Jean Harkin's Blog, page 2
October 23, 2022
Halloween Horrors of Publishing
I didn’t need to refer to Stephen King to recount these horror stories. Two fellow authors have furnished some frightful tales:
The author who I quoted last month as having suffered through his publishing ordeal, sustained new shocks following his novel’s release. He ordered two boxes of his books from the publisher to sell himself. In the first box he found two misprints. In the second box he found his novel printed with a page of blurbs from someone else’s book after the copyright page.
His marketing attempts ran into bookstore snafus that almost read like scams. In his first approach, he found that the store would land on the favorable side of a 60/40 split, and to make sure, the store would ring up the sales. For his $20 book, the store would earn $12 (for what?), and he would net $8. He had paid $9.25 to the publisher at author discount, thus actually losing $1.25 on each sale.
That bottom line has me spooked of scheduling a bookstore event!
Another author spent six years crafting her first novel. At a writing conference, she was thrilled to garner attention from an editor with a big-name publishing house. Following instructions, she submitted the first 25 pages of her novel for review in advance of meeting with the editor. The meeting turned out to be a terror: the editor lambasted her for not including a cover letter and had nothing good to say about the novel excerpt. Says the author, “I was so disheartened that I did not write a word for six months.” Bewitched!
She never finished that novel but went on to publish four successful ones, one with a major publisher and three with small presses.
Enchantments can happen! I have been assigned an editor, and my novel Promise Full of Thorns is scheduled for December release. We’ll see! “Many a slip”. . . stay tuned!
The author who I quoted last month as having suffered through his publishing ordeal, sustained new shocks following his novel’s release. He ordered two boxes of his books from the publisher to sell himself. In the first box he found two misprints. In the second box he found his novel printed with a page of blurbs from someone else’s book after the copyright page.
His marketing attempts ran into bookstore snafus that almost read like scams. In his first approach, he found that the store would land on the favorable side of a 60/40 split, and to make sure, the store would ring up the sales. For his $20 book, the store would earn $12 (for what?), and he would net $8. He had paid $9.25 to the publisher at author discount, thus actually losing $1.25 on each sale.
That bottom line has me spooked of scheduling a bookstore event!
Another author spent six years crafting her first novel. At a writing conference, she was thrilled to garner attention from an editor with a big-name publishing house. Following instructions, she submitted the first 25 pages of her novel for review in advance of meeting with the editor. The meeting turned out to be a terror: the editor lambasted her for not including a cover letter and had nothing good to say about the novel excerpt. Says the author, “I was so disheartened that I did not write a word for six months.” Bewitched!
She never finished that novel but went on to publish four successful ones, one with a major publisher and three with small presses.
Enchantments can happen! I have been assigned an editor, and my novel Promise Full of Thorns is scheduled for December release. We’ll see! “Many a slip”. . . stay tuned!
September 12, 2022
Publishing: Shakespeare and I
I felt high as a cloud when I received word that my publisher is finally ready to start work on my novel, “Promise Full of Thorns,” after nearly eighteen months on hold!
Looking back to a recent re-acquaintance with Shakespeare, I wondered if he jumped over a candlestick when he first published. Maybe not! By 1594 when Shakespeare’s “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” was created, he was already an accepted member of Lord Chamberlain’s Company of Players (later called King’s Men) and only needed to have his plays printed—not published—for the actors to use.
Publishing in those days could be dangerous, says Lyndsay Docherty of Lancashire, England, a lifelong Shakespeare fan and teacher. The risk was not censorship against rough language, bad morals, or violence, but rather treasonable political material that might trouble the anointed kings, such as Elizabeth I, whose position as monarch was quite vulnerable.
Fewer of Shakespeare’s plays, mostly harmless comedies, were circulated in limited numbers during his lifetime. Wider “publishing” of his plays happened after he was no longer alive to be grimly punished by the monarchy for sedition. However, Shakespeare happily had some long narrative poems published during his lifetime. “Venus and Adonis” and “Lucrece” were best sellers. Maybe he did some celebrating over these successes.
Back to today and my current publisher: A fellow author, whose novel was recently released, said he felt that our publisher lacked professionalism. He said he felt disrespected and treated shabbily with communication delays, editing mainly by Grammarly, and an original cover design he deemed abominable. “Months of suffering are behind me and I’m trying to take time to feel good about it.”
Bill Schubart, a Vermont author and publisher, assesses turmoil in the publishing world this way: He says that my publisher, while reputable, is roiled in a declining market for literary fiction, the rise of e-and audio books, Amazon’s dominance, and a flood of hybrid and vanity releases. Publishers are “struggling with . . .the rationale of pumping more books into an enigmatic and saturated market.”
Those are not the same challenges to publishing that Shakespeare faced! I’ll keep you posted how it goes for me. Thanks for tuning in!
Looking back to a recent re-acquaintance with Shakespeare, I wondered if he jumped over a candlestick when he first published. Maybe not! By 1594 when Shakespeare’s “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” was created, he was already an accepted member of Lord Chamberlain’s Company of Players (later called King’s Men) and only needed to have his plays printed—not published—for the actors to use.
Publishing in those days could be dangerous, says Lyndsay Docherty of Lancashire, England, a lifelong Shakespeare fan and teacher. The risk was not censorship against rough language, bad morals, or violence, but rather treasonable political material that might trouble the anointed kings, such as Elizabeth I, whose position as monarch was quite vulnerable.
Fewer of Shakespeare’s plays, mostly harmless comedies, were circulated in limited numbers during his lifetime. Wider “publishing” of his plays happened after he was no longer alive to be grimly punished by the monarchy for sedition. However, Shakespeare happily had some long narrative poems published during his lifetime. “Venus and Adonis” and “Lucrece” were best sellers. Maybe he did some celebrating over these successes.
Back to today and my current publisher: A fellow author, whose novel was recently released, said he felt that our publisher lacked professionalism. He said he felt disrespected and treated shabbily with communication delays, editing mainly by Grammarly, and an original cover design he deemed abominable. “Months of suffering are behind me and I’m trying to take time to feel good about it.”
Bill Schubart, a Vermont author and publisher, assesses turmoil in the publishing world this way: He says that my publisher, while reputable, is roiled in a declining market for literary fiction, the rise of e-and audio books, Amazon’s dominance, and a flood of hybrid and vanity releases. Publishers are “struggling with . . .the rationale of pumping more books into an enigmatic and saturated market.”
Those are not the same challenges to publishing that Shakespeare faced! I’ll keep you posted how it goes for me. Thanks for tuning in!
June 24, 2022
Reconsidering Shakespeare
As my college friends and fellow English majors would attest, I was never a Shakespeare fan, even though I once attempted a spoof of “Hamlet” entitled “Omelet.” It must have had a Humpty Dumpty-ish sort of plot.
Now, eons after college and having endured a few of Shakespeare’s plays, I have been introduced to the bard in new ways. Thanks to a new Writers’ Mill friend from England and a book by Mark Forsyth*, I have re-discovered Will Shakespeare as a fellow practicing writer and one with astonishing creative talent.
According to a recent presentation by Lyndsay Docherty, a writer, teacher, artist, musician, and lifelong Shakespeare fan, of Lancashire, England, the young Shakespeare was not much for classical scholarly academics. On the other hand, he was intrigued by the Renaissance studies of Greek rhetorical figures (figures of speech patterns that punctuate written language with style.)
Fascinated with these stylistic patterns, Shakespeare practiced and worked diligently to perfect his craft using figures of speech such as alliteration, irony, antithesis, rhymes, rhetorical questions, and much more. His best plays show his mastery of elegant and eloquent writing. No matter what he wrote, he wrote it with style.
I appreciate a writer who works hard, thinks, contemplates, revises, and revamps to make his writing the best it can be. With the help of Forsyth’s delineations of the figures of rhetoric, I’m trying to consciously incorporate more of these figurative techniques into my own writing.
Lyndsay revealed another of Shakespeare’s talents, one I’d never heard about: He was an inventor of new words! Here, thanks to Lyndsay, are a few of Shakespeare’s 1,705 words he added to the English lexicon and the plays they appeared in: (Not all of his newly minted words caught on, such as “armgaunt” meaning having skinny arms.)
Bandit, “Henry VI” part 2; critic, “Love’s Labor’s Lost”; dauntless, “Henry VI” part 3; dwindle, “Henry IV” part 1; lackluster, “As You Like It”; Elbow (as a verb,) “King Lear.”
In his ability to enliven the English language with new words, I find Will Shakespeare a kindred soul to the late Portland writer, Brian Doyle, whose lively mind also sprinkled made-up words throughout his works.
Some have asked how publication of my novel “Promise Full of Thorns” is proceeding at Sunbury Press. I now have a blurb for my back cover that might see publishing daylight before the end of this year. I’ve exchanged cover blurbs with a fellow Sunbury author, James R. Dubbs, whose novel “Confessions of a Farmers Market Romeo” will be released soon.
More on Jim’s novel in my next blog, along with comparisons of modern publishing with Shakespeare’s publishing concerns.
*Mark Forsyth, “The Elements of Eloquence”
Now, eons after college and having endured a few of Shakespeare’s plays, I have been introduced to the bard in new ways. Thanks to a new Writers’ Mill friend from England and a book by Mark Forsyth*, I have re-discovered Will Shakespeare as a fellow practicing writer and one with astonishing creative talent.
According to a recent presentation by Lyndsay Docherty, a writer, teacher, artist, musician, and lifelong Shakespeare fan, of Lancashire, England, the young Shakespeare was not much for classical scholarly academics. On the other hand, he was intrigued by the Renaissance studies of Greek rhetorical figures (figures of speech patterns that punctuate written language with style.)
Fascinated with these stylistic patterns, Shakespeare practiced and worked diligently to perfect his craft using figures of speech such as alliteration, irony, antithesis, rhymes, rhetorical questions, and much more. His best plays show his mastery of elegant and eloquent writing. No matter what he wrote, he wrote it with style.
I appreciate a writer who works hard, thinks, contemplates, revises, and revamps to make his writing the best it can be. With the help of Forsyth’s delineations of the figures of rhetoric, I’m trying to consciously incorporate more of these figurative techniques into my own writing.
Lyndsay revealed another of Shakespeare’s talents, one I’d never heard about: He was an inventor of new words! Here, thanks to Lyndsay, are a few of Shakespeare’s 1,705 words he added to the English lexicon and the plays they appeared in: (Not all of his newly minted words caught on, such as “armgaunt” meaning having skinny arms.)
Bandit, “Henry VI” part 2; critic, “Love’s Labor’s Lost”; dauntless, “Henry VI” part 3; dwindle, “Henry IV” part 1; lackluster, “As You Like It”; Elbow (as a verb,) “King Lear.”
In his ability to enliven the English language with new words, I find Will Shakespeare a kindred soul to the late Portland writer, Brian Doyle, whose lively mind also sprinkled made-up words throughout his works.
Some have asked how publication of my novel “Promise Full of Thorns” is proceeding at Sunbury Press. I now have a blurb for my back cover that might see publishing daylight before the end of this year. I’ve exchanged cover blurbs with a fellow Sunbury author, James R. Dubbs, whose novel “Confessions of a Farmers Market Romeo” will be released soon.
More on Jim’s novel in my next blog, along with comparisons of modern publishing with Shakespeare’s publishing concerns.
*Mark Forsyth, “The Elements of Eloquence”
March 5, 2022
March--From Violence to Birdsong
In like a lion, out like a lamb, or vice versa, as they say about March. So my book discussion is full of contrasts too—from violence to birdsong.
There is nothing more horribly violent than genocide. I read the first volume of “Maus” by Art Spiegelman, a family’s personal account of the Holocaust. Written in comic book form for adults, the characters are imaged as cats and mice, plus a few pigs. This book was recently banned by a school board in Tennessee that picked up on “inappropriate words” and “nudity” (a tiny image of a bathtub suicide in human form.) But the censoring school board overlooked the vitally important lesson of a horror story that must be told so as to never be repeated.
See my full review of “Maus 1” on Goodreads.
Avoiding violence is the timely theme of a just-released anthology, “There I Was. . . When Nothing Happened.” Jason Brick, of Portland, has gathered stories from forty violence professionals and martial arts enthusiasts who detail a time they came close to, but avoided, violence through skills both physical and language-related.
Now for the birdsong: I enjoyed randomly skipping through the delightfully, artfully, and alphabetically informative pages of “Birdpedia: A Brief Compendium of Avian Lore” by Christopher W. Leahy. This little book nests at my bedside for nightly reading. See my Goodreads review.
And be sure to check out “Bed Stuy” by Portland author Jerry McGill. This novel was nominated for the 2022 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel. See my Goodreads 5-star review.
I hope soon to be assigned an editor for my debut novel, “Promise Full of Thorns” under contract at Sunbury Press.
There is nothing more horribly violent than genocide. I read the first volume of “Maus” by Art Spiegelman, a family’s personal account of the Holocaust. Written in comic book form for adults, the characters are imaged as cats and mice, plus a few pigs. This book was recently banned by a school board in Tennessee that picked up on “inappropriate words” and “nudity” (a tiny image of a bathtub suicide in human form.) But the censoring school board overlooked the vitally important lesson of a horror story that must be told so as to never be repeated.
See my full review of “Maus 1” on Goodreads.
Avoiding violence is the timely theme of a just-released anthology, “There I Was. . . When Nothing Happened.” Jason Brick, of Portland, has gathered stories from forty violence professionals and martial arts enthusiasts who detail a time they came close to, but avoided, violence through skills both physical and language-related.
Now for the birdsong: I enjoyed randomly skipping through the delightfully, artfully, and alphabetically informative pages of “Birdpedia: A Brief Compendium of Avian Lore” by Christopher W. Leahy. This little book nests at my bedside for nightly reading. See my Goodreads review.
And be sure to check out “Bed Stuy” by Portland author Jerry McGill. This novel was nominated for the 2022 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel. See my Goodreads 5-star review.
I hope soon to be assigned an editor for my debut novel, “Promise Full of Thorns” under contract at Sunbury Press.
January 3, 2022
My Year of Books, and Goodreads to You!
I’m starting off the new book year and looking back to share some of my 2021 reading highlights with you. Maybe you’re looking for a short book or a long book, a popular one or one you’ve not yet read, a book by an Oregon author—or something else. Here we go:
I read 36 books in 2021, equaling 9,197 pages! My average rating was 4.3 stars; I gave 5 stars perfect ratings to about 12, so not such a grumpy critic, was I!
The shortest book I read was “The Catalog of Small Contentments,” 120 pages by Portland poet Carolyn Martin. The longest was best-selling “The Lincoln Highway” by Amor Towles. (576 pages.)
The most popular of books I read was “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro. Over one million readers on Goodreads shelved this book. The highest rated on my booklist was “The Point of Vanishing” by Portland-area author Maryka Biaggio.
All of my 36 books are reviewed on Goodreads; my first review of 2021 was “The Girl and the Bombardier” by Susan Tate Ankeny of Newberg, Oregon. I gave this book 5 stars. My last review of the year, also rating 5 stars, was “The Snow Child” by Alaska author Eowyn Ivey.
Other books I read in 2021 by Portland-area authors were “Claws for Concern” by Sheila Deeth, “One Long River of Song” and “Chicago” by the late Brian Doyle, “The Night Always Comes” by Willy Vlautin, “Fuzzy Logic” by Maren Anderson, “The Sound of Murder” by Cindy Brown, “Cat Conundrum” by Mollie Hunt, and “Where Lilacs Still Bloom” by Jane Kirkpatrick.
Happy New Year and Good Reading to All in 2022! If you’re browsing, take a look at the Writers’ Mill’s latest anthology, “The Floor Above,” available on Amazon. Profits go to the Portland-area Cedar Mill Library.
I read 36 books in 2021, equaling 9,197 pages! My average rating was 4.3 stars; I gave 5 stars perfect ratings to about 12, so not such a grumpy critic, was I!
The shortest book I read was “The Catalog of Small Contentments,” 120 pages by Portland poet Carolyn Martin. The longest was best-selling “The Lincoln Highway” by Amor Towles. (576 pages.)
The most popular of books I read was “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro. Over one million readers on Goodreads shelved this book. The highest rated on my booklist was “The Point of Vanishing” by Portland-area author Maryka Biaggio.
All of my 36 books are reviewed on Goodreads; my first review of 2021 was “The Girl and the Bombardier” by Susan Tate Ankeny of Newberg, Oregon. I gave this book 5 stars. My last review of the year, also rating 5 stars, was “The Snow Child” by Alaska author Eowyn Ivey.
Other books I read in 2021 by Portland-area authors were “Claws for Concern” by Sheila Deeth, “One Long River of Song” and “Chicago” by the late Brian Doyle, “The Night Always Comes” by Willy Vlautin, “Fuzzy Logic” by Maren Anderson, “The Sound of Murder” by Cindy Brown, “Cat Conundrum” by Mollie Hunt, and “Where Lilacs Still Bloom” by Jane Kirkpatrick.
Happy New Year and Good Reading to All in 2022! If you’re browsing, take a look at the Writers’ Mill’s latest anthology, “The Floor Above,” available on Amazon. Profits go to the Portland-area Cedar Mill Library.
December 1, 2021
Birthday Surprise and New Releases
You could have pushed me down with a bookmark when my grandson Andrew Harkin announced he was narrating an audiobook of my 2016 short story anthology, “Night in Alcatraz and Other Uncanny Tales”! He finished the entire book, chapter by chapter, on Youtube.com in time for my birthday in late October.
To find it, go to youtube.com and search the book title or Andrew Harkin.
Another exciting new release is the ninth annual anthology by The Writers’ Mill. “The Floor Above” is freshly published in time for Christmas gifting at a special holiday rate on Amazon.com. The book’s brightly illustrated cover (by my granddaughter Gwenyth Harkin) would look great under any Christmas tree. The pages are filled with eclectic writings by the Writers’ Mill group of local Oregon and international authors, and fully illustrated with apt photos and drawings.
“The Floor Above” just might be the Writers’ Mill’s best volume yet! Royalties from book sales will go to the group’s sponsor, the Cedar Mill (Oregon) public library.
Happy holidays to all and a happy reading New Year!
To find it, go to youtube.com and search the book title or Andrew Harkin.
Another exciting new release is the ninth annual anthology by The Writers’ Mill. “The Floor Above” is freshly published in time for Christmas gifting at a special holiday rate on Amazon.com. The book’s brightly illustrated cover (by my granddaughter Gwenyth Harkin) would look great under any Christmas tree. The pages are filled with eclectic writings by the Writers’ Mill group of local Oregon and international authors, and fully illustrated with apt photos and drawings.
“The Floor Above” just might be the Writers’ Mill’s best volume yet! Royalties from book sales will go to the group’s sponsor, the Cedar Mill (Oregon) public library.
Happy holidays to all and a happy reading New Year!
September 7, 2021
Ordinary Becomes Extraordinary
I return to blogging after a long break, to praise Oregon authors and publishers, many from Portland, such as the poet Carolyn Martin and the late Brian Doyle. Brian’s essays and Carolyn’s poems, full of lovely and lively words, elevate the ordinary to extraordinary through their piercing vision and acute observations of people and nature.
Carolyn’s book is “The Catalog of Small Contentments,” published this year by The Poetry Box publisher. Brian’s essay collection is “One Long River of Song,” compiled by his friend David James Duncan and others, approved by Brian shortly before his death in 2017. The essays are among Brian’s best.
I am adding a short list of books from Oregon authors and a publisher this year, but it’s only a sip off the top foam. There were many good reads published this year. Here is a taste:
Other 2021 books by Portland poets:
“Poems and Po-Yums” by Catherin Violante of Portland and Iain Yuill of Scotland. A collaboration by two writing friends that spans distances and themes from sublime to ridiculous, joy to grief.
“The Color of Goodbye” by Pattie Palmer-Baker. In poetic imagery this book tells the story of three characters in a family plus Jim Beam, finding memories and witnessing life.
2021 novels by Portland authors:
“The Point of Vanishing” by Maryka Biaggio is historical fiction based on the life of prodigious writer Barbara Follett and her mysterious, unexplained disappearance at age 25 in 1939.
“The Night Always Comes” by Willy Vlautin tells of the impact of corporatism and gentrification on ordinary Portland citizens, as a young woman struggles to save her family.
“Ghost Cat of Ocean Cove” by Mollie Hunt. First in the author’s newest cat mystery series, ‘A Tenth Life Cozy Mystery #1.’ A ghost cat and cold case murder complicate a peaceful beach venue.
From Independence, Oregon publisher Not a Pipe Publishing:
“See You at the End of the World” by cyber-punk author Simon Paul Wilson (from England) is a novella with romance, comedy, weird dreams, and a supernatural threat.
“Brief Black Candles” by Lydia K. Valentine, poet laureate of Tacoma, Washington, gives poetic shape to questions of family, loss, justice, and survival in not-yet-post-racist America.
“Incandescent” by Ayodele Nzinga, poet laureate of Oakland, California, brilliantly fires questions at the reader about justice, freedom, and existence.
“Denial Kills” is Not a Pipe’s anthology by 23 authors, revealing how forms of denial can be toxic to humans.
Happy reading! And stay tuned to next year’s news that will hopefully include the release of my novel, “Promise Full of Thorns” by Sunbury Press.
Meanwhile, I’ll blog again in a few months.
Carolyn’s book is “The Catalog of Small Contentments,” published this year by The Poetry Box publisher. Brian’s essay collection is “One Long River of Song,” compiled by his friend David James Duncan and others, approved by Brian shortly before his death in 2017. The essays are among Brian’s best.
I am adding a short list of books from Oregon authors and a publisher this year, but it’s only a sip off the top foam. There were many good reads published this year. Here is a taste:
Other 2021 books by Portland poets:
“Poems and Po-Yums” by Catherin Violante of Portland and Iain Yuill of Scotland. A collaboration by two writing friends that spans distances and themes from sublime to ridiculous, joy to grief.
“The Color of Goodbye” by Pattie Palmer-Baker. In poetic imagery this book tells the story of three characters in a family plus Jim Beam, finding memories and witnessing life.
2021 novels by Portland authors:
“The Point of Vanishing” by Maryka Biaggio is historical fiction based on the life of prodigious writer Barbara Follett and her mysterious, unexplained disappearance at age 25 in 1939.
“The Night Always Comes” by Willy Vlautin tells of the impact of corporatism and gentrification on ordinary Portland citizens, as a young woman struggles to save her family.
“Ghost Cat of Ocean Cove” by Mollie Hunt. First in the author’s newest cat mystery series, ‘A Tenth Life Cozy Mystery #1.’ A ghost cat and cold case murder complicate a peaceful beach venue.
From Independence, Oregon publisher Not a Pipe Publishing:
“See You at the End of the World” by cyber-punk author Simon Paul Wilson (from England) is a novella with romance, comedy, weird dreams, and a supernatural threat.
“Brief Black Candles” by Lydia K. Valentine, poet laureate of Tacoma, Washington, gives poetic shape to questions of family, loss, justice, and survival in not-yet-post-racist America.
“Incandescent” by Ayodele Nzinga, poet laureate of Oakland, California, brilliantly fires questions at the reader about justice, freedom, and existence.
“Denial Kills” is Not a Pipe’s anthology by 23 authors, revealing how forms of denial can be toxic to humans.
Happy reading! And stay tuned to next year’s news that will hopefully include the release of my novel, “Promise Full of Thorns” by Sunbury Press.
Meanwhile, I’ll blog again in a few months.
April 29, 2021
For Diversity's Sake! Readers Wanted
“Diversity” is an often-used word these days, for many reasons and themes from the environment to social culture to literature.
Anthologies are showcases of diversity, containing a variety of writings, genres, writing styles, and authors’ points of view. This month, I draw your attention to three anthologies to tempt you:
The first is brand new, even pre-new. To be released May 18, “Denial Kills” is published by Not a Pipe Publishing and contains the writings of 23 authors from around the world. The book description reads, “There is another sinister threat (besides fear) . . .when if not addressed before it sets in, can be deadly. Denial, when allowed to fester, can have various consequences.” Examples follow in the stories, showing how denial can cost women their happiness, sanity, and even their lives.
Authors from Sweden to Australia, from Pakistan to Zimbabwe are contributors to this collection of stories and poems. Styles are as varied as the writers themselves. Diversity rules even while “Denial Kills.”
Another anthology was published in November 2020 during the pandemic by the Writers’ Mill group during a Zoom meeting (lots of writing, editing, and decision making led up to this.) The group’s eighth volume is “Journeys through Chaos: an Anthology to Bring us Together.” To find this book on Amazon, input both title and subtitle or look under “Writers’ Mill Journal.” It’s the book with the bright pinkish color. And the journeys between front and back covers vary from humorous to serious and are brightly diverse.
An older anthology, but still a goodie (I hope) is my own 2016 anthology of stories, some quirkier than others, titled “Night in Alcatraz and Other Uncanny Tales.”
I’m thrilled that “Alcatraz,” my first publication will soon have a “sibling.” My novel, “Promise Full of Thorns” has been accepted for publication, and I’ve signed a contract with Sunbury Press. When proofreading time comes, I’d like a few readers to give my novel a quick but focused read for typos and goofs. Please let me know if you’re interested. Thanks!
I am sorry to note the passing of John Richards at age 97. He died March 30 in Lincolnshire, England. John, a retired journalist and copy editor, was a grand old warrior for correct punctuation and word usage; together with his son, he founded the Apostrophe Protection Society in 2001 to save a “poor defenseless” punctuation mark. He finally gave up the effort in 2019, stating that “barbarians” and lazy journalism had won out over his efforts to preserve the correct uses of the apostrophe.
Anthologies are showcases of diversity, containing a variety of writings, genres, writing styles, and authors’ points of view. This month, I draw your attention to three anthologies to tempt you:
The first is brand new, even pre-new. To be released May 18, “Denial Kills” is published by Not a Pipe Publishing and contains the writings of 23 authors from around the world. The book description reads, “There is another sinister threat (besides fear) . . .when if not addressed before it sets in, can be deadly. Denial, when allowed to fester, can have various consequences.” Examples follow in the stories, showing how denial can cost women their happiness, sanity, and even their lives.
Authors from Sweden to Australia, from Pakistan to Zimbabwe are contributors to this collection of stories and poems. Styles are as varied as the writers themselves. Diversity rules even while “Denial Kills.”
Another anthology was published in November 2020 during the pandemic by the Writers’ Mill group during a Zoom meeting (lots of writing, editing, and decision making led up to this.) The group’s eighth volume is “Journeys through Chaos: an Anthology to Bring us Together.” To find this book on Amazon, input both title and subtitle or look under “Writers’ Mill Journal.” It’s the book with the bright pinkish color. And the journeys between front and back covers vary from humorous to serious and are brightly diverse.
An older anthology, but still a goodie (I hope) is my own 2016 anthology of stories, some quirkier than others, titled “Night in Alcatraz and Other Uncanny Tales.”
I’m thrilled that “Alcatraz,” my first publication will soon have a “sibling.” My novel, “Promise Full of Thorns” has been accepted for publication, and I’ve signed a contract with Sunbury Press. When proofreading time comes, I’d like a few readers to give my novel a quick but focused read for typos and goofs. Please let me know if you’re interested. Thanks!
I am sorry to note the passing of John Richards at age 97. He died March 30 in Lincolnshire, England. John, a retired journalist and copy editor, was a grand old warrior for correct punctuation and word usage; together with his son, he founded the Apostrophe Protection Society in 2001 to save a “poor defenseless” punctuation mark. He finally gave up the effort in 2019, stating that “barbarians” and lazy journalism had won out over his efforts to preserve the correct uses of the apostrophe.
February 25, 2021
On the Road Again--with Harry and John
Escaping from the cloister of pandemic, I enjoyed two more road trips through books (two in previous blog.) Recently I traveled with President Harry Truman and his wife Bess in his 1953 Chrysler from Independence, Missouri to Washington DC, New York, and Philadelphia.
Next, I rode in a souped-up camper/pickup with John Steinbeck and his French poodle, Charley, from New York across the northern half of the USA, then down to California before following a route through Texas and the South, back to their New York home.
“Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip” by Matthew Algeo tails the Trumans on their road trip back to DC three years after Harry left the White House. He loved to travel, loved cars, and he and Bess wanted to travel like private citizens on a road trip with Harry driving his new car. He was the last ex-president to try such a stunt, and probably the first and only. Indeed, it was an adventure, well explored, researched, and written with down home humor by Algeo.
John Steinbeck wrote “Travels with Charley: In Search of America” in 1960, only seven years after the Trumans’ round trip. John’s purposes for his solo trip included 1) to prove he could after several troubling health issues—he was 58 years old, and 2) to explore the landscapes and gain new perspectives on the character of the American populace.
Charley was a companionable, reassuring presence for John, who could read the dog’s body language. They traveled well together, encountering a cross section of Americana and finding a diversity of unique individuals and some humorous adventures. It was interesting to read that in 1960, on the eve of a presidential election, the political chatter was subdued and discreet in contrast to 2020. The travelers found little discord in society until they were gobsmacked by “the naked face of racism” in the South.
If John had encountered Harry coming or going across the USA, he would have enjoyed a conversation full of political opinions and wry humor. And Harry would have found John to be a good listener, non-judgmental observer, concerned citizen, and an equal with a sense of humor.
Harry would have expounded on the upcoming Nixon-Kennedy presidential election. Harry was known to hate Nixon, so would have favored Kennedy despite antipathy for Kennedy’s overbearing father. And, loving cars, Harry would have been fascinated by John’s rigged-up conveniences in his specially designed camper topper “Rocinante.” Being an avid reader, Harry would have appreciated the camper bearing the name of Don Quixote’s horse in Cervantes’s picaresque adventure tale.
The two men could have settled comfortably in Rocinante and visited over a cup of coffee with a dash of whiskey while Charley napped and Bess went off to have her hair done in the next town. If Charley had words, he could have topped the conversation by snarling his opinion about bears in Yellowstone.
That makes four road trip/book adventures for me since last fall (all reviewed here on Goodreads.) I am open to suggestions for further road trips. Something in a foreign land, perhaps?
And once we all return to actually traveling again, you might like to take along an audiobook of a road trip. A Goodreads reader recommended Gary Sinise’s audiobook of “Travels with Charley,” noting that Sinise’s voice was a perfect fit for John Steinbeck.
From my November road trip, an audiobook is available of “The Long Haul: A Trucker’s Tales of Life on the Road” by Finn Murphy.
Next, I rode in a souped-up camper/pickup with John Steinbeck and his French poodle, Charley, from New York across the northern half of the USA, then down to California before following a route through Texas and the South, back to their New York home.
“Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip” by Matthew Algeo tails the Trumans on their road trip back to DC three years after Harry left the White House. He loved to travel, loved cars, and he and Bess wanted to travel like private citizens on a road trip with Harry driving his new car. He was the last ex-president to try such a stunt, and probably the first and only. Indeed, it was an adventure, well explored, researched, and written with down home humor by Algeo.
John Steinbeck wrote “Travels with Charley: In Search of America” in 1960, only seven years after the Trumans’ round trip. John’s purposes for his solo trip included 1) to prove he could after several troubling health issues—he was 58 years old, and 2) to explore the landscapes and gain new perspectives on the character of the American populace.
Charley was a companionable, reassuring presence for John, who could read the dog’s body language. They traveled well together, encountering a cross section of Americana and finding a diversity of unique individuals and some humorous adventures. It was interesting to read that in 1960, on the eve of a presidential election, the political chatter was subdued and discreet in contrast to 2020. The travelers found little discord in society until they were gobsmacked by “the naked face of racism” in the South.
If John had encountered Harry coming or going across the USA, he would have enjoyed a conversation full of political opinions and wry humor. And Harry would have found John to be a good listener, non-judgmental observer, concerned citizen, and an equal with a sense of humor.
Harry would have expounded on the upcoming Nixon-Kennedy presidential election. Harry was known to hate Nixon, so would have favored Kennedy despite antipathy for Kennedy’s overbearing father. And, loving cars, Harry would have been fascinated by John’s rigged-up conveniences in his specially designed camper topper “Rocinante.” Being an avid reader, Harry would have appreciated the camper bearing the name of Don Quixote’s horse in Cervantes’s picaresque adventure tale.
The two men could have settled comfortably in Rocinante and visited over a cup of coffee with a dash of whiskey while Charley napped and Bess went off to have her hair done in the next town. If Charley had words, he could have topped the conversation by snarling his opinion about bears in Yellowstone.
That makes four road trip/book adventures for me since last fall (all reviewed here on Goodreads.) I am open to suggestions for further road trips. Something in a foreign land, perhaps?
And once we all return to actually traveling again, you might like to take along an audiobook of a road trip. A Goodreads reader recommended Gary Sinise’s audiobook of “Travels with Charley,” noting that Sinise’s voice was a perfect fit for John Steinbeck.
From my November road trip, an audiobook is available of “The Long Haul: A Trucker’s Tales of Life on the Road” by Finn Murphy.
November 8, 2020
Escape from Chaos via Book Travels
Like everyone else, I’ve tried to escape from our troubled, chaotic year. Books have been a great pathway out. Coincidentally, the last two books I’ve read (and reviewed here on Goodreads) involved travel on the road.
“Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein’s Brain” by Michael Paterniti (2001) is a memoir by a young man who followed up on a fascinating lead—to meet the pathologist who had absconded the Princeton, New Jersey, medical center with Albert Einstein’s brain after he died in 1955 and kept it for forty years. Young Paterniti became the road trip driver for elderly Dr. Harvey, who then wished, near the end of his life, to return the brain to Einstein’s daughter in California. The book details this cross-country adventure with humor and insight.
“The Long Haul: a Trucker’s Tales of Life on the Road” by Finn Murphy (2018) is the memoir of a truck driver who contracted for long-distance moving companies for over thirty years. His narrative reveals the inside story of the truck-driving lifestyle, hard work, and relationships forged on the job. Murphy’s observations of the private lives of “shippers” (moving company customers) reveals much about ordinary and extraordinary human lives in America. His tales could not have been made up!
From this helpful navigator, I also learned some tips about packing, moving, saving stuff—and how to keep safe driving on the highway alongside trucks.
Besides reading, I went on a writing journey, contributing poetry and helping to edit The Writers’ Mill’s eighth annual anthology. The title is “Journeys Through Chaos: an Anthology to Bring us Together.” The challenges of this pandemic, political, and fire-devastated year inspired much of the journal’s contents. But there is also humor and some writings inspired by personal struggles and hardships.
The anthology will be uniquely published during the Writers’ Mill group’s November meeting. This publication will be our fourth “in meeting” upload, but our first to publish via Zoom. Leader Sheila Deeth will direct our efforts from final formatting, to cover design, to setting the purchase price, as the group participates through Zoom, hosted by our local librarian.
The Writers’ Mill 2020 collection will be available for purchase online soon after November 15 at a price likely under $9. Be sure to look for the colorful cover on Amazon and take a peek inside at an enticing blend of fiction, essays, and poetry. Profits from sales will go to the Cedar Mill Library in Washington County, Oregon.
“Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein’s Brain” by Michael Paterniti (2001) is a memoir by a young man who followed up on a fascinating lead—to meet the pathologist who had absconded the Princeton, New Jersey, medical center with Albert Einstein’s brain after he died in 1955 and kept it for forty years. Young Paterniti became the road trip driver for elderly Dr. Harvey, who then wished, near the end of his life, to return the brain to Einstein’s daughter in California. The book details this cross-country adventure with humor and insight.
“The Long Haul: a Trucker’s Tales of Life on the Road” by Finn Murphy (2018) is the memoir of a truck driver who contracted for long-distance moving companies for over thirty years. His narrative reveals the inside story of the truck-driving lifestyle, hard work, and relationships forged on the job. Murphy’s observations of the private lives of “shippers” (moving company customers) reveals much about ordinary and extraordinary human lives in America. His tales could not have been made up!
From this helpful navigator, I also learned some tips about packing, moving, saving stuff—and how to keep safe driving on the highway alongside trucks.
Besides reading, I went on a writing journey, contributing poetry and helping to edit The Writers’ Mill’s eighth annual anthology. The title is “Journeys Through Chaos: an Anthology to Bring us Together.” The challenges of this pandemic, political, and fire-devastated year inspired much of the journal’s contents. But there is also humor and some writings inspired by personal struggles and hardships.
The anthology will be uniquely published during the Writers’ Mill group’s November meeting. This publication will be our fourth “in meeting” upload, but our first to publish via Zoom. Leader Sheila Deeth will direct our efforts from final formatting, to cover design, to setting the purchase price, as the group participates through Zoom, hosted by our local librarian.
The Writers’ Mill 2020 collection will be available for purchase online soon after November 15 at a price likely under $9. Be sure to look for the colorful cover on Amazon and take a peek inside at an enticing blend of fiction, essays, and poetry. Profits from sales will go to the Cedar Mill Library in Washington County, Oregon.
