of them are around half an hour long and they vary (usually HIIT format). She might use just body weight, or weights, do boxercise or kickboxing, fitball… And if you leave her a comment she replies. She’s high intensity but her exercises are not super complicated. Give them a go.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBWxMc89IEvWmeESKVWDt5g

Mike Donavanik: Mike is a fun guy. If you go for personalities, he’s another one worth a follow. His workouts in general are short but high intensity (10 to 15 minutes) although he sometimes does some fabulous mashups where he joins several of his workouts, and then they might be as long as one hour (and if you survive them, you know you’re fit). Like Shelly he varies his programmes, with some where he uses bodyweight only, some that use weights, kettlebells, steps… He also replies to all comments and he’s good fun.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdYUDbe8FZEu03cn_O8alFA

Jessica Smith TV: Jessica (and don’t miss her dog Peanut, a star… And Jessica’s Mom) has a very complete channel. She is a professional and has been working in fitness for a long time and has developed many different programmes (that you can also buy in her own website and check in her channel. They are also available in Amazon and other places). She is fantastic at giving detailed instructions and she caters for different levels of ability and fitness. She has great walking workouts, a whole series (and even a playlist. I recommend subscribing to her newsletter, as she sends regular updates on new programmes, and midweek motivational e-mails), but also pilates, kickboxing, yoga, stretching… She also does series that are worth following in full, when for one week or even a month she will share regular videos, perhaps only five minutes, or fifteen minutes. Her videos vary in length, and whatever time you have and however fit you are, she has something for you. She’s on the sedate and calm spectrum (in case you don’t go for the rise & shine approach to fitness or the Mr Motivator one). But, don’t let her gentle manner catch you unawares, I always end up sweating with her workouts.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB7wvgp4HUBe5TD10jIgxDg

Blogilates: Cassy is great. It took me a while to realise that all her chatting is a way to make people forget they are working hard. She’s bubbly, kind and encouraging and her attitude to exercise is fantastic (enjoy the body you have and work to be happy and fit, not to look like a stick or a magazine cover). She does her own version of pilates, has an App, and has been a guest in some of the bigger channels. Her videos are usually short, and might appear sweet, but again you won’t know what’s hit you until the next day. She also shares general advice, motivational videos, food and diet videos…

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIJwWYOfsCfz6PjxbONYXSg

GymRa: A more traditional approach to fitness. They have different trainers and all kind of videos, from dance to HIIT, to pilates, to routines for legs, arms… You might find trainers you like more than others and there are videos for different levels of fitness.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCulr-lJe8M6CcJTsxVGFoIw

GymRa Plus: For a while sometimes GymRa would only post a part of a video and then post the complete video here. I don’t think they’re doing that any more, but if you want to check some of the old videos you might want to keep that in mind.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3G7jZA7ZBuDBNOpmERCY7w

POPSUGAR Fitness: This is a great channel with a variety of routines. Anna is a great coach, very enthusiastic, and she always finds trainers that come and provide tasters of popular programmes. There’s also an App (pretty good) and they have a blog where they share information on a variety of things, from fashion, to diet. The workouts go from 40 or 45 minutes kickboxing routines, to routines only focusing on one area and very short. Go Explore.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBINFWq52ShSgUFEoynfSwg

Fitness Blender: Kelly and Daniel are a great couple. Theirs is a pretty stripped down approach to fitness, without too many bells and whistles, no music (you can add your own) but focus on doing the exercises well, good technique and clear instructions. They do full programmes and series (those are a must) where they will share daily workouts ensuring you work all parts of your body over the period. They provide low impact options and will tell you the level of fitness required for the workouts. There are short, longer ones, and go from HIIT, to strength, pilates, yoga…

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiP6wD_tYlYLYh3agzbByWQ

BeFit: With Fitness Blender one of the first channels I followed. They share celebrity workouts (Jill Michaels and Jane Fonda for instance, although not recently) and also programmes that might take other forms. They have a very long list of workouts and you might want to explore. Not as personal or personality driven as some of the others but might suit some people better if you prefer a no-nonsense approach.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD0nBMLdq_KbIK9u-mzpNkA

 

 

Yoga:

Yoga with Adriene: Good instructions and does not require being a yoga pro.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFKE7WVJfvaHW5q283SxchA

 

Boho Beautiful: Lovely settings and videos are not too long, although the level of knowledge of yoga required varies.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWN2FPlvg9r-LnUyepH9IaQ

PsycheTruth: This channel shares a variety of workouts, not only yoga, although they tend to be lower impact than the channels I shared before, and there’re plenty of yoga videos and health and lifestyle videos. A gentler approach to fitness and I’ve found most of the yoga videos cater to beginners and don’t require a lot of experience.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGb34D3ThpmjLNn-FLv2_yQ

 

 

Pandora: If you want to try a variety of dance workouts, I recommend Pandora. They don’t post videos very often, but they have a nice collection, and you might want to keep doing the ones you like to improve your moves!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbASmUZK6hQAXaX6CUSB2Iw

 

Although I didn’t star this board until recently, I now have a Pinterest Fitness board and you’re welcome to check it. All the workouts I share there I’ve done myself… And survived (well, if you see me not turn up, it’s possible that the last one posted killed me….)

https://uk.pinterest.com/olganm7/fitness-tips-and-workouts/

And just as a sample, I thought I’d leave you a video from Boho Beautiful (they always exercise in beautiful places, and although most of the workouts are yoga routines, this one is not):

Thank you very much for reading, thanks to all those YouTube channels for their workouts and tips, and you know, like, share, comment and feel free to try and CLICK!

#ConcursodenovelaAmazon y el Mundo Hoy dos novelas: EL MANUSCRITO DE MICHELANGELO de Carmen Torrico (@torrico_1) y QUINCE ROSAS Y UN CLAVEL de R. Ogalla (@OgallaRafael) Novela histórica y memoria histórica

Hola a todos.

Ya os comenté la semana pasada que quería aprovechar el concurso de novelas de Amazon y el Mundo para descubrir nuevas novelas, y hoy os traigo dos, que aunque muy distintas, le pueden interesar a la gente a la que le gusten los temas históricos y la historia novelada.

El manuscrito de Michelangelo de Carmen Torrico
El manuscrito de Michelangelo de Carmen Torrico

MALDICIÓN EN LA SIXTINA. Un joven pintor madrileño se halla de viaje por Italia, en busca del secreto mejor guardado de la escuela pictórica renacentista. Allí entrará en contacto de forma fortuita con uno de los genios más grandes de la Historia del Arte, Miguel Ángel Buonarroti. A raíz de ese encuentro su vida cambiará, ya nada será lo mismo. La influencia de il divino marcará desde ese instante su futuro.

La inquietante amenaza de un antiquísimo documento que encierra entre sus caracteres un oscuro y misterioso mensaje, capaz de transformar al mundo, marcará el punto de partida.

Tan solo un hombre tiene el poder de enfrentarse a la maldición del viejo manuscrito… ¡El Elegido!

Julio Castellanos, el joven pintor madrileño, será invitado de excepción de una extraña y escalofriante partida. Una partida contra poderosos oponentes que tiene un único precio… ¡la vida!

¿Te atreverías a jugar?

https://www.amazon.es/El-manuscrito-Michelangelo-Carmen-Torrico-ebook/dp/B01HSRTH6A

Siete Rosas y un clavel de R. Ogalla
SIETE ROSAS Y UN CLAVEL de R. Ogalla (Autor)

Mi abuelo, el Capitán republicano Rafael Fernandez, murió fusilado por el régimen en el año 1941, a la edad de 26 años.

Han pasado ya 80 años del inicio de nuestra guerra, y hasta ahora, los jóvenes como él sólo han sido un nombre en una lista; unos huesos en una fosa. Es hora ya de explicar quienes fueron, y por qué lucharon.

Esta es una novela, donde siguiendo el hilo de la vida y andanzas de mi abuelo, repaso algunos episodios históricos de España durante la segunda República y la guerra.

Durante años, en mi familia, sólo hablaron de él en voz baja, cuchicheando historias, comentando fotografías, releyendo cartas escritas desde la prisión. Con estos testimonios familiares he tejido la historia personal, y enlazada con ella, la historia reciente de nuestro país.

El protagonista no es tan solo Rafael Fernández; son todos los hombres y mujeres de su generación, que murieron víctimas de aquella guerra genocida.

https://www.amazon.es/SIETE-ROSAS-CLAVEL-R-Ogalla-ebook/dp/B01HWO3E1I

Gracias y mucha suerte a Carmen Torrico y a R. Ogalla, y ya sabéis, dadle al me gusta, comentad, compartid y haced CLIC! Y si conocéis a alguien a quien le puedan interesar estas novelas, corred la voz!

2 Brand new books and #bookreviews. WEAR AND TEAR by Tracy Tynan (@tynanthreads) and UNDERGROUND AIRLINES by Ben H. Winters (@BenHWinters) Very different but they’ll make you think.

Hi all:

As you know I’ve been sharing new books and reviews recently. These two have just been published this week (the first one only available in hard cover at first) and I thought they might appeal to very different readers, but I enjoyed them  both (in very different ways).

First:

Wear and Tear by Tracy Tynan
Wear and Tear: The Threads of My Life Hardcover by Tracy Tynan   A life in clothes, lived with a big heart and plenty of talent.

Description:

A candid, entertaining memoir told through clothes.

Tracy Peacock Tynan grew up in London in the 1950’s and 60s, privy to her parents’ glamorous parties and famous friends—Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, and Orson Welles. Cecil Beaton and Katharine Hepburn were her godparents. Tracy was named after Katherine Hepburn’s character, Tracy Lord, in the classic film, The Philadelphia Story. These stylish showbiz people were role models for Tracy, who became a clotheshorse at a young age.

Tracy’s father, Kenneth Tynan, was a powerful theater critic and writer for the Evening Standard, The Observer, and The New Yorker. Her mother was Elaine Dundy, a successful novelist and biographer, whose works have recently been revived by The New York Review of Books. Both of Tracy’s parents, particularly her father, were known as much for what they wore as what they wrote.

In the Tynans’ social circles, style was essential, and Tracy had firm ideas about her own clothing for as long as she can remember. Shopping was an art passed down through the family; though shopping trips with her mother were so traumatic that Tracy started shopping on her own when she was fourteen.

When Tracy started writing about her life she found that clothing was the focus of many of her stories. She recalls her father’s dandy attire and her mother’s Pucci dresses, as well as her parents’ rancorous marriage and divorce, her father’s prodigious talents and celebrity lifestyle, and her mother’s lifelong struggle with addiction. She tackles issues big and small using clothes as an entrée—relationships, marriage, children, stepchildren, blended families, her parent’s decline and deaths, and her work as a costume designer are all recounted with humor, with insight, and with the special joy that can only come from finding the perfect outfit.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Tracy Tynan uses the universal medium of clothing to tell the highly specific story of her Bohemian British upbringing, and she does so with wit, candor and yes– style. For anyone obsessed with the intellectual gossip of yesteryear- or just obsessed with the language of fashion- this book will be a cozy bedfellow.” (Lena Dunham)

“Tracy Tynan’s memoir is a wolf in sheep’s clothing…Rich in humor and observation, its stylish tone belies the often harrowing nature of her formative years, and details with bravery and precision exactly who she was and what she wore.” (Anjelica Huston – Author of A Story Lately Told and Watch Me)

Tracy Peacock Tynan grew up in a tornado of glamorous, stylish eccentricity. So jealous!!!” (Simon Doonan -Author of The Asylum: True Tales of Madness from a Life in Fashion)

“Tracy Tynan takes on the paradox of style with unique flair in Wear and Tear, by hanging her book on the clothes she wore at key moments in her life. But the life of the exceptionally stylish, charming and resilient Ms. Tynan is like no other — a brilliant, famous father, a titan of culture addicted to S+M, an equally brilliant but alcoholic mother who’s become a cult writer, the promises and delusions of a life among the famous, a career as the go-to movie costume designer.

“Wear and Tear is poignant, surprising, and an enchanting inner view of what it is to come into oneself among the sacred monsters of the 20th century.” (Joan Juliet Buck)

“A page-turning memoir that affords an astonishing glimpse into rarified lives in the now-extinct Anglo-American literary jet set. Tracy Tynan inherited both her parents’ sartorial flair, and their skill with words.” (Matt Tyrnauer – Director, Valentino: The Last Emperor)

“Wear and Tear is a riveting account of life growing up as the only child of two famous and famously complicated personalities: theater critic Kenneth Tynan and writer, Elaine Dundy. Tracy Tynan recalls her fascinating and difficult childhood during the Swinging Sixties in London and New York, and the legendary actors and artists who frequented her parent’s life. She chronicles her growth as an artist, taking on myriad roles as lover, costume designer, step-mother, mother, and wife, with honesty and insights that make for can’t- put- down reading. Her independence and original style weave through the pages of her book just as they have always done in her life.” (Wendy Goodman – Design Editor, New York Magazine)

“In this wonderfully observed, elegiac, and least judgmental of memoirs, esteemed costume designer Tracy Tynan describes a society and personalities defined by style, and the ever shifting self-perception that characterizes out sized lives–and talent. Moving effortlessly between the world where post war American and British literature and cinema, theatre and politics, converge, Tynan details a now vanished golden age with wit, honesty, and that rarest of qualities—empathy.” (Hilton Als)

Wear and Tear is the first book that reveals style as a successful survival strategy. Tracy’s familial chaos required much dancing backwards in heels and looking good in the part. Written with compassion, she pulls no punches, her observations are not casual chic. A fascinating read about a creative clan. (Deborah Landis -Author of Filmcraft and Hollywood Costume)

“The daughter of celebrities reflects on fame, parenthood, and style. Costume designer Tynan makes her literary debut in a candid and entertaining memoir featuring her alcoholic, combative parents, theater critic Kenneth Tynan and novelist Elaine Dundy, and their assorted glamorous friends. Her vivid descriptions reflect her love of clothes, designers, fabrics, and, not least, shopping. Star-studded, gossipy, and engaging.” (Kirkus)

About the Author

Tracy Tynan is a costume designer and writer living in Los Angeles. Her credits include the movies The Big Easy, Blind Date, Great Balls of Fire, and Tuesdays with Morrie.

My review

Thanks to Net Galley and to Scribner for offering me a free copy of this memoir in exchange for an unbiased review.

I knew who Kenneth Tynan was before I read this book. Although well before my time, I do love theatre, I’ve lived many years in the UK and I’d heard of his reviews, his wit, and remembered having seen pictures of him, but didn’t know much about his life. I didn’t know anything about his first wife, American writer Elaine Dundy, or his daughter Tracy, and I must admit that I’m not a big clothes buff. Having said all that, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The clothes (or outfits) give name to the chapters and form the backbone of the book, assisting the author in organising her memories. I guess we all have things we remember, music, movies, books, and they help bring to our mind momentous happenings in our lives. Why not clothes, especially when they were so meaningful to her and the people she cared about?

Tracy Tynan’s life isn’t ordinary, whatever our definition of an ordinary life might be. Both her parents were popular, talented, brilliant and social butterflies. Their parties and events read like the who is who, first of London and then of the LA of the era. But they weren’t particularly gifted as parents. They seemed wrapped up on their own relationship, the people they knew, and their careers. Their daughter was often an afterthought, and even when they tried to connect with her they weren’t very skilled at it. But the author is generous to a fault and makes an effort to be fair and not to dwell or overdramatise matters. She tries hard to understand and does not moan or complain, despite having lived through pretty harrowing experiences due to her parents’ rocky relationship and to their difficult behaviour. She is sympathetic towards other’s plights and never self-apologising, something extremely refreshing.

The book is full of anecdotes but despite the many famous people the writer has met through her life this is not a scandalous book trying to exploit her connections and throw dirt at others. She always has a good word to say, even about people or actors she had a hard time with, and I got the distinct impression that she subscribes to the idea that if you don’t have anything good to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all. It’s a book full of passion for clothes, for life, for her friends and family. It’s a touching and warm book although it avoids sentimentality, cheap thrills and pulling at heartstrings.

This first-person account is a beautifully written book (she seems to have inherited the writing talent from both her parents), a page turner, understated, and we get to feel as if we were reading the memoirs of a friend. The chapter about her daughter, who was born premature, reminded me of my goddaughter, who was born in similar circumstances, and it resonated especially with me.  Her reflections about getting older, her experience of losing loved ones, and her more recent activity volunteering with homeless organisations and those looking after women victims of domestic violence made me realise I had more in common with this woman than I could have ever guessed when I started reading.

If anybody is worried about reading these memoirs because they aren’t familiar with the people involved or are not interested in clothes, don’t let that stop you. The book can be enjoyed by readers who know the era and many of the famous actors, writers, directors, clothes designers… who formed the social circle of Tracy Tynan’s family, but also by all those who have an interest and a passion that has accompanied them throughout their lives, who’ve survived complicated family lives, who love their friends and their families, and who don’t fear reinventing themselves once over again.

I’m not sure if the paper copies will have pictures. The Kindle review copy I was sent didn’t, but that did not diminish my enjoyment.

Links:

In hardcover: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1501123688/

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1501123688/

And:

Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters
Underground Airlines by  Ben H. Winters  Some nightmares look and feel too close to reality for comfort. 

Description:

‘The most timely of alternate history novels. Ben Winters has created a spellbinding world that forces the reader to look around—and to look within. This is a thriller not to be missed and one that will not be easily forgotten.’ Hugh Howey

It is the present-day, and the world is as we know it. Except for one thing: slavery still exists.

Victor has escaped his life as a slave, but his freedom came at a high price. Striking a bargain with the government, he has to live his life working as a bounty hunter. And he is the best they’ve ever trained.

A mystery to himself, Victor tries to suppress his memories of his own childhood and convinces himself that he is just a good man doing bad work, unwilling to give up the freedom he is desperate to preserve. But in tracking his latest target, he can sense that that something isn’t quite right.

For this fugitive is a runaway holding something extraordinary. Something that could change the state of the country forever.

And in his pursuit, Victor discovers secrets at the core of his country’s arrangement with the system that imprisoned him, secrets that will be preserved at any cost.

‘It is a rare thing when a writer has a fresh new provocative idea – and then executes it beautifully. This is what Ben H. Winters has done in his novel Underground Airlines. Imagine an America in which slavery still exists. Now imagine a dramatic telling of the story.’ James Patterson.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Am I allowed to curse? Because holy heck, I want to. This book is shocking, bold, sad, human and wise. Put an expletive in front of each of those adjectives. It’s not post-apocalyptic fiction, but if you like that sort of thing, you’ll like this too. If you liked Station Eleven (an overused but appropriate comp!), World War Z, or Brief History of the Dead, then this is a book you should read.”―Rebecca Fitting, Greenlight Bookstore

“Underground Airlines is the rare book that actually fulfills the promise of being unlike anything you’ve ever read. The alt-world premise of a present day US where the Civil War never happened and slavery still exists in four states, is so perfect for the current dialogue about race that’s going on right now. It’s not that common to be reading a gripping page turner of a mystery and be thinking about voices like Ta-Nehisi Coates at the same time. It’s one of those books you only want to stop reading so that you can go out and start talking to people about it. I can’t wait until this book is out in the world so I can engage with other readers about it.”―Robert Sindelar, Third Place Books

“Ben Winters’ Underground Airlines is an ingenious speculative thriller wrapped around the core of our nation’s ouroboros history of institutional racism. While that may sound bizarre to some, Winters pulls it off with ease, crafting a novel that is both fantastic and scarily believable at the same time.”―Ian Kern, Mysterious Bookshop

“Ben H. Winters has crafted a timely, necessary, and gripping page-turner. The plausibility of Underground Airlines‘ central conceit is terrifying, made more so by the author’s deft blend of alternate history and modern mundanity, but the loose, often jaunty narration of its flawed protagonist, Victor, prevents its descent into hopeless, maudlin territory. Victor’s desperate pursuit of freedom or redemption, whatever the cost, propels the novel toward its inexorable and satisfying conclusion.”―Jake Cumsky-Whitlock, Kramerbooks

“Underground Airlines is a work of astonishing originality and ambition. Like the best art, it forces us to question our own assumptions. Is the machine of modern civilization really that far removed from the alternate reality that Winters presents here? We’re all implicated in this unsettling and visionary novel. Ben Winters is one brave writer.”―Patrick Millikin, The Poisoned Pen Bookstore

“I could not put Underground Airlines down. A brutal, hard-boiled detective mystery about what might have happened if Lincoln had been killed before ending slavery, it is thought provoking and vivid. It will live with you for a very long time.”―Rene Kirkpatrick, Eagle Harbor Book Co.

About the Author

Ben H. Winters is the author of, most recently, World of Trouble, the concluding book in the Last Policeman trilogy. The second book, Countdown City, was an NPR Best Book of 2013 and the winner of the Philip K. Dick Award for Distinguished Science Fiction. The Last Policeman was the recipient of the 2012 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America; it was also named one of the Best Books of 2012 by Amazon.com and Slate.

My review

Thanks to Net Galley and to Cornerstone Digital for providing me a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

When I read the premise of this novel, a United States where the Civil War hadn’t taken place and slavery was alive and well in modern times, I was intrigued. As part of my American Literature course I did read historical and literary texts related to the Civil War and later to the Civil Rights Movement, and I found the thought of what modern-day America might have looked like if things have gone differently both fascinating and horrifying.

The book is classed under alternative history, a subgenre that allows authors to imagine scenarios that might make readers shiver, or just reflect on how far (or otherwise) civilisation has come.

The world in Underground Airlines is on the one side very similar to the world we know (at least the bits we’re shown), and even the historical figures of importance are mentioned, although in some cases with a slightly alternative fate or role (like Lincoln’s earlier demise, and Michael Jackson’s different set of problems). Despite the genre, the book is not very heavy on history and does not hammer readers with deep analysis (there are subtle references to themes like the Mockingbird syndrome) and considering the nature of the subject it even manages to avoid heavy pulling at emotional heartstrings.

The story is told in the first person by Victor or… well, whomever he is. The main character is an African-American free man, but not really. He escaped from a slaughter house where he had been born and was supposed to spend all his life. They found his hiding place and forcefully recruited him to become an official agent who would find escapees and return them back to one of the 4 states where slavery is still legal, thanks to the 18th Amendment to the constitution. At first, Víctor made me think of Herman Melville’s The Confidence Man, whereby seemingly different characters tell different stories, although perhaps they are all one and the same master of disguise. But then I thought (and saw a comment that also made that reference) about the film Blade Runner, at least if we think about the first version of the film with Deckard’s narration. Victor is somebody who tries hard not to remember anything about his past (although memories, or more accurately flashbacks, intrude every so often) or to feel anything. He has become so adept at adopting other identities that when at some point Martha —a young mother he meets early in the novel and ends up embroiled in the whole intrigue — wants to know his real name, he’s no longer sure. He also reminded me of Deckard with regards to the doubt in many people’s minds as to his real identity. Is he a human being or a replicant? Victor insist (to himself) that he does what he has to do, that he does not care about the ongoing slavery and his own safety is his only concern, that he does not believe anybody can do anything or any of his acts can change matters, but…

What seemed to be a pretty streamlined occupation for Victor starts to get complicated when he is assigned a case where he soon realises something is not what it seems. The file is not complete, the phrasing is off, and the people he meets along the way seem to be hiding something, although he doesn’t quite realise how much. Agents and double agents, twists and turns, betrayals, and a visit to the Deep South are on the cards for the man whose only goal is to not make ripples and keep to the plan.

The book is written in a style that seems to fit in with the fictional character, although for me, somehow, the picture was as fractured as the man itself. Although I have a weakness for unreliable narrators, and Victor is indeed one of them, I had difficulty connecting with him, perhaps because he was himself disconnected and avoided looking at his emotions, and I am not sure he ever became a fully-fledged character for me.

The idea behind the story is good although I wondered if people really keen on historical fiction would find there is enough detail or would like to know more than the brief tasters and snippets that are hinted at throughout the novel. Personally, the novel made me reflect on the nature of world politics and economy, as in what is considered the developed world we seem to be happy to wear or consume products manufactured in near-slavery conditions with little concern for where they come from or only paying lip service to such issues. The specific reflections on race and racism will perhaps be more shocking to readers not very familiar with the topic or who have not read novels or classic texts by authors and figures who’ve written more extensively on it.

I liked the ending, although I wasn’t a hundred per cent sure how well it fitted in with the rest (but I won’t comment in detail to avoid spoilers). The issue at the heart of the investigation that costs many people dearly was to my mind less surprising than it was built up to be (the big whatsit kind of scenario) although in truth I’m not sure what I was expecting.

In sum this is a novel that paints a scary but somewhat familiar alternative version of history in the US (an uncanny version if one wants) and makes us think about issues of race, loyalty, identity, family and global economy. It can be a good introduction to the genre of alternative fiction and has enough intrigue for readers in search of a good story.

Links:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019CGXX5G/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B019CGXX5G/

Thanks so much to Net Galley and to the publishing companies and to Tracy Tynan and Ben H. Winters of their books, thanks to you all for reading, and please, share, like, comment and CLICK!

Cómo programar un post en WordPress paso-a-paso (video). Y bono, cómo compartir un video en WordPress.

Hola a todos:

De vez en cuando leo algún post que me recuerda lo complicado que todo parece cuando uno empieza a hacer algo. Un bloguero al que sigo reflexionaba sobre eso en un post hace poco, y comentaba que aún no había llegado a conseguir aprender cómo programar sus posts con antelación en WordPress. Recuerdo que yo no me di cuenta de que eso fuera posible hasta que leí alguien que lo comentaba y decidí investigarlo. Y ya puestos, se me ocurrió compartir un video donde explico cómo se hace.

Perdonad porque los videos siempre me salen más largos de lo que planeo, pero me pongo a divagar, y ya se sabe.  Y ya puestos, también comento como añadir un video directamente a un post. Espero que sea útil.

Gracias a todos por leer (o ver) y ya sabéis, si os ha interesado, dadle al me gusta, comentad, compartid y haced CLIC! Ah, y si tenéis sugerencias sobre otras cosas que pueda compartir (si las sé hacer, que mis conocimientos son limitados), pues adelante!

#Bookreview blog tour THE COMPLICATED LOVE SERIES by Neeny Boucher. Meant to be together but the course of true love… #TuesdayBookBlog

Hi all:
I signed up for this blog review tour when my mother was in hospital as I wanted something that would be a light read and would keep  me busy, although I thought it was only one book! There was a change of date, but here finally I bring you Complicated Love the series. 
I had some extra comments I haven’t included because I’m convinced my experience was different to somebody who had a more leisurely read (I read the three books in 6 days…).
And without further ado….


Title: The Complicated Love Series
Author: Neeny Boucher
Genre: contemporary, humor, and romance

Hosted by: Lady Amber’s Reviews & PR


Blurb:

Dina Martin and Nicholas Riley are total opposites.  She’s the good girl with the perfect grades and he’s the bad boy with the reputation.  Growing up together with close family ties, they have been at war for as long as they can remember. When the unthinkable happens, neither of them wants it.



Set in a small town at the turn of the millennium, this story is about family and friendship, the love of music and how sometimes who you don’t want, is exactly who you need. 

This is how it all started. A sweet love story. Well, almost.

I was provided a free copy of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review as part of a book-review tour. Having read the three novels I recommend that the whole series is read to get a better grasp of the story and the characters. See my other two reviews for full details.

The first book in the Complicated Love Series (and I must explain that I read them in the order of publication, so I read book 2 first, then book 3 and last but not least, book 1) is told in the third person, with alternating chapters for each of the two main protagonists, the couple who are destined to fall in love, although at the point where the story starts you couldn’t find two more different people. Dina (Christina) a fourteen year old girl, daughter of a bohemian family, with a driven and determined mother, a virgin, studious, invisible to many and not particularly attractive. And Riley (Nicholas), a seventeen year old wild boy, head of the Outcast Crew, best friends with Johnny, Dina’s brother, part of the music band (waiting for a name at that point), the black sheep of the Rileys (and old moneyed family from Shanwick) who’s never noticed Dina other than to tease her. He has all the girls in the world, does not study and embarrasses his family no end. He also has a reputation as a psycho. How do these two characters find each other? Well, Dina auditions as singer for the band and her voice talks to Riley’s soul.

The book could well be a Young Adult or New Adult story, with interesting characters, strong friendship and bonds, stories of bullying, drugs, wild parties, inappropriate relationships, teenage love, talent and misunderstandings galore. This novel follows the chronological order of the romance between the characters, without any of the jumps in time that characterised the other two, and it also has its share of hilarious moments and disappointments and sadness. Gabby, Dina’s sister, although young, only ten, is already one of the stars of the book and a force to be reckoned with, and we get to meet the parents and get a more rounded picture of events.

The writing style is compact, easy to follow and the dialogues are one of the strengths of the book.

I did enjoy this novel and thought many readers would enjoy it too, although it is perhaps different in tone to the other two (there are some sexy moments but definitely it is much tamer regarding the sexual encounters of the characters, although not squeaky-clean). Readers who read this novel first and then move on to the rest might find them quite a different reading experience, although the characters’ journey can be followed through the three novels and develops in an understandable and organic manner.

Blurb:

*Recommended for audiences over the age of 18*
If you like your characters quirky, socially awkward, and badly behaved, this is the book for you. What if you got another chance with the love of your life, even when you didn’t want one? Would you grab the opportunity, or run as fast as you could in the opposite direction?
Christina Martin, lawyer, ex high school grunge queen, teenage bride, divorcee, and once a suspected killer, is confronted by a past that she has spent the last eight years carefully avoiding. Drawn back to her hated hometown, with her family under the worst of circumstances, matters are complicated when she finds the love of her life, ex-husband and nemesis, Nicholas Riley, also in residence.
Riley, a man with secrets, who has a penchant for psychological games, made wary by life and with one weakness, his ex-wife. Christina is the woman that brings out all his protective instincts and others less noble. All it takes is one fateful night, where these two collide, opening a door both thought slammed shut and locked forever.
From the past to the present, Christina and Riley show that true love doesn’t always run smoothly, it might not conquer all, and most importantly, love is complicated.
“Lost in Flight” is book two in the “Complicated Love Series.”

I can’t live with or without you, forwards and back

I was provided a free copy of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review as part of a book-review tour.

Two families, the Rileys (wealthy, old family from Shanwick) and the Martins (father a musician and British, mother mixed-race. Bohemian and alternative). A boy, Riley (Nick, but known as Riley), who is the black-sheep of his family. Handsome, talented, attractive, has all the women he wants and he’s even chased by those he can’t bear. A girl, Christina (Dina, because her older brother, Johnny, couldn’t pronounce her name when they were kids), responsible, serious, clever, good at school, big boobs but not classically pretty otherwise. They’ve grown together (their mothers had been good friends and so were both families. Later Dina’s mother dies of cancer, but by that point their mothers were no longer friends and their families weren’t in very good terms either), Riley is Johnny’s best friend. Yes, they fall in love, and although they seem destined and fated for each other, chaos and destruction ensues. The series chronicles the story of their relationship. I know you’re probably familiar with the story of the star-crossed lovers, and their complications. This is not Romeo and Juliet but the hilarious moments (mostly when the girls get together) alternate with pretty sad ones where the relationship crashes and burns.

Book two is told, like the rest of the series, in the third person and from alternate points of view. One chapter from Dina’s point of view (when the series opens she’s been living in Washington D.C. for years and works as a lawyer, so she’s more Christina than Dina) and the next from Riley’s. They are divorced but as Dina’s little sister, Gabby (she is one of the greatest characters in a book with plenty of amazing secondary characters), is in hospital and Riley manages the band where Johnny, Dina’s brother, plays, they seem fated to meet again. The story follows their collision course. The two are like the opposite poles of magnets and despite their best intentions they can’t avoid revisiting and reliving their story, both the good and the bad.

The novel is a rollercoaster of emotions. Each character goes through hope and desperation many times over, and shows why they got together in the first place, and also how they ended up hurting each other so badly. They are clearly in love still, but don’t seem able to move past their past. They keep bringing up things that happened before, and the novel moves backwards and forward in time to share with the reader many of the events that brought the couple to where they are now. Although I did not find the story in general difficult to follow, I must admit that at times I wasn’t so sure what had happened first and it wasn’t simple to keep the timeline straight in one’s head.

The two characters are likeable. Christina cares deeply for her family and her friends (the fabulous and fiery Bonnie, I adore Bonnie, and Mandy, the common-sense and practical one) and tries her best to be grown-up and responsible, always allowing her sense of duty to dictate her actions (even when it means risking her self-esteem and sanity), but her insecurities are brought to the fore when she has to go back to Shanwick, where she had been badly treated. Riley wants Dina back, but he is also bitter and has insecurities of his own, and both of them hide secrets that mean there’s plenty of heartbreak and healing to be done.

As I mentioned, I enjoyed the variety of characters, especially the secondary ones, although as tends to happens in these novels, I also wanted to grab the two protagonists by their necks and shake them, telling them to stop being so silly and start being honest with each other.

There are some sex scenes, and although not erotica and not the most explicit I’ve read, I wouldn’t recommend it to people looking for a good clean and sweet romance. The couple are passionate and it shows.

The style of writing makes it easy to read and the dialogue sparkles at times, with characters having distinctive voices. Some of their expressions and quirks I won’t easily forget.

There were many unsolved questions by the end of the book and I look forward to learning more about the characters and their adventures.

Blurb:
Forced to return to her hated hometown to work, Christina Martin, lawyer and ex resident bad girl, finds herself questioning her life choices. Reunited with her former husband, Nicholas Riley, their tenuous and complicated relationship is tested when secrets from the past and present are revealed.

Riley, a man with explosive secrets and penchant for psychological games, faces the dilemma of keeping the woman he loves through lies by omission or potentially losing her with the truth. This isn’t just their second chance for happiness, it’s their last chance and there may be some things that love can’t conquer at all.

Equal parts helped and hindered by a colorful cast of supporting characters, Ties that Bind, book three in the Complicated Love series, continues the dysfunctional relationship of Riley and Dina.

Darkness, forgiveness and endings (but not where and when you think)

I was provided a free copy of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review as part of a book-review tour.

In book three of the Complicated Love Series, we follow the story of Dina and Riley from where we left them in book two, when they had worked through some of the issues that had ended their previous marriage, but there were still many secrets and actions the characters had taken that their loved one didn’t know about, ensuring further complications. Again the story is told in alternating chapters from each of the protagonists’ point of view and there are some jumps in time where we get to learn more about the events surrounding their wedding and then the traumatic divorce, which had been referred to, but not discussed in detail. There are fewer changes in time (I wouldn’t call them flashbacks as they seem to come at points in the story where both characters are thinking about that particular event and they’re not exclusively narrated from one of the character’s perspective) than in book 2, and the narration is more straightforward, although it also swings to extremes, reflecting the emotions the characters go through. When things seem to have been solved between them, with all secrets revealed and both of them accepting the other for what and who they really are (and in the process accepting themselves too), thinks get much darker.

There are some sex scenes (I would rather call them sexy and passionate) but less explicit than in book two, and there is a hilarious scene early on in the book involving a cat. Well, there are several funny scenes involving that cat. Again there are funny and sad scenes in the novel, although I found them more finely balanced than in book two, with the ups and downs a bit less extreme.

I was particularly touched by the conversation between Dina and Riley’s Mom, a character that had been particularly difficult to understand up to that point. On the other hand there is a psychiatric diagnostic offered as an explanation in the novel that as a psychiatrist I had my doubts about, but even with that I enjoyed the ending.

I also enjoyed the secondary characters I had come to love in the previous book, and gained respect for some of the ones I didn’t like that much. Gabby, one of my favourite characters, comes into her own and she sizzles. The style of writing was again easy to read, dynamic and with great dialogue exchanges. A fitting conclusion to the series.

Neeny Boucher is a nom de plume because my real name sounds like a 19th Century suffragette. Originally from New Zealand, I’m a long-time supporter of the All Blacks. Currently, I live in Europe and am trailing spouse, following my husband all over the world for his work. This not only gives me the opportunity to write, but also, experience the world and indulge in one of my favorite past-times: people watching.
My own employment history is varied and ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous. All of those experiences and encounters, however, have allowed me to collect amazing stories, which now form the basis of my writings.
I have always loved the weird, the outcast and those on the margins of society because they see the world in a different way. These are the people my characters are based around.
I have a BA, BA Honors, and a PhD in Sociology/Indigenous Studies.
The Complicated Love Series, books one to three: Back of Beyond, Lost in Flight, and Ties That Bind.


Author Links:
http://amzn.to/1XFMxJD
https://www.facebook.com/Neeny-Boucher-150910851781357/ 
https://twitter.com/neenyboucher





Buy Links:

Back of Beyond: http://amzn.to/22xbydo
Lost in Flight: http://amzn.to/29w7B8t

Ties that Bind: http://amzn.to/29r5xcJ




Excerpt from Lost in Flight:
Christina, Shanwick, The Present, 2012

Skin meets skin, trailing promises and desire. Feathery breaths whisper on Christina’s shoulders. Her eyes snap open, squinting at the morning sun. The dull throb in her head gives notice, as does fierce thirst.
Her tongue seeks moisture on her lips, but there’s none. Christina’s stomach roils. Her breath is radioactive. She makes her own self feel sick.
Blue walls, a dresser, and a familiar door: recognition tugs at her consciousness. Christina knows this room, but hasn’t been here in a long, long time. She’s also naked and not alone.
Wrapped around her is her ex-husband, ex-love of her life, and persona non grata, Nicholas Riley. Riley’s fast asleep, breathing heavily, and his hands are wandering up her body. One lands on her boob, clutching, groping.
Christina jerks forward, shrugging him off. She opens and closes her eyes, counting to ten. Nothing changes and he is still here.
The gory details of last night are behind the ominous, pulsating fog in her head. The man, the lack of clothing, and the rumpled bedding indicate what it involved. Adrenaline responds to her internal alarm.
If he wakes… A myriad of awkward scenarios run free-flow through her head. This will be the fastest exit of shame in the history of exits of shame.
Extracting herself finger by finger from Riley’s death grip, Christina slips over the side of the bed. The room sways, rocking back and forth. She lurches forward on wobbly legs.
Christina’s bladder aches. She needs to do things, desperate things… human things. She just can’t do them naked.
Her little blue dress is at the end of the bed. Hunching down, she crawls to retrieve it. A quick search for her other belongings throws up further questions. Draped at an odd angle on the mirror are her panties. It looks like someone slingshot them.
Cringe lands on Christina’s face in big, red, heat spots. What did she do? Scratch that. Willful ignorance is sometimes a kindness.
Her bra, shoes, and handbag are nowhere to be seen. The bras and shoes are manageable, but the handbag is a problem. Her life is in there.
Hauling on her dress, Christina slinks over to her panties, pulling them on with a hop and a bump. She recoils at the woman in the mirror. Smeared mascara accentuates dark brown eyes and then there’s the lipstick. It’s everywhere: face, teeth, chin, and neck.
But, the makeup is nothing in comparison to the hair. Her after-sex hair is an 80’s rock video. Dragging her fingers through it, she winces. Taming it is a lost cause and also, she doesn’t want to anger it.
Years ago, this wouldn’t have bothered her. She was “Dina,” high school Queen of the Outcast Crew, and a true believer in grunge. By today’s standards, Christina Martin, lawyer, she is a complete mess.
Wiping as much of last night’s makeup off as she can, Christina creeps to the door. Riley hasn’t moved, just rolled over onto his back and settled in the space she vacated. Taking a deep breath, she blows it out of her mouth quietly.
I can do this. I can get out of here and if anything comes of it, I can use the old lawyer’s trick of: deny, avoid, defer, and engage. There is also “settlement,” but that is the last resort.
Christina’s hand is on the bedroom door handle. She freezes at the crunching sound it makes. Every nerve ending is on high alert, but the silence from him allows her to relax.
She pulls the door toward her, but it sticks. She pushes and pulls, but it will not budge. Horror sweats break out.

“Good morning.” Riley’s raspy, amused voice hits her senses like an old lover’s caress. Intimate, knowing. It sends chills up her spine.








Thanks so much to Lady Amber’s Reviews & PR and to Neeny Boucher for this opportunity, thanks to all of you for reading and if you’re interested, like, share, comment and CLICK!

#BookBlitz IN ALL MY WISHES: A RIVERBEND NOVEL by Ciara Knight (@ciaratknight) Freebie and excerpt

Hi all:
I know I don’t usually post on Saturday, but I thought In All My Wishes sounded like a great read for the summer. And as it’s a freebie… I couldn’t pass the chance to share.
Thanks to Lady Amber for sharing this opportunity!


Title: In All My Wishes: A Riverbend Novel

Author: Ciara Knight
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR


Blurb:
At the age of fifteen, Anna Baker was ripped from her childhood home, and her one true love, vowing to return the minute she graduated high school.


Professor Liam Harrow once believed his childhood sweetheart would return home to him, but during college he faced reality and hardened his heart to love.

When Historical Hall faces demolition, both Anna and Liam search for options to save their childhood memories, but when secrets unravel and the truth of Anna’s childhood departure is revealed, it could corrupt their memories, risk their present, and destroy their future.










Ciara Knight writes with a ‘Little Edge and a Lot of Heart’ with her contemporary and paranormal romance books. Her most recent #1 Amazon bestselling series, Sweetwater County, has topped the charts and received acclaimed reviews. Her international best-seller, Pendulum scored 4 stars from RT Book Reviews, accolades from InD’Tale Magazine and Night Owl Top Pick. Her young adult paranormal series, Battle for Souls, received 5 stars from Paranormal Romance Guild and Night Owl’s Top Pick, among other praises.

Author Links:
Website: http://www.ciaraknight.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ciaraknightwrites
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ciaratknight
Instagram: https://instagram.com/ciaratknight/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5127753.Ciara_Knight

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Jc5ASN

Buy Links: Amazon: http://amzn.to/1mKRYKl
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-all-my-wishes-ciara-knight/1123342674?ean=2940157653576
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/in-all-my-wishes

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/fi/book/in-all-my-wishes/id1080213834?mt=11










He hugged her to him, holding her arms at her side so she couldn’t hit him. “It’s not too late. You’re not that old, you know.”
She squirmed, but he held tight. “And you’re getting too old to be the playboy of Riverbend. I think it’s time for you to retire that title to a new graduate.”
A shooting star bolted across the sky. “Quick! Make a wish.”
Anna slid an arm free and held his cheek, facing him. “I don’t have to.”
He dared to move closer, to hope she’d return his affection. His heart pounded with adrenaline and his breath quickened. No woman ever turned him around or flipped him upside down like she did. “Anna.”
“Shh.” She gently pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth. A shiver of excitement vibrated from the top of his head to his toes. He held onto her for dear life, hoping she’d never pull away, never leave him again.
“Anna, promise you’ll stay,” he whispered.

A long silence rent the air with indecision. He released her and she slid away, only a few inches, but there might as well have been a valley of broken dreams and wishes between them.




Thanks so much to Ciara Knight and To Lady Amber’s Reviews & PR for this opportunity, thanks to all of your for reading, and don’t forget to like, share, comment and CLICK!

#Tercerconcursodenovela de Amazon. #Autores ¿Presentáis vuestra novela? Venid a compartirla!

Hola a todos:

Gracias a Unsplash por otra magnífica imagen sin copyright

Como ya sabréis, Amazon ha convocado el tercer concurso de novelas en español. Aquí está el enlace a la noticia en el Mundo que colaboran con Amazon de nuevo.  Y aquí están las instrucciones en Amazon.

El año pasado aproveché el concurso para compartir algunas de las novedades literarias y descubrí una novelas la mar de interesantes. Y me gustaría volver a hacer lo mismo. Así que si presentáis vuestra novela este año, no dudéis en poneros en contacto conmigo y yo con mucho gusto compartiré la sinopsis, enlaces e información sobre ella. Si hay mucha demanda compartiré varias por post, pero eso no debería ser ningún problema.

Siempre me podéis dejar un comentario aquí o enviadme un correo a mmxrynz@hotmail.com

Muchas gracias y mucha suerte! Y ya sabéis, dadle al me gusta, comentad, compartid y haced CLIC!

 

#Newbook and translation. Dark Prophecy by Javier Haro Herráiz (@JavierHaroHerra) A very postmodern Messiah. And new #audiobook

Hi all:

As you know I normally bring you new books and authors on Fridays. And as you also know, apart from writing and having done a few other things in my life (yes, being a psychiatrist too), I translate books from English to Spanish and vice versa, not only my own books, but also those of others.

Today I bring you a book I’ve translated for a fellow indie author, Javier Haro Herraiz, from Spain, a great supporter of indie authors and a prolific writer in a variety of genres, and who has a great love for superheroes, comics and horror. His writing style is pretty unique (you’ll either get it or it will drive you mad. I’ve done my best to not change it too much in the translation), as he seems to write comics without words. His novels are in general short, dynamic, and they are graced with a narrator that you will either love or hate (yes, it’s a Marmite kind of situation).

Here is the book:

Dark Prophecy by Javier Haro Herráiz
Dark Prophecy by Javier Haro Herráiz

And from the Darkness a Warrior born in Heaven and bred in the Underworld will arrive… And a young dark skinned woman with blue eyes will arrive to unite them all under the same cloak… And the one who swore to protect us will rebel against the human race… And the day will arrive when a Big War between Heaven and Hell will be unleashed, and that day there will be death and wailing everywhere…

International link:

myBook.to/B01HMWNJFG

To give you a better idea of the book, I read the original Spanish version and wrote a review quite  a while back, so I thought I’d translate it for you (although of course it does not reflect the translation side of things)

My review (of the Spanish original):

If one could say that there is a ‘norm’ with regards to novels, Javier Haro Herráiz’s novels do not adhere to it.

In general his novels are short and have the feel of a novel by installments (or perhaps a better comparison would be a comic or a serial like the old ones shown in the cinema, where Pauline was tied up to the railway line and we didn’t know what would happen until next week) where each episode could be read independently, and therefore I recommend them if you don’t have a lot of time and only read a few minutes at a time. And as it’s usual in these type of stories there is also an invisible narrator who reminds us where we were or where the action was when we last left it (and that can have a surprising effect if we read it all in one go).

The author, who has more than his fair share of original ideas and entangled situations, puts his trust in his readers hoping that they’ll be as creative as he is, and his descriptions of the action, the events or the characters are basic and brief, to allow each and all readers to create their own movies in their heads. In that universe, all women are beautiful and all men, are well, men.

Dark Prophecy opens up with a suggestion full of possibilities. The birth of a new Messiah in complex circumstances. I won’t give you any spoilers, but although you know the basic story, the details will surprise you. What do you think a modern Messiah born nowadays would do? How would this Messiah spread the message? Would the reception given to such Messiah be better or worse than to the previous one?

Personally I thought that the characters and the situations could have been further explored, but I can’t deny that the novel made me think, intrigued me and I read it very quickly.

A comic without drawings, or a postmodern novel centred on the surface and the banality of modern life. I’ll let you decide for yourselves. I’m waiting to see what the author’s universe brings us next.

Ah, and last minute, but the audio for my novella Escaping Psychiatry. Beginnings has just become available. At the moment in Audible and Amazon but it should be available in other places soon.

Here I leave you a sample in Sound Cloud and You Tube so you can check the fabulous narration of Marlin May. He’s told me he’s also available to adapt books written in UK English to US English (I’m sure you all remember Wendy Janes’s great post about the differences between the two. You can refresh your memory here).

I’ll let you know when I get the free codes, but for now, just check this sample:

 

Escaping Psychiatry narrated by Marlin May

Escaping Psychiatry. Beginnings by Olga Núñez Miret. Narrated by Marlin May

How far would a writer go for a killer story? This is the question psychiatrist Mary Miller must answer to solve the first mystery/thriller of her career. You can get to know the main characters of this psychological thriller series for FREE and test your own acumen and intuition in this novella about the price of ambition.

Dr Mary Miller is a young psychiatrist suffering a crisis of vocation. Her friend Phil, a criminalist lawyer working in New York, invites her to visit him and consult on the case of a writer accused of a serious assault. His victim had been harassing him and accusing him of stealing his story, which he’d transformed into a best-selling book. The author denies the allegation and claims it was self-defence. When the victim dies, things get complicated. The threshold between truth and fiction becomes blurred and secrets and lies unfold.

Escaping Psychiatry. Beginnings is the prequel to Escaping Psychiatry a volume collecting three stories where Mary and her psychiatric expertise are called to help in a variety of cases, from religious and race affairs, to the murder of a policeman, and in the last case she gets closer than ever to a serial killer.

If you enjoy this novella, don’t forget to check Mary’s further adventures. And there are more to come.

In Audible.com                    Amazon.com

Check a sample in Sound Cloud:

And here in You-Tube:

 

Thanks very much to the author for bringing us his book, thanks to Marlin May for his narrations and of course thanks to you all for reading and, please, do share, comment, like and CLICK!