Leave of Absence Review & Giveaway

   
Title:  Leave of Absence
Author:  Tanya J. Peterson
Publisher:  Inkwater Press   2013
Pages:  327
Genre:  Literary Fiction
Source:  Publisher
ISBN:  1592998836
Rating:  4 stars



Book Blurb:
     “Oliver knew deep in his heart that he would never, ever be better.” In this insightful and evocative novel, Tanya J. Peterson delves deeply into the world of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and schizophrenia.

     When Oliver Graham’s suicide attempt fails, he is admitted to Airhaven Behavioral Health Center. Unable to cope with the traumatic loss of his beloved wife and son, he finds a single thread of attachment to life in Penelope, a fellow patient wrestling with schizophrenia and its devastating impact on her once happy and successful life. They both struggle to discover a reason to live while Penelope’s fiancé William strives to convince her that she is worth loving. As Oliver and Penelope try to achieve emotional stability, face others who have been part of their lives, and function in the “real world,” they discover that human connection may be reason enough to go on.
     
     Written with extraordinary perception into the thought processes of those grappling with mental illness, Leave of Absence is perfect for readers seeking an empathic depiction of grief, loss, and schizophrenia, as well as anyone who has ever experienced human suffering and healing.

My Thoughts:
     Leave of Absence is thought-provoking, engaging, and very interesting from cover to cover.  I greatly appreciate Tanya J. Peterson's talents for weaving great fictional writing with professional insights.  She gracefully addresses mental health stereotypes and illustrates the time and energy involved for people such as Penelope and Oliver, both dealing with common emotional issues, to make genuine progress in real life.

     Here are some examples of the many ingredients in Peterson's writing that combine to successfully engage the reader:

1.  Intrigue, not in the crime-mystery sense, but wonderings about the future of the characters:

     People often desperately needed someone to listen, to provide a human connection, and he could build on that connection to talk them down.  Gregory felt confident that he could form enough of a connection to keep the man [Oliver] in place, if only he would make eye contact.  The avoidance of eye contact, though, meant he had already checked out.

     [Penelope speaking] “Her apartment is painted in reds and yellows, Oliver...Red and yellow. Fear and disgust. She said she had been looking forward to meeting me, but everything around her said the opposite.  Walls are straight lines, remember, and straight lines mean the truth.  The truth is that she’s afraid of me and disgusted  by my mental illness.  I tried to ignore the colors, but it’s hard to ignore colors.  Then Mrs. Roosevelt started talking to me, telling me that I was an embarrassment to William.  She sometimes brings other people with her to help her make her point. I don’t know who they are, just that there are a lot of them; Mrs. Roosevelt is a very popular person..."

2.  Power of  memories:

     Giggles that seemed to originate from deep within the little belly erupted and mingled with the laughter that already danced in the air.  Oliver couldn’t tell who was having more fun, the beautiful woman or the adorable toddler.  Actually, he was pretty sure he was the one taking the most delight in the moment.  Her happiness, her love of life, were so contagious.
     
     “Oliver, how would you feel about us living here?  I can

picture us here, honey.  I love this place already.  And when we have kids, they’ll have as much fun as you did exploring the nooks and crannies and wreaking havoc by building forts all over the place."  His heart soared.  He had such fond memories of growing up here, and he wanted nothing more than to build a family here with Maggie.

3.  Wonderful imagery (can't you just picture the room?):

     Along a side wall was a large aquarium in which half a

dozen fish swam back and forth, up and down.  One darted through the open door of a castle and out the other side.  The multicolored gravel in the tank looked out of place in the waiting room.  Everything else in the room was muted beige or pink—even the abstract artwork on the walls boasted shades of pink in varying degrees of paleness—but the tiny rocks at the bottom of the tank were brightly dyed in every color of the rainbow.

4.  "Feeling" the emotions, such as the angst between William and Oliver:

     William gestured angrily toward Oliver. "You don’t have to deal with anything like this. My fiancée is very much alive, but in a lot of ways, it’s like she’s gone. Your wife and son are dead.  They’re just plain gone. You’re lucky; you got to bury them, and they can live on perfectly in your memory. So don’t pretend to know what this is like."

...Oliver interrupted him. “How am I lucky? ... Maggie and Henry are dead, and they’re never coming back.”  The tears flowed freely now, and he didn’t try to wipe them away.  "You can talk to Penelope, hold her, cherish her.  I am never, ever, going to see Maggie and Henry again.  I’ll never be able to hold them and tell them how much I love them.  Their lives were cut short; they are gone forever and…” His voice cracked. He tried again. “And it’s all my fault!  They died a horrible death because of me."

Leave of Absence is perfect for readers seeking an empathic depiction of grief, loss, and schizophrenia, as well as anyone who has ever experienced human suffering and healing.  Check out this book trailer:

 

About the Author:

Tanya J. Peterson holds a Bachelor of Science in secondary education, Master of Science in counseling, and is a Nationally Certified Counselor.  She has been a teacher and a counselor in various settings, including a traditional high school and an alternative school for homeless and runaway adolescents, and she has volunteered her services in both schools and communities.  She draws on her life experience as well as her education to write stories about the emotional aspect of the human condition.  She has published Losing Elizabeth, a young adult novel about an abusive relationship, Challenge!, a short story about a person who finds the confidence to overcome criticism and achieve a goal, and a book review of Linley and Joseph’s Positive Therapy: A Meta-Theory for Positive Psychological Practice that appeared in Counseling Today, the national publication of the American Counseling Association. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two children.
Website - http://tanyajpeterson.com/
Blog - http://tanyajpeterson.com/blog/
Twitter - @tanyajpeterson1
Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/tanyajpeterson
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/tanyajpeterson

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Appointment In Samarra Review

   
Title:  Appointment In Samarra
Author:  John O'Hara
Published:  Penguin Classics  2013
Originally published in 1934 by Harcourt, Brace and Co.
Pages:  220
Genre:  Classic Literary Fiction
Source:  Penguin Books
ISBN:  978-0-14-310707-1
Rating:  4-stars


Book Blurb:

     According to Ernest Hemingway, “if you want to read a book by a man who knows exactly what he is writing about and has written it marvelously well, read APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA,” and  Fran Lebowitz actually called O’Hara “the real F. Scott Fitzgerald.”

     Brimming with wealth and privilege, jealousy and infidelity, O’Hara’s iconic first novel is an unflinching look at the dark side of the American dream in the 1930's.  Julian English is a man who squanders what fate gave him.  He lives on the right side of the tracks, with a country club membership and a wife who loves him.  His decline and fall, over the course of just 72 hours around Christmas, is a matter of too much spending, too much liquor and a couple of reckless gestures (Now Julian, don’t throw that drink in the well-connected Irishman’s face. Don’t make that pass at the gangster’s mistress.)  That his calamity is petty and preventable only makes it more powerful.  In Faulkner the tragedies all seem to be taking place on Olympus, even when they’re happening among the lowlifes. In O’Hara they could be happening to you.

My Thoughts:
     It is 1930's in Pennsylvania, United States.  An era of financial depression for most people.  Also an era of "old-fashioned" cultural mores and expectations being challenged on a regular basis.  Speakeasies.  The Mob.  Cadillacs.  Liquor.  Dance cards.  Racial and religious tensions.  In the wealthy upper echelon of society (a.k.a. the country club set), socializing was practically a full time job and keeping up appearances was integral to one's success.  Men were men, and women, who were supposed to "know their role," kept chipping away at their rights for equal opportunity.  

     "The smoking room of the Lantenengo Country Club was so crowded it did not seem as though another person could get in, but people moved in and out somehow.  The smoking room had become co-educational; originally, when the club was built in 1920, it had been for men only, but during many wedding receptions women had broken the rule against their entertaining; wedding receptions were private parties, and club rules could be broken when the whole club was taken over by one party.  So the feminine members had muscled in on the smoking room..."

     Julian and Caroline English, Luther and Irma Fliegler, Al Grecco (you'll love the back story on how he got his name), Harry Reilly, Helene Holman, and Ed Charney are the integral characters in Appointment in Samarra; each one wrestling with his or her human traits and flaws within the scope of society living.  Author John O'Hara takes the time to develop his characters, often going into great detail so the reader feels as though he/she is right there observing in person:

     "Reilly [the witty Irishman] told stories in paragraphs.  While he was speaking he would lean forward with an arm on his knee, like a picture you have seen of a cowboy.  When he came to the end of the paragraph he would look quickly over his shoulder, as though he expected to be arrested before finishing the story; he would finger his tie and close his mouth tight, and then he would turn back to his audience and go into the next paragraph:'...So Pat said...' " 

     "She [Constance Walker] was known on the stag line as a girl who would give you a dance; she was at Smith, and was a good student.  She had a lovely figure, especially her breasts, and she was a passionate little thing who wasn't homely but was plain and, if she only knew it, didn't look well without her glasses.  She was so eager to please that when a young man would cut in on her, he got the full benefit of her breasts and the rest of her body.  The young men were fond of saying, before leaving to cut in on Constance: 'Guess I'll go get a work-out.' "

     Reminders of simpler times was another facet I loved about this story:

     "Such a pretty day.  Bright; and there were icicles, actually icicles, hanging in the middle of the windows.  With the holly wreath and the curtains they make you think of a Christmas card.  It was quiet outside.  Gibbsville, the whole world, was resting after the snow.  He heard a sound that could mean only one thing; one of the Harley kids next door had a new Flexible Flyer for Christmas, and was trying it out belly-bumpers down the Harley driveway..."


     This is one of my favorite paragraphs.  I felt like O'Hara tapped in to and articulated something we all do but never stop to think about:

     "Your home is the center of many zones.  The first zone is your home, the second can be the homes around you, which you know only less well than you do your home.  In the second zone you know where the rain-pipes have stained the shingles on the houses, you know where the doorbell button is, how much of a bedpost can be seen in an upstairs window; the length of slack taken up in the porch-swing chains; the crack in the sidewalk; the oil spots from the drip-pans in the driveway; the lump of coal, which you remember from the time it was not swept away, and its metamorphosis from day to day as it is crushed and crushed into smaller lumps and into dust and then all that is left of it is a black blot, and you are glad one day that it has been crushed and it no longer is there to accuse you of worry about your neighbor's slovenliness.  And so on."

     There are many literary elements that truly feed me and irony is one of my favorites.  This little tale, at the beginning of the book, introduces the reader to the mood of  the story of Julian English and friends:

"Death Speaks"

     There was a merchant in Baghdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the market-place I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me.  She looked at me and made a threatening gesture; now, lend me your horse and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate.  I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me.  The merchant lent him his horse and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went.  Then the merchant went down to the market-place and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?  That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise.  I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.
                                                         ~    by W. Somerset Maugham

     Appointment in Samarra will appeal to readers who love The Great Gatsby, depression-era fiction, and classic literary fiction.

About the Author:

JOHN O’HARA (1905-1970) was among the most prominent American writers of the twentieth century.  Championed by Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Dorothy Parker, he wrote  14  novels, including BUtterfield 8, which was made into a film starring Elizabeth Taylor.  He won the National Book Award for his novel Ten North Frederick and had more stories published in The New Yorker than anyone in the history of the magazine. His more than four hundred short stories have been collected in twelve volumes.

Black Venus Book Review & Giveaway

   
Title:  Black Venus
Author:  James MacManus
Published:  St. Martin's Press
                      May 2013
Pages:  347
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Source:  ARC from Publisher
ISBN:  978-1-250-01423-8
Rating:  4 stars

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Book Blurb:
     Baudelaire’s fortunes rose and fell under the influence of his Venus Noir.  Addictive as opium the voluptuous Haitian cabaret singer Jeanne Duval tortured and inspired Charles Baudelaire to create poetry that would forever change the world of literature.  Their love played out against the backdrop of 19th-century Paris in the Left Bank cafes and taverns frequented by such giants as Édouard Manet, Honoré de Balzac and Alexandre Dumas.

     Reviled by Baudelaire’s family, friends and publisher, Duval was Baudelaire’s muse, leading him to create the poetry whose dark and passionate imagery forever changed and influenced modern literature.  Baudelaire was squandering his small fortune on alcohol and women when he met Duval, who he called Black Venus and claimed as his mistress. Their fiery relationship became the catalyst for his work—without her he couldn’t write a word.

     Ironically, Duval scorned Les Fleurs de Mal—The Flowers of Evil—the slim volume of poems she inspired that outraged French morals causing Baudelaire and his publisher to be forced into a scandalous public trial for obscenity.  What hold did she have on him that he allowed her to betray him in every possible way, driving him into debt and opium addiction even as she openly slept with his friends?

     Author James MacManus brings the world of the Left Bank vividly to life in his novel BLACK VENUS (Thomas Dunne Books; May 7, 2013) based on the historic facts surrounding their torrid love affair even as the arts flourished in Paris’s most decadent and prolific period.

My Thoughts:

     I thought Black Venus was a truly great read...you can't go wrong when the story contains the famous Charles Baudelaire, the pampered-mama's-boy-over-indulged-poet; Jeanne Duval, the classic femme-fatale-exotic-cabaret-mistress;  Auguste Poulet-Malassis, friend and publisher; and mother's-favorite Apollonie Sabatier; all interacting within the intriguing culture of Paris in the 1800's.  I had many wonderings throughout the story...What would Jeanne do next to help or hurt Charles?  How could Charles be addicted to someone so unpredictable?  Would Mom be able to convince Charles of Apollonie as a better choice?  Who else should Charles be wary of in his arrogant existence?  I  loved the imagery of the clothing and customs during this historical period in France.

Charles' connection to his mother:

"They hardly left each other's company in those years after his father died.  At night he refused to go to sleep without the good-night kiss and the longed-for embrace.  She [mother] would tell him stories about two swallows flying to Africa when winter came to Europe.  The stories were always about the same two swallows, although the adventures were different. The swallows were lucky, she told him.  They could fly so far on their tiny wings that they never knew winter but lived in summer all year long."

"There were goldfish in the garden pond at Neuilly, big lazy creatures that hung motionless just below the surface, their mouths opening in little O's.  He [Baudelaire] would spend hours staring at them, rippling the water with his fingers to make them move.  On one occasion he had fallen in, trying to catch them.  After that, his mother had turned the pond into a rockery."

Signs of the times:

"The young man gripped his cane more tightly and walked into the dark underbelly of the city.  Huddled between the great public buildings and large private houses were the dwellings of the poor: wattle-and-daub wooden houses separated by narrow lanes running with filth."

"Baudelaire signed the document.  The old man took a stick of sealing wax and held one end into the flame of the candle on the table.  He waited a second, then held the dripping wax over the paper until a large blob had formed below the signature.  Baudelaire took off his ring, pushed it into the wax, held it for a second, then put the ring back in his waistcoat pocket..."

Jeanne Duval's passion for Paris:

"Even in a dark alleyway reeking of sewage and slippery with horse dung, Paris was the center of her universe.  She loved the city.  It had given her freedom, the right to make her own life, to live on her wits and her charm.  This was the city that had inspired her own people in Haiti to rise up against the French plantation owners.  The slave revolt had followed the heroic example of the mob that had stormed the Bastille."

Baudelaire's arrogance:

"Baudelaire and his friends gathered...for a meeting of the Lost and Doomed Souls Club.  They had chosen the name to signal to the literary establishment and society in general their disillusionment with the politics of avarice and poverty...Several literary magazines in Paris responded with the unkind observation that the Pompous and Pretentious Club would be a more suitable name..."

"Baudelaire sat at the desk in his apartment writing with one of the thick nibbed pens that had only recently replaced quills.  Every few minutes he would pause, chew the wooden end of the pen, and then resume writing.  As he finished each page, he pushed it onto the floor and drew a fresh sheet from the top drawer...Poulet-Malassis [Baudelaire's publisher] sat on a chair in the corner of the room reading through a pile of papers...'You have insulted the Church, made a mockery of the authorities, and portrayed women as sexual mannequins.'  Baudelaire laughed and turned in his chair. 'So you like my little poems?' "

About the Author:
James MacManus, who was born in London, began his career with The Guardian first as a reporter in the London office and then as a foreign correspondent in France, Africa and the Middle East. Following a position on the diplomatic staff of the Daily Telegraph in London, he joined The Times, eventually rising to Managing Editor then Managing Director of The Times Literary Supplement. In 2006 his first screenplay became the major motion picture, The Children of Huang Shi, and in 2010 his critically acclaimed first novel, Language of the Sea, made its debut.

James' website - http://www.jamesmacmanus.com/

Become a fan on Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1250590.James_MacManus

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GLOW by Jessica Maria Tuccelli

   

Title:  Glow

Author:  Jessica Maria Tuccelli

Published:  Penguin Books

                   February 2013

Pages:   320

Genre:  Literary Fiction/Historical

Source:  Publisher

ISBN:  978-0-14-312292-0

Rating:  4 stars

Book Blurb:

     Six generations of one family are given voice as they contend with deep-rooted legacies of ethnicity, family secrets, and the haunted soil they seek to possess.

   On the eve of World War II, young Ella McGee sits on a bus bound for her Southern hometown. Behind her in Washington, D.C., lie the broken pieces of her parents’ love story—a black father drafted; an activist mother of Scotch-Irish and Cherokee descent confronting racist thugs.

  But Ella’s journey is just beginning when she reaches Hopewell County, and her disappearance into the Georgia mountains will stir up memories long suppressed. As the secrets of Ella’s family history unfold in a vivid generational saga, Glow transports us to the Blue Ridge frontier of 1836, where slave plantations adjoin the haunted glades of a razed Cherokee Nation. Ron Rash’s Appalachia cascades into Alice Walker’s Georgia red clay in this lushly written debut announcing a major new voice in Southern fiction.  

My Thoughts:

     As a piece of literary fiction, Glow intrigued me for many reasons.  First, the flowing conversation allowed me to stay engaged right there with the story:

Mia had tried again, treading gingerly, not wanting to spoil the beauty of her daughter, not wanting to seed ugliness in her head.
They won't let folks with brown faces work there.  Only pink faces like them.  White folks, she conceded.
Not even you?
Especially not me.
Why not?
Because some folks don't know any better; they weren't taught to do the right thing.

"I'm ten and a half.  You only nine," I say.
"So you're the older one.  Fine by me."
"Don't you forget it," I say.
"I'll remind you to your dying day."
"Don't doubt it.  You a pest," I say. "You like a fly around a horse's eye."
"And you're the one around his ass."
We cracked ourselves up, Mary-Mary and me.

     Secondly, you know how much I love rich word choice, right?  Well, this novel delivered.  Jessica Tuccelli chose just the right words necessary to provide vivid imagery for the reader.

"An epoch later, we heard the double bang of the screen door and Poppa's brogans sweeping across the floorboards..."

"I squinted and imagined the puzzle pieces: the corner of a window, the jutting edge of an oak-shingled roof, a sunken porch, and the top of a crumbling chimney."

"When I deposited the wormy being into his hand, Turner seemed to forget himself as he caressed it.  His jaw dropped, a dab of wet glossing his bottom lip.  He laughed silently as the caterpillar undulated across his wrist and up his forearm."

"That one is unfortunate in death as well as in life.  And now she stuck like nobody's business.  She got nothing left of conscience or reason, just painful rememory and terrible want.  That's the worst state a haint [Southern colloquialism - ghost, lost soul] can be in --wandering so long, there ain't nothing left of their humanity."

     Each chapter held one page on which was printed authentic historical information, in the form of an official document, in order to help stage the cultural mindset, actual laws of the time, racial integration (or lack thereof), census taking protocols.

     This book will appeal to readers who enjoy Southern States in the 1940's, historical fiction, evolution of cultural mores, and engagingly written literary fiction.

About the Author:

Jessica Maria Tuccelli is a writer and filmmaker. Her debut novel, Glow (Viking 2012), was named a Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Okra Pick, its highest honor. In film, Tuccelli’s lighting finesse can be seen in over 100 film shorts, commercials, and documentaries, most notably the Sundance Film Festival Audience Favorite Hoop Dreams, the Emmy Award-winning How Do You Spell God? (HBO), and Sesame Street (PBS). A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in anthropology, Tuccelli travels the globe, where she finds inspirations for her stories.

Website - http://www.jessicamariatuccelli.com/index.html

Twitter -   @JMTuccelli

Why Purchase Books Locally?

Yesterday, I was stunned (and not in a good way).  Appalled.  Confused. Annoyed.  Has it become acceptable to be thankless or ungracious after someone does something for you?  Hundreds of people (myself included) participated free of charge at the Newburyport Literary Festival (outstanding and not to be missed) yet many of these participants forgot to show their appreciation for this abundant event, whether through small donations or book purchases.

All day, at approx 10 venues in the town of Newburyport, MA, were best-selling and lesser known authors reading, speaking, connecting in person...authors such as Matthew Quick The Silver Linings Playbook, Nichole Bernier Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D, Junot Diaz The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Linda Barnes The Perfect Ghost, Andre Dubus III House of Sand and Fog, Barbara Shapiro The Art Forger, William Landay Defending Jacob, Peter Orner Love and Shame and Love, Michael Lightman Mr. g., Joan Wickersham The News From Spain and many others.  Each one I saw was better than the last.  They were all genuine, interesting, and engaging.

After each session I attended (all just happened to be amazing), I did my small part to show appreciation by purchasing one or more of each author's books which they then graciously signed, some with pithy sayings.  The books for purchase were made available by two local independent book shops, The Book Rack and Jabberwocky, who also each hosted author events throughout the day.  It was a win-win-win situation.  I left with meaningful books, authors received support for their hard work, and local bookshops sold some books and supported their community.  However, I noticed at each author event I attended that most people left without purchasing a book.  Seriously?  Were these participants going home to buy the book online and save two dollars yet pay for shipping?  Amazon was not there at the festival supporting readers, authors, or the sense of community.  Amazon doesn't know about our local interests and history.  Amazon doesn't care about readers or authors or encouraging high caliber literature.  Got me thinking about the oft forgotten importance of supporting local independent book stores.

Why should we purchase books locally?  Local independent book shops are familiar with local interests and local history.  They offer discounts when you need multiple copies for your book group.  They know their stock and will help with recommendations.  They host author events.  They participate in fundraisers.    Many offer delivery service to your home or local business.  And if they don't have what you want in stock, they will order it for you (no shipping costs).  

Readers may ask why should I pay $24 for a hardcover book?  Think about spending habits.  $4 for one coffee.  $40 for dinner or drinks.  $20 for a movie ticket and snacks.  What do you have after the cup of coffee is done, the dinner is over, and the movie is finished?  Zilch.  Zip.  Zero.  Nothing.  Ever try having a conversation that starts with "My Starbucks coffee was so tasty this morning. I love the way they pour the milk into the cup..." versus "Have you read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand?  What an amazing story of resilience..."  If we own a book we have so many fulfilling options.  We can re-read it over and over and over.  We can give it to someone else to enjoy.  We can inspire a book group.  We can trade with friends.  We can donate it to the local library book sale.  We can leave it in a coffee shop with a note that says, "Read, Enjoy, Pay It Forward."

Yes, some of you will split hairs for the sake of arguing ("My coffee only costs 2.50, I can eat at a buffet for $12, I sneak my own snacks into the theater to save money.").  Those details are irrelevant to the point I am trying to make.  As readers and community members, it is our responsibility to vote with our dollars and support the businesses we need.  Prioritize who receives the money we've worked so hard for.   Enrich our lives.  Support local commerce.  Display a beautiful book shelf in our homes.  Inspire others!

If you must buy books online, order from a book store website in your state or go to IndieBound - http://www.indiebound.org/.  Authors need to buy books written by other authors, as well as make sure they have buy links on their website other than or in addition to Amazon.  Book bloggers need to offer their followers buy links other than or in addition to Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  Bloggers should post links to local bookstores in the side bar of their blog.  Readers need to buy books, give them as gifts for special occasions, or surprise a spouse, friend, or coworker "just because."  Remember, Indie book stores sell e-books and gift cards, too.  Actions do speak louder than words...Please visit, shop at, think about, and click on Local Book Shop instead of Amazon.  

World Book Night 2013

World Book Night was a huge success! My husband and I found new homes for 20 copies of Mudbound and 20 copies of The Lightening Thief. The most common feedback I was hearing from adults were comments such as "Thank you, I was just thinking the other day that its been a long time since I read a book," or "I definitely need to read more," or "Great, I don't read as much as I used to." YES! Mission accomplished! Now, if only WBN could get more media coverage in the United States so the public becomes familiar with and excited about World Book Night...that will be a goal for next year.  We need to work together to spread the word!

Another Bookish Adventure - IPNE

In my role as book enthusiast and blogger, I interact with a great number of wonderful readers, authors, and publishers.  I love to learn about the world of books and use that knowledge to support other bookish folks!  So yesterday, Saturday 4/20/13, I attended the annual IPNE Conference for the first time.

IPNE, Independent Publishers of New England, hosted a two-day conference full of interesting workshops for self-published authors and small independent publishing companies.

"IPNE's mission is to provide opportunities for education and networking for those engaged in independent book publishing and related activities in the six New England States.  IPNE offers educational programs, networking, marketing opportunities, advocacy, and information about publishing."  Become a member today!

So much has changed with regards to books and publishing.  Here are just a few of the pertinent and forward-thinking topics which broadened my overall understanding: 

"Independent Bookstores Working With Indie Authors and Publishers" - Steve Fischer of New England Independent Booksellers Association.

"Book Marketing Options in the Non-bookstore Category" -  Brian Jud of the Association of Authors and Publishers for Special Sales.

"Promoting Messages and Products via Social Media Marketing" - Kate Sullivan, Mastermind at Candlemark & Gleam.

"E-books and the Digital Landscape" - John Rodzvilla of Emerson College, Kate Sullivan of Candlemark & Gleam, and Jenny Hudson of Merrimack Media.

"Digital Strategy with Apps, E-pub3, and HTML5" - Bruce Kulik and Dan Nigloschy of Media Entities, Inc.

I highly recommend this event to others in the future.  My brain is full of new food for thought and inspired ideas!

The Sound of Loneliness Review

   
Title:  The Sound of Loneliness
Author:  Craig Wallwork
Published:  Perfect Edge Books
                   2013
Pages:  212
Genre:  Literary Fiction
Source:  Paperback from
              Publisher
ISBN:  978 1 78099 601 1
Rating:  5 stars


Book Blurb:

     Manchester in 1991 is a town suffering under the weight of high unemployment and massive government budgetary deficits that is plunging the UK into a recession.

     To Daniel Crabtree, a struggling writer, it is the backcloth to his first novel, one that will see him become a famous published author.  Living off mostly water and flour, Daniel has embraced penury into his life under the mistaken belief that many young artists have: one needs to suffer for success in art.

     But Daniel is a terrible writer.  In the three years since signing on the dole, of every morning chastising his Irish singing neighbour for waking him from his sleep, and scrounging food from his close friend Henry Soperton, Daniel Crabtree has produced one short story.  His heart is bereft of words as much as his pockets are of money.

     The Sound of Loneliness is a story of love, and how a poor starving man chasing a dream came to the understanding that amidst the clamour of life, the sound of loneliness is the most deafening of all.

My Thoughts:

     Rich word choice and writing style grabbed and held my interest from the first page!  I love words...parsimony, gormless, ameliorate, malodorous, lynched...you get the idea.  These rich sprinklings add to the story itself, contributing to the irony of Daniel Crabtree longing to be a successful writer.  "It is true that as September rolled in on the last of the warm breeze, I was dying, but not of starvation.  Death was an all-consuming lack of confidence."  Poor Daniel (his story, when rejected, was referred to as 'toilet fodder')...even the lady working at the unemployment office had a short story published in the Manchester Evening News.

     Dark humor, one of my favorite story elements, was also an integral part of Daniel's story. "Being around my father had afforded me compassion to the lonely and deprived.  From an early age, I had learnt that booze could centre a man when the world around him turned on an unsympathetic axis...One day my dream of being a professional boxer ended after the pub my father went in was converted to a Chinese takeaway [restaurant].  He walked in to the gym, put on my coat, and said, 'The Lord Giveth, son, and the Chinese take away.' "

     The Sound of Loneliness contains excellent use of simile and metaphor, which in my opinion, is integral to an intriguing novel.  When present in a story, precisely written and used appropriately, I get novel goosebumps (ooh, good pun).  Craig Wallwork wrote some true golden nuggets:

"Structures of varying size plagued the road like panhandlers and tortured dogs."

"...Salford was a city endlessly caught on the final stroke of midnight, where a misplaced glass slipper lost in haste suggested an unseen beauty existed, but all that remained in its place were the much uglier sisters."

"Though no gates or fences prohibited me from leaving this town to see if happiness lay beyond its boundaries, I was scared to go anywhere lest the dream was more depressing than the reality.  It is true to say I was tethered to these streets by some ethereal warden who delivered sermons on the unknown, and lectures on its dangers."

     I don't write 5-star reviews often.  This novel deserves 5 stars!  The Sound of Loneliness is touching, interesting, and entertaining.  It made me think of people I've come across in my life who resembled Daniel's thought processes.  Have you ever met someone like Daniel Crabtree?

About the author:

     Craig Wallwork lives in West Yorkshire, England.  He is an artist, filmmaker and writer.  His short stories have appeared in many publications in the US and the UK.  He is the author of the short story collection Quintessence of Dust, and the novels To Die Upon a Kiss and The Sound of Loneliness.  Craig is also the fiction editor at Menacing Hedge Magazine.  Connect with Craig on his website, Facebook, GoodReads, or Twitter.

Welcome to Novel Publicity's first ever publishing house blog tour. Join us as three new titles from Perfect Edge--we're calling them the Perfect Edge Trifecta--tour the blogosphere in a way that just can't be ignored. And, hey, we've got prizes!

About the prizes:
Who doesn't love prizes? You could win either of two $25 Amazon gift cards, an autographed copy of The Sound of Loneliness, or an autographed copy of one of its tour mates, Stranger Will by Caleb J Ross or Angel Falls by Michael Paul Gonzalez. Here's what you need to do...

1. Enter the Rafflecopter contest
2. Leave a comment on my blog.

That's it! One random commenter during this tour will win a $25 gift card. Visit more blogs for more chances to win--the full list of participating bloggers can be found here. The other $25 gift card and the 3 autographed books will be given out via Rafflecopter. You can find the contest entry form linked below or on the official Perfect Edge Trifecta tour page via Novel Publicity. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Perfect Edge Books was founded in late 2011 to unite authors whose books weren't "obviously" commercial. Our books tend to sit in various genres all at once: literary fiction, satire, neo-noir, sci-fi, experimental prose. We believe that literary doesn't have to mean difficult, and that difficult doesn't just mean pointless. We prefer to cultivate a word-of-mouth approach to marketing, and keep production as simple as we can. Learn more at www.PerfectEdgeBooks.com.

Learn more about The Sound of Loneliness's tour mates HERE.