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Monthly Archives: June 2013

Robert Fantina: “Look Not Unto The Morrow” and The Military’s Treatment of its Soldiers

28 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

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In Look Not Unto the Morrow, innocence shattered and ultimate redemption are portrayed against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the turbulent sixties. The story follows the lives of three young people as they experience love and war. Roger Gaines is the promising young college student, drafted into the army and traumatized by his experiences in basic training and Vietnam. Pam Wentworth is the loving girlfriend he leaves behind, who evolves from naive college student, to political activist, to radical anarchist. Michelle Healy is the young woman Roger meets when he returns home, who loves him unconditionally when he can no longer love himself

My review:

“Look Not Unto the Morrow” by Robert Fantina is an impressive read that stayed with me for some time after I finished the book.
It concerns a love triangle in the 1960s. Roger, who is drafted by the infamous Lottery into the Vietnam war. His girlfriend Pam stays behind and inspired by his letters becomes prominently involved in the peace demonstrations, organised by Roger’s former flatmate Matt.
While Roger is away he experiences the harsh reality of army life and is confronted with the fact that in war you chose to kill rather than be killed.
The perspective switches several times and shows Pam’s side of the story, too, as she gets drawn into the protests against the war, the famous April 4 at 4pm. Violence and counter violence at home by alleged peaceful protesters and by the police, the lines are blurring here as they were in Vietnam.
Fantina does a brilliant job at exposing the mechanisms at work and the absurdities involved.
When Roger comes back Pam has left him and he needs to pick up the pieces of his shattered life, learn to life with his consciousness, guilt and an unexpected multitude of consequences.
Nobody thanks him when he gets home, he does not even know what home is and there is more.
This is a great book.

Instead of an author interview Robert Fantina has kindly agreed to share some more data from his research with us that touches on the issues so well presented in his book. As we were planning the interview my questions all seemed to come down to background information, much of which is provided in this piece.

I apologise to anyone who feels offended by the inclusion of what may be seen as a political piece on a literary blog. I personally see the article more of a humanitarian and informative nature that I wanted to share.

Abuse and Neglect: The Military’s Treatment of its Soldiers

Alcoholism, substance abuse, domestic violence, depression, suicide, homelessness. These are problems that the United States and many other nations face. Much is done to attempt to alleviate them, but they are difficult and persistent.

In the United States, military veterans suffer from these afflictions in disproportionate numbers. In December of 2012, a report from the U.S. Veterans’ Administration stated that, at the end of September of that year, “…26,531 veterans were living on the street, at risk of losing their homes, staying in temporary housing or receiving federal vouchers to pay rent. That compares to 10,500 in 2010.” And this only counts veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It is further estimated that 1,400,000 additional veterans are at risk of homelessness. Most of the homeless veterans suffer from mental illness and/or substance abuse.

Substance abuse among veterans is also near epidemic proportions, and is even greater among those with mental health problems. These issues, combined with and compounded by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, have elevated the levels of domestic violence among veterans.

It is tragic that the people suffering from these afflictions are most often those who entered some branch of the U.S. military as healthy young men and women, either with the desire to ‘fight for freedom’, or to escape unemployment, in the hope that military service would help provide them with an education once it was complete. So many thousands of them return home, physically and emotionally damaged, unable to function in the society that they attempted to serve, and mostly abandoned by the government that sent them to war.

One’s memory is short indeed if one has forgotten the appalling conditions that military veterans were forced to live in at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. In December of 2006, President George Bush toured a part of that facility, and said this: “We owe them all we can give them. Not only for when they’re in harm’s way, but when they come home to help them adjust if they have wounds, or help them adjust after their time in service.” This from the man who sent them into an unnecessary war without the armor required to protect themselves.

It wasn’t two months later that the world learned of the horrific conditions at the facility Mr. Bush visited. Injured veterans, sent to Iraq to search for non-existent weapons of mass destruction, or to Afghanistan, ostensibly to find the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, but more probably to topple the government of the Taliban so an oil pipeline could be constructed through the country, were dumped into roach-infested rooms. Ceilings were rotting and black mold covered the walls. Some of these veterans, unable to walk the distance to the cafeteria, purchased food from restaurants and stores closer to their rooms, in the crime-ridden area of the city where Walter Reed is located. This probably only increased the problems of rodents and roaches that the veterans were forced to live among.

A few days after the worldwide expose on Walter Reed, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, the Army’s Surgeon General, commented: “I do not consider Building 18 to be substandard.” Building 18 was one of the worst buildings identified in the report. Mr. Kiley continued: “We needed to do a better job on some of those rooms, and those of you that got in today saw that we frankly have fixed all of those problems. They weren’t serious, and there weren’t a lot of them.” Happily, a few cans of paint slapped against the walls and the application of some insecticide solved all these problems, or so the public was told. That, and a broom to sweep up the dead roaches, was all that was really needed.

Yet addressing the cosmetic issues in a few rooms hardly ends the problems. One injured veteran reported being dropped off at the facility, with no one to direct him to where he needed to be. He asked directions of people he encountered, but due to his injuries was unable to follow them. Yet he was left alone to fend for himself.

The family of another veteran reported that the facility lost his records, so while he was housed there, he was receiving no treatment.

This is hardly a new phenomenon in the U.S. military. A few historical examples will suffice to show that, for the military, abuse and neglect of its soldiers and veterans are simply business as usual.

“In 1887, a young man who didn’t reveal his name – he signed this letter ‘An Ex-Soldier – described his experience in the army. ’In 1887 I was in the prime of youth and vigorous manhood. Being a young man I determined to spend five years in the regular army.’ With this optimism, he and several other new recruits were sent to the notorious Jefferson Barracks in Missouri, where they were ‘…met by uniformed ruffians, and assigned to quarters with as much severity as though we had been prisoners guilty of some atrocious crime.’

“The abuse by officers continued, as one ‘…persistently cursed the recruits and frequently drew his sword threatening to drive it down our throats.’

“Food at Jefferson Barracks was also an issue, as it has frequently been in the U.S.
military. ‘The food was the vilest I ever saw. It consisted of decayed salt pork and a soup called ‘slum gullion,’ that would have nauseated a hungry dog.’ This man further notes the discrepancy between what the officers ate and what the privates had. During meals, it was ‘…noticeable that [the officers’] table was supplied with milk, sugar, and butter.’

“The result of this mistreatment is not surprising: ‘After four weeks at Jefferson Barracks, I had fallen from strong young manhood to a mere shadow. From 150 pounds, sickness had, in four weeks, reduced me to 130 pounds.’ He became increasing ill, finally so desperate for medical attention that he sought help at the base hospital, known to him and the other soldiers as the ‘Human Slaughterhouse.’ Here he received one dose of useless medicine, not surprising since ‘…the army doctor paid no more attention to the sick soldiers than to so many flies to be got rid of.’ Finally, he became so weak that one morning he was unable to dress in the time allotted, and as a result was incarcerated. Said he: ‘No murderer was ever treated with greater brutality.’”
“In 1899 the hospital at West Point was examined by the Board of Visitors. They said ‘…that no humane person would permit a horse to live in such a room, and that to place a sick man in this alleged hospital ‘would appear like an attempt to insure his death.’”
As indicated, veterans and military personnel are treated by the government with complete disdain. Rights afforded to the ordinary citizen are not offered to the soldier. “American constitutionalism is premised on the belief that its fundamental principles should extend to all citizens. The independence of the military legal system, however, under conditions of both war and peace, typically places military personnel beyond the reach of the most important constitutional provisions, to their detriment. “
On October 14, 2004, ABC News reported this: “’Following inquiries by ABC News, the Pentagon has dropped plans to force a severely wounded U.S. soldier to repay his enlistment bonus after injuries had forced him out of the service.’

“The soldier in questions was Army Spc. Tyson Johnson III of Mobile, Al. While on duty in Iraq, Mr. Johnson lost a kidney in a mortar attack. During his recovery at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, ‘…he received notice from the Pentagon’s own collection agency that he owed more than $2,700 because he could not fulfill his full 36-month tour of duty.’ This ‘bill’ was shown on his credit report as an unpaid loan from the government. Because of it, he was prevented from renting an apartment or getting a credit card.

At the time this was reported, Mr. Johnson was recuperating from his injuries while living in his car.
The examples are endless. The U.S. military, from the moment an individual enters it, strips that individual of his or her basic human rights. The nation that tells its citizens that it is sending their children to fight for freedom, denies that very freedom to those ostensibly fighting for it. Can anyone not understand how soldiers or veterans might drink or use drugs to ease their pain? Is it difficult to comprehend how, burdened with physical and emotional problems, with no one to help them but family and friends, they might be unable to hold a job? Inexcusable as domestic violence is in all circumstances, when an angry soldier or veteran lashes out at those he loves, either because he is experiencing a flashback or is so enraged at the cards the government has dealt him, and lacks any constructive way of dealing with that rage, cannot his crying need for help be understood?
And what of these soldiers’ loved ones? They desperately petition an uncaring and indifferent bureaucracy in vain for some assistance for the young man or woman in their life who has sacrificed greatly for the country that has now abandoned them. They search for some assistance – governmental or private – often beyond their reach financially. And so they watch as their beloved veteran suffers, with no one to provide the required assistance.
This is the reality of the U.S. military. This neglect is not new, and is not an anomaly. It is simply how the U.S. military works. It uses its soldiers in any way it pleases, for as long as it pleases, and then discards them like a worn out piece of equipment. And for the soldier and his or her family, coming home does nothing to end their suffering.

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Brief Bio:

Robert Fantina is an author and journalist whose main interest is in human rights. He has written extensively on the oppression of the Palestinian people by Israel. He also writes on the political situation in the United States. He is the author of ‘Desertion and the American Soldier: 1776 – 2006’, a detailed history of desertion from the U.S .military; ‘Look Not Unto the Morrow’, a Vietnam era, anti-war novel, and his forthcoming book is entitled ‘Empire, Racism and Genocide: A History of U.S. Foreign Policy’. That book is scheduled for publication in November of 2013.

Mr. Fantina is a U.S. citizen who moved to Canada in 2005.

Links:

Official website

All books are all there, with links to Amazon for each one.

http://wwwl.archive.org/details/Talknationradio20130313
An interview with David Swanson of Talk Nation Radio, in March of this year.

Review of Look Not Unto The Morrow by David Swanson

Look Not Unto The Morrow on Amazon.com

Look Not Unto The Morrow on Amazon.co.uk

Robert Fantina on Goodreads

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Author Wednesday – Christoph Fischer

26 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

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P.C. ZICK

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Welcome to Author Wednesday. Today, I’m happy to interview Christoph Fischer, an author and fellow blogger and reviewer. Christoph is a great supporter of the Indie Author, and he’s introduced me to many wonderful books and authors over the past year. He writes historical fiction. He’s published the first two novels in his Three Nations Trilogy, The Luck of the Weissensteiners and most recently, Sebastian. He’s working on the third book in the series, The Farm in Heimkirchen (working title).

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Sebastian_Cover_for_Kindle

Hello, Christoph. Welcome to Author Wednesday.I’m curious how you might describe yourself in third person. Write a paragraph as if you were a reporter writing about you for a newspaper article on up and coming authors.

Christoph Fischer is a new author who has taken on an ambitious project of writing three historical novels set in different nations to discuss the subjects of Nation and identity. In…

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Andrew Peters: The Blues Detective, Barry Island Murders and Joe Soap

23 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

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The blog is back and so is Andrew Peters, as grumpy and funny on A Sunday as he was on Friday. Let’s hope no further censorship occurs

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Blues Detective

Meet Otis King … or that’s the name on his office door. Maybe his original name sounded a little more Welsh, but didn’t sit too well on a Blues guitarist in the city of Memphis.

By day, Otis works as The Blues Detective. Pretty much every Blues related case in Memphis drifts his way sooner or later.
Enjoy Otis’ adventures in bite sized chunks with your coffee, or better yet, a beer with a bourbon chaser.
Otis is a fun guy, who does his best to avoid trouble and attract blondes. Some days he succeeds more than others.
Join him as he deals with Hijacked Harmonicas, Missing Musicians, Wayward Wives and Precious Packages.

My review:

“The Blues Detective” by Andrew Peters is a fun filled selection of short stories about a Welsh born detective in Memphis. To me, a European who lives with a Welsh significant other near Wales, this…

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Andrew Peters: The Blues Detective, Barry Island Murders and Joe Soap

21 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 16 Comments

Blues Detective

Meet Otis King … or that’s the name on his office door. Maybe his original name sounded a little more Welsh, but didn’t sit too well on a Blues guitarist in the city of Memphis.

By day, Otis works as The Blues Detective. Pretty much every Blues related case in Memphis drifts his way sooner or later.
Enjoy Otis’ adventures in bite sized chunks with your coffee, or better yet, a beer with a bourbon chaser.
Otis is a fun guy, who does his best to avoid trouble and attract blondes. Some days he succeeds more than others.
Join him as he deals with Hijacked Harmonicas, Missing Musicians, Wayward Wives and Precious Packages.

My review:

“The Blues Detective” by Andrew Peters is a fun filled selection of short stories about a Welsh born detective in Memphis. To me, a European who lives with a Welsh significant other near Wales, this was quite a treat. The idea of having those two cultures clash and complement each other was very original in my view and worked well. The stories were short and to the point, well told and all had me smile at the end.
Peters has a great sense of humour, some of his ideas are hilarious, other more low key but for me they all worked. I will pass this round my circle of friends.

Also in this series:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16044092-a-case-for-the-blues-detective
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16159728-a-shot-for-the-blues-detective
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17156526-the-blues-detective-saves-christmas

Blue Suit Photo

Interview with Andrew:

Andrew, please tell us a little something about yourself as a person and an author:

I am a very nasty, bitter person, shunned by society and currently live in a small village in Spain, under the protection of the Welsh Witness Protection programme, after a nasty run in with the Scotch Mafia.

What made you decide to be a writer?

I am not really a writer, I just churn out an occasional story when the voices in my head speak to me.

Have you always written?

No, I have pretty much never written…I started last June

How come that your books are set in Memphis but you live in Spain?

For much the same reason that Jules Verne wrote books about the Moon, but lived on Earth.
It’s the right setting for a Blues Detective. Either there or Chicago, but Chicago is cold and I refuse to write about cold weather. Anyway, lots of my stuff isn’t set in Memphis, but in Barry Island, Hastings, Foxborough and a cheap hotel near Wolverhampton.

How did you come up with the Blues Detective, the title character of most of your books?

A combination of many people, all of whom would sue if I mentioned their names. I was rather bored with all the hard-boiled, Noir types…so I thought I’d go for someone soft boiled and gris clair

How do you come up with your ideas?

The voices in my head dictate them. In the words of Sir Keef “ I prefer to think of myself as an antenna” Pretentious? Moi?

Who or what inspired you?

Very bad Kindle writers. I was convinced I could do better. I was wrong.

You write both short stories and novels. How do you decide when to keep it short and when to draw the story out?

It’s not a decision…some stories take 1500 words to tell, some take 45,000. Some 6.

Did you have any actors or people in mind when writing your characters?

Not really, certainly not Tom Cruise! Maybe Raquel Welch, but she’s frequently in my mind when I’m not writing too.

Tell us a little about Joe Soap?

It’s a story about a second rate Kindle author who finds himself in the unbelievable situation of being forced to murder people. It’s meant to explore how far the average man can be pushed, and whether people really care about what they have to do to others.

What about The Barry Island Murders?

It’s based on my memories of Barry Island in the 60s, meant to be told in flashback by a very old policeman. The years and the gin have dulled his memory for details, but he manages to remember the main thread of the murders.

What would your main character say about you?

“Never heard of him!”

Are you like any of your characters? How so?

Yes, I enjoy murdering people, particularly ex-girlfriends, and I like Welshcakes and bourbon. I also own a Gibson 336.

What is your writing environment like?

Full of cats, who both sit on the keyboard to discourage me from churning out any more rubbish..

Did you have any say in your cover art? What do you think of it? Tell us about the artist.

I have full control over what I want on my covers, and I think they are the best in the world. They are designed by a mysterious figure who goes by the name of Joe Lumley, though I am told he is in fact the rightful heir to the Russian throne. Or a Peruvian hit-man.

How have you found the experience of self-publishing?

Just fine, it’s the only way my stuff would ever have reached any kind of readers, since it’s quite unsuitable for a mainstream audience.

What do you like best about writing?

The adulation from blonde women

What’s your least favourite thing?

Not selling millions.

What is your advice to new writers?

Stop. Please.You see all those people queued up in the street for Simon Cowell’s auditions? They all think they can sing, just like you all think you can write. 2% of them are correct. You have to be able to tell very good stories and use language really well. Most can’t.

Who are your favourite authors?

Fielding, Wodehouse, Runyon, Dickens, Christie, Conan Doyle, Simenon, Balzac, Robert B Parker and Stephen Leather.

Who are your favourite independent writers?

Me…and Paul D Brazill. Mostly me.

What is your favourite book?

Tom Jones. Maybe Tale of Two Cities. Or Gulliver’s Travels.

What book are you currently reading and in what format (e-book/paperback/hardcover)?

Nothing at the moment, I don’t read much now, far too many other things to be doing. I only ever read on the Kindle, I can’t be doing with the small print in paper books.

How do you handle criticism of your work?

Hah! As if anyone would would dare to criticise my masterpieces.

What are you working on now?

Maria Rodriguez Lopez……she’s very hard work!

Is there anything you would like us to know about your books?

They are all brilliant, and available for very little money.

Andrew’s Amazon Author Page
Andrew Peters on Amazon.co.uk

Andrew’s Facebook Author Page

The Blues Detective
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Blues-Detective-ebook/dp/B008PB1S66/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1371704290&sr=1-4
http://www.amazon.com/The-Blues-Detective-ebook/dp/B008PB1S66/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1371704267&sr=1-1

Joe Soap
http://www.amazon.com/Joe-Soap-ebook/dp/B00BMO38AM/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1371704406&sr=1-6
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Joe-Soap-ebook/dp/B00BMO38AM/ref=pd_sim_kinc_2

The Barry Island Murders

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Barry-Island-Murders-ebook/dp/B00AZJSLES/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1371704211&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/The-Barry-Island-Murders-ebook/dp/B00AZJSLES/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1371704194&sr=8-1

If you want to play Twitter with me, I am @andynpeters

Joe Soap

“Joe Soap” by Andrew Peters is a more dark novel by an otherwise more quirky writer.
In this book the protagonist Jeremy Higgins is a writer of a series of crime fiction with a title character named Joe Soap (after his excessive love for washing and showers).
Higgins gets blackmailed into assassinating what seems random victims without any connection to himself. As the assignments for new killings keep coming in we – and Jeremy – are none the wiser why they are happening, until more complex connections are revealed.
Apart from some scenes in the middle that I would have liked to be tighter or faster I found this story very well written crime fiction but on a personal level I missed the quirky humour Peters is so famous for. This is a bit darker than usual but very good.

barry Island Murders

“The Barry Island Murders” by Andrew Peters are a very entertaining selection of murder cases on the Costa Del Glamorgan, Barry Island. Told in retrospect by Detective Williams we are taken into the world of the Welsh 1960s, where investigations were not done by CDI teams and DNA but in this case with luck, wit and common sense.
The cases involve a dead body in the fun faire ride Journey to Mars, bodies on playgrounds and graveyards. The author makes a point about real murder cases and investigations, where not everything is known to the investigators, not every stone is turned and not all questions will be answered.
Under those premises the focus shifts from brilliant clue leaving and confusing the audience to painting a beautiful picture of the times, sentiment, nostalgia and quirky humour tell of the times gone.
The novel might not earn its five stars for genius in crime solving but it deserves it for originality, quality of entertainment and a great main characters.
The Welsh connection for me might have something to do with my personal enjoyment but I recommend you give this a try.

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“The Venusian Vamp” by Andrew Peters in my humble opinion is a fantastic short story that made me laugh out loud throughout. The Welsh Detective in Memphis is visited by a multi-tongued, green-skinned blond bombshell from Venus, who hires him to help her minority Venusian community deal with some unwanted interference in their business.
The description of those creatures as well as the whole idea re really hilarious, Peters’ humour at its very best, this is easily my favourite of his work.
I won’t say any more than this to make sure I won’t spoil the fun, but if you read only one of his books and shorts, make sure it is this truly great fun story.
5 stars for this seems too little for this single-tongued reader

Alexandra Fry, Private Eye: The Curse of the Lion’s Heart by Angella Graff

18 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Today’s recommendation is a great children’s book. The book is not about Autism, but the proceeds are.

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Alexandra Fry is just your average seventh-grader. Or is she? Starting a new school, Alexandra hopes to leave her old life, and old reputation of “Loopy Lexi” behind. But it’s not so easy when Alexandra is the kind of girl who sees ghosts. And not just any ghosts, but history’s most famous. They come to her to solve mysteries, when things from their past life fall into the wrong hands.

Desperate to be normal and make some friends, Alexandra is devastated to be visited by none other than Queen Elizabeth the First during a lesson in school. But Queen Elizabeth doesn’t just have your average, run of the mill problem. The thing that was stolen was a locket– a cursed locket, and if it’s not returned to the museum, the entire world will be in danger. It’s up to Alexandra and her new friends Penelope and Jack, to find out who took the locket and why. Ducking security guards, breaking and entering, and finding out someone isn’t who they said they were is just your average day for this seventh grade girl.

Fifty percent of the proceeds for Alexandra Fry, Private Eye series will be donated to the Tucson Alliance for Autism. The Tucson Alliance for Autism is a wonderful organization helping parents and kids with all levels and types of autism. They provide services, counseling and peer support. My twelve-year-old son is Autistic, and when he was younger, I wasn’t sure what to do. But the Tucson Alliance for Autism provided me with so much material and support that my son is now a flourishing sixth-grader with friends, activities, and he’s even joined the band at his new middle school– something I thought he would never do. I’m thrilled and excited to help give-back to my community and this wonderful organization that has helped so many people here in Arizona.

Thank you in advance for your purchases and support of this amazing cause, and for any information please visit their website at http://www.tucsonallianceforautism.org

http://www.amazon.com/Alexandra-Fry-Private-Eye-ebook/dp/B00DGGNMIW/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1371566703&sr=1-4&keywords=Angella+Graff

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FAlexandra-Fry-Private-Eye-ebook%2Fdp%2FB00DGGNMIW%2Fref%3Dsr_1_3%3Fs%3Ddigital-text%26ie%3DUTF8%26qid%3D1371570540%26sr%3D1-3%26keywords%3DAngella%2BGraff&h=RAQF6EPZg

My review:

“Alexandra Fry, Private Eye: The Curse of the Lion’s Heart” by Angella Graff is an excellent fun read with depth and a wonderful message between the lines. As written for children and/or young adults it was a book that I was reluctant to review since it is a move away from Graff’s usual genre and I couldn’t see her doing a book for children/ teenagers as well as her Urban Fantasy series “The Judas Curse”.

To me the young adult genre is inundated with unbelievable super heroes and the title implied to me this would be just that. I was hugely relieved when it turned out that Alex is neither the super human heroine nor the bullied and neglected girl on a soapbox.

Alex is a superbly created middle-of-the-road character who is new in school and who has some issues settling in but her situation is not hopeless.
You feel sorry for her at times but she isn’t perfect herself and learns from her mistakes, which makes her a fantastic real role model for kids and a likeable, interesting and real character.

Well, it is a children’s book and not surprisingly these days of course there is a supernatural twist after all, however this is done humorously rather than action-heroine like. Alex is on a mission to locate said treasure from the title and receives help from the ghost of Queen Elizabeth, the odd British Aristocrat out of time and dimension, which, as a UK resident was very entertaining for me and I hope will translate to readers in the US equally well.
Graff did a great job combining the ghost part with the mystery-solving and the teenage / school drama. Genre blending makes stories so much more interesting and this unusual combination worked really well in my view. The ghost takes her focus of unpleasant parts of her life, which makes her less vulnerable to bullying and more intriguing to the other kids in school. The most central message in the book for me was her independence. Instead of crying over her initial isolation she turns the situation round in her favour by solving the mystery. The friends then come naturally.
I enjoyed the read and was drawn into it easily. The book, although for young adults, was really cute and parents are going to like this, too. There is some romance or chemistry aspect between Alex and one of the boys but it is long before the erotic love stage and I found this to be another aspect that was well handled.
I can’t say I was surprised by the ending or by who the bad guys were in the end but the mystery story is just part of what Alex has on her plate in the book.
I think for me it was important that Alex was no annoying or overly-done stereotype but the average kid with a little bit of self-esteem issues but capable and willing to learn. Self-esteem issues of course are common for the age but Alex’s attitude may not be.
The book cover looks fantastic and is in my view a good impression of the contents.
50% of the proceeds go to the Autism Alliance, but this is not the only reason to buy this wonderful book.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Excerpt from the book:

We went into gym right after that because the warning bell rang, and I couldn’t think of anything at all to say. I mean, yeah, I’d probably be totally embarrassed if my mom ever tried to teach, but my mom was so… weird. And intense, and she could barely handle me and my sister when Amanda was at home. I didn’t even want to think about her losing her temper if there were thirty of us all crammed together.

Still, I could think of way worse things than having your mom as your teacher. Like ghosts, for one. I mean, getting caught arguing with some Victorian ghost girl in the middle of class with everyone watching… oh man…

I started to blush again as we shuffled into the gym with the rest of the kids who, like me, looked like they wanted no part of this experience. No one liked gym. Not even in elementary school, except the kids who were obsessed with basketball or soccer.

We were all directed to a long bench in front of a wooden wall, and I scooted up to Penelope who kept shooting me warning looks. Her cheeks were all pink, and I figured she was completely scared that I was going to blurt it out in the middle of class.

I realized I hadn’t actually said anything after she told me, so before the teacher began to talk, I leaned over and whispered, “I swear I won’t tell anyone.”

She gave a sigh, relaxing almost immediately, and whispered back, “Thanks.”

After that, we were subjected to the gym teacher’s incredibly long lecture about the do’s and don’t’s of gym, what to wear, and how we were going to push our own physical boundaries blah blah blah. The gym teacher looked suspiciously like another teacher I’d seen in the history hall. He was pretty young, taller than anyone I’d ever met with huge, broad shoulders, a thick moustache, and his hairline was so far back the gym lights bounced off his shiny forehead.

“Now I know some of you girls might have er… uh… those um… you know. Once a month,” he sputtered, growing beet red, “so just bring a note, okay. You’ll be excused.” He cleared his throat and clapped his huge hands together. “Moving on. Make sure you bring clothes tomorrow to change into. Now, since none of you are prepared for any real vigorous activity,” he eyed several of the girls’ platform sandals or high heels, stuff my mother would never let me wear, “why don’t you all go back to your bags and get some paper and just write a short paragraph about yourselves and what sort of physical activity you like to do, and your favorite sport. Just… spread out on the floor and get it done.”

Penelope and I slipped to the floor in front of the bench and began to dig into our bags for paper and a pencil. “Man he seems way awkward,” she said with a laugh.

“Yeah I don’t think he likes doing this job,” I replied with a smirk.

“Well he’s the basketball coach, but I guess he also has to teach a social studies class, and gym. I feel bad for the guy,” Penelope said as she scooted onto her stomach, her crooked legs leaning against the bench.

I realized that Penelope had the in on all of the teachers since her mom was one of them, and that could definitely be a good thing. I propped my history book on my lap and began to write.

“What are you putting for your favorite sport?” Penelope asked me just as I had finished writing the paragraph about myself.

I frowned down at the rest of the empty sheet and rubbed my nose with the tip of the eraser. “I don’t know,” I finally said with a sigh. I didn’t like any sports, and the only active type of thing my mom ever did was run on her elliptical or do her yoga DVD’s.

“Me either,” Penelope said with a sigh.

I eventually just wrote down ‘I like to do yoga with my mom’, despite it sounding really lame. Penelope was still scribbling away on her paper, so I figured she came up with something interesting or funny, not like my own boring stuff.

Suddenly, though, the sound of Penelope’s pencil scratches stopped, and when I looked over, I was horrified to see the Victorian girl there, her face scrunched up in an angry scowl. She was standing right in front of Penelope, and she was tapping one foot soundlessly on the gym floor.

“How dare you,” she hissed at me. The air around me got freezing cold and I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to ignore her. “How dare you treat me like this?”

I leaned my head back against the bench and closed my eyes, hoping that she would just go away. I didn’t want to speak to her again. I’d been embarrassed enough already for the day, but I wasn’t sure how to get her to take the hint.

“You don’t seem to realize the danger we’re all in.” This time, instead of angry, she sounded scared.

I peeked one eye open and saw her face drawn, her hands wrung together in front of her huge dress. Under any other circumstances, I would have heard her out, at least found out what she needed. That was kind of my job, whether I wanted it or not. But right now? Now? I could not keep being that freaky girl who talked to herself.

My hand was shaking when I raised it into the air, and it took almost a full minute for the teacher to look at me. “Can I um… go to the uh…” and I nodded at the locker room. “Can I have the pass?”

“Oh,” the teacher’s face got a little red just below his eyes. Clearly he didn’t like dealing with the girls’ female problems and he coughed before he said, “Yes, just go.”

Penelope was frowning at me as I jumped up and ran to the locker room. The door slammed behind me, and instead of heading for the stalls, I slipped out the side door into the hallway. I ran up the ramp that led into the currently empty art hallway, and looked for a place out of view where I could stop and talk to this ghost.

The wall had a little bit of a curve to it, and a ramp leading down to the doors where the busses came. I slipped into a crevice and closed my eyes. “Okay, what do you want?” I said, willing my voice to the ghost girl.

I felt the air get a little cold again, and when I opened my eyes, there she was. I got a really good look at her now, and saw she had to be about my age, and definitely some sort of old royalty. “Explain yourself,” she commanded.

I huffed, crossing my arms. “Listen, this isn’t a good time, okay. Who are you and what do you want?”

There was a long pause where her expression looked almost offended that I didn’t know. Then, after what felt like forever, she opened her arms and declared, “My name is Elizabeth, Queen of Britain, and I’ve come to you for help!”

My mouth dropped open at the sound of her name and my eyes went wide. Queen Elizabeth. Like the Queen Elizabeth? My dad would totally flip if he knew I was talking to her. Of course, he’d probably flip if he heard me say I could talk to ghosts, but that was beside the point.

I glanced around to make sure no one was listening in and then lowered my voice. “Look, uh, your Majesty, or whatever, I want to help but I’m kind of in school right now. Also, I’m not sure if you know this, but you’re dead.” Sometimes the ghosts knew, and sometimes they were a little confused and thought they were still in their own time.

Her eyebrows went down and her eyes narrowed. “I’m well aware that I’m dead, thank you,” she snapped. “I was, in fact, enjoying my peaceful heaven before it was stolen.”

“What was stolen?” I pressed, desperate to get her to spill the beans so I could get back to class before anyone noticed I was gone.

“A locket. The Lion’s Heart. It was a gift from my mother… before she died,” her face fell for just a moment. “But you see, the locket is cursed. Anyone who takes it will bring forth terrible destruction. Your entire city could be in danger as we speak!”

I frowned, feeling a little skeptic because ghosts were one thing but curses? I wasn’t sure I really believed in all of that. Either way, if I could help her, then she’d go back to her own afterlife, whatever that was, and I could get back to repairing my already damaged reputation. No thanks to her.

“Fine, okay, I’ll help you find it. But you have to let me finish my day, okay? I’ll call you when it’s safe to talk and you can tell me everything you know.”

She glared at me, but finally gave me a curt nod and blinked out of existence. Letting out a sigh, I started back up the ramp, but right before I turned the corner, she appeared again, and a piece of paper fell from the sky. I grabbed it out of the air and unfolded it to read the fancy handwriting across the top.

“What is this?” I asked, staring down at a name.

Ainsworth.

“It’s important,” was all she said, and then she was gone again.

With a sigh, I crumpled up the paper and put it into my pocket. When I turned the corner, ready to dart back into class, I froze. Penelope was standing there starting at me, just a few feet away from where Elizabeth had dropped the paper into my hands. Her eyes were wide and staring.

I gave a light, terrified laugh and realized by her expression she must have seen me talking to the ghost, and probably the paper falling out of the sky, too. “I um…”

“Dude, explain. Now.”

“Head Case” by Jennifer Oko – Review, Interview and Blog Tour stop

17 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 8 Comments

Today’s post is different from my usual ones in that this is part of a blog tour, so please scroll down all the way to the end for the raffle copter and a link to the other tour posts

HEAD-CASE-COVER-new dimensions (1) (1)

Meet Olivia Zack, neuroscientist, pharmaceutical consultant—and murder victim.

A humorous mystery from an author whose work has been called “simply riveting” by The New York Times and “sharp and fast-paced” by Publisher’s Weekly—it’s Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones meets Carl Hiaasen’s Nature Girl (with a dash of Janet Evanovich’s One for the Money) as Olivia embarks on a postmortem quest to deconstruct the events that lead up to her mind-altering death.

A comic satire of the influence of the psychopharmaceutical industry on American life, HEAD CASE takes Olivia and her estranged friend and roommate Polly Warner on a collision course involving ethically challenged executives, spotlight-hungry celebrities, third-rate mobsters, and drug-dealing babushkas. A smart and savvy page-turner, HEAD CASE explores the meaning of personal relationships, emotional intelligence, and mental health while taking the reader on a synapse-stirring, neurotransmitting rollicking ride.

My review:

“Head Case” by Jennifer Oko to me is a very gripping and powerful read. Although intended to be more satirical and entertaining I personally found the important points and messages within the book very well presented and not at all trivialised by the more quirky approach.
The story is told by a dead woman, Olivia, a phd student in neuro-chemistry, who gets herself involved in the wheeling and dealing behind prescription drugs to the stars and other users.
Her friend Polly scores samples from her father and sales rep Missy Pander, who in turn drags Olivia into the pharmaceutical approval committee for new drugs.
When Polly starts going out with Russian DJ Mitya a connection is made to his autn on Brighton Beach and what becomes known as the Russian Black Market Babushkas.
But all is not well with the drug Ziperal, there are side effects and other issues around the release.
At first I found the narrative a little difficult to follow as it jumped between before death and after death, but once I settled in the story ran away in a pleasantly fast pace as we try to figure out exactly why Olivia was killed and by whom.
The story is spoken at the readers, something that gives the narrative an extra edge and imtensity.
The book is clearly well researched or takes very educated guesses at the connections between black market, research, health care and organised crime. Since “Love and other drugs” and “The Constant Gardener” many of us are aware of the connections between crime and prescription drugs that can exist. Issues of self medication and the consumer approach to mood enhancers are hinted at in the foreword and are part of the story, making this a very rich read, despite the more casual style in places.
The friendships and relationships however do not disappoint and manage to transgress the limits of stereotypes and bring more interest to the story.
This is a promising author and a well written book.

Interview with Jennifer Oko:

Could you briefly tell us about the book and its story?

Head Case is a mystery wrapped up in a comic satire about the influence of the psychopharmaceutical industry on American life. The story takes Olivia and her estranged friend and roommate Polly Warner on a collision course involving ethically challenged executives, spotlight-hungry celebrities, third-rate mobsters, and drug-dealing babushkas. A smart and savvy page-turner, Head Case explores the meaning of personal relationships, emotional intelligence, and mental health while hopefully taking the reader on a synapse-stirring, neurotransmitting rollicking ride.

HEAD CASE was the second part of a two-book deal that started with my second book, Gloss (my first book was Lying Together: My Russian Affair). It was originally set to go to press in early 2009—cover created, pages proofed and all—when suddenly the publisher canceled about half of its titles because the economy was tanking and the market for new fiction was going down with it. Head Case was one of those titles. They reverted the rights to me, and I spent the next year revising the manuscript some more. After a few more attempts to sell it to another publisher (“Endearing!” they said. “Flawlessly written!” and then passed, for want of famous authors and guaranteed hits), I stuffed this labor of love into a virtual desk drawer. But then… the world started to change!

After reading story after story about once conventionally published authors having lots of fun (and occasionally great success) in the brave new world of digital self-publishing, I realized that an eBook would be the perfect publishing platform for this somewhat unconventional book.

Why did you choose this subject matter of prescription drugs? Where does the interest come from?

The seeds of this story actually date back almost two decades. When I was in journalism school in NYC, Brighton Beach, Brooklyn was my “beat”for a reporting class. It’s an area of New York with a lot of Russian and Ukrainian immigrants (and it is heavily featured in Head Case). When I was down there on a reporting assignment, I stumbled upon a few elderly women selling prescription medication right out on the sidewalk in broad daylight. The signs advertising their wares were written in Cyrillic, so the English-speaking beat cops were oblivious. Or at least they pretended to be. A few years later, I went on to write an article about all of this for New York Magazine (link!). It was one of the first pieces of writing I was ever paid for. Now, it’s right here next to my desk, nicely framed.

At around the same time, a dear friend was visiting. In the morning she realized she had forgotten her medication. I happened to be on the same medication, so I gave her some. That’s when we hatched the idea to write a screenplay about friends trading prescription drugs. Of course, before starting to write, we had to come up with the Oscar speech. So, I stood on the couch, help up an invisible trophy, and said, “I want to thank my friends, my family, and I want to thank Eli Lilly.” We never wrote the movie, but I did start writing the book, combining some of these ideas. Thank You, Eli Lilly became the working title. It would have stayed that way, but I don’t want to get sued.

What is your main reason for telling the story?

That’s a really hard question to answer. I certainly didn’t set out with an agenda other than to tell a good story. By forcing my fictional characters to grapple with some serious real world issues, I suppose it forces the reader to contemplate those matters. That is definitely a nice bit of icing on the cake.

How did you research the background for this book and how long did it take you?

In many ways, I was researching the book for years without knowing that was what I was doing. I am fascinated by psychopharmaceuticals. They have been incredibly helpful to many people I know, but I’ve also seen many abuses of them, both personally and professionally (as a journalist). So, it’s an industry I’ve followed for a while. When I started to work on this book, however, I knew almost nothing about how the brain actually works—what happens in which part—so I did a lot of googling around to find interesting and relevant articles.

Where did you meet the people that helped you with it?

The main “helpers” were the people in my writing group, which was made up of a few friends and friends of friends who became friends. Kindred spirits. In terms of research, much of it was simply a matter of reading a lot, although there are a number of mental health practitioners among my family and friends, so I didn’t have to go too far afield if I had any pressing questions.

Tell us about your other book? Are you planning any more soon?

Lying Together: My Russian Affair is a memoir centered around a year I spent working as a television news producer in Russia, navigating the collapse of a country and the collapse of my engagement at the same time. After that came Gloss, a comic mystery about a morning television news producer caught up in a conflict of interest scandal.

Right now, I am working on something, but I am not fully ready to talk about it—not because I am afraid of jinxing it or having someone steal the idea, but because I am still trying to sort it out myself. My big task for the week ahead is to try to clean up the outline and figure out what this book actually is!

How did you come to writing in the first place?

On one level, I think I always wanted to be a writer. But professionally, I started out as a television producer. I began working on what ultimately became Head Case because I wanted to have a creative outlet. But then life became stranger than fiction and one day I looked at the diary I was keeping and realized that it read like a novel. I took a memoir writing class and turned the diary into what became an actual book, Lying Together. It was an amazing experience having my memoir published. The day I found out that it would be in the New York Times Book Review, it felt like I won lotto. But no more memoirs. Fiction is challenging to write, but much more liberating.

How do you write? What is your writing environment like?

I wish I could say I was one of those people who wakes up at 3 AM and writes for a few hours every day without fail. But I am more one of those people who drags her laptop around to different coffee shops when I have a lunch break, and then occasionally, when I am good and motivated, I have stints of waking up at 5:30 to get in a few hours of writing, sometimes in the basement office I jerry-rigged, sometimes on one upholstered piece of furniture or another, like a cat. I just started an “extreme writing” workshop and had to sign a contract that I would put in a minimum of 90 minutes a day for eight weeks. I am on day three and already have bad black circles under my eyes. But it feels good.

How many rewrites did it take you?

Oh! That is impossible to answer! I am very much a writer who revises constantly. It’s always one step forward, two steps back with me. But for this book in particular, it’s even more so. It actually started as a different project entirely, almost two decades ago, then got shelved, then revived, then shelved, then brought back from the dead (like Olivia!).

Who are your editors and how do you quality control your books?

As I mentioned, Head Case was originally the second of a two book deal, but my acquiring editor got laid off by the time I finished writing the first one (Gloss), so there were a number of different editors during that go around. When the economy tanked and the publisher canceled half their titles, Head Case included, I took it back and revised it again, changing it quite a bit. My writing group was very supportive, but at the end I hired a freelance editor that I found on eLance.com. She was fantastically helpful.

Did you have any input on the cover art?

Absolutely! This is one of the great pleasures of self-publishing. I hated the art for the hardcover version of Gloss and wasn’t in love with the cover for Lying Together, but I only had so much power to change anything. In this case, I commissioned the art myself, so I had as much say as I pleased. Happily, the artist is a very talented friend of mine and he “got” the book immediately. The concept for the cover was his, I just made a few suggestions.

What did you find most challenging about this book? What do you like most and what least about writing?

Well, initially when I was writing for the traditional commercial publisher, they wanted Head Case to be something else, and I often felt like I was writing with a gun to my head. I finished it, and, as I mentioned, it was about to go to press, cover and all, when the economy collapsed and people stopped buying books. They reverted the rights to me, and it was a huge relief. I spent the next year re-working the book to be better aligned with my vision for it, and now it’s a much better book!

What I like most about writing is getting lost in my story. On a good day, when I am in the zone, it’s like I am off on an amazing journey. On a bad day, when I am stuck, it’s awful, horrible, terrible and I start to think that I should just forget about it. But it’s like a drug. I want that good day again, so I keep going back. Happily, there are more good days than bad ones.

How do you handle criticism?

I handle criticism well, so long as it’s constructive. I couldn’t possibly write without having friends as readers along the way, giving me honest feedback.

Who are your favourite authors / influences?

I feel like I should say Dostoevsky or Tolstoy, but in truth it’s probably Carl Hiaasen (Strip Tease, Nature Girl, etc.). A gazillion years ago, I was introduced to his books while working on a profile about him for a television show. It was a revelation to me that a book could be an outlandishly funny page turner while still having depth. I actually sent him some excerpts of a very, very early incarnation of Head Case, and he sent me an encouraging postcard in return.

What books have you read more than once or want to read again?

I am not much of a re-reader, but occasionally I do feel compelled to revisit some of my favorite old characters. I just picked up Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. My edition is so worn out that a bunch of pages fell out when I pulled it off the shelf and I now have a stack of random pages and a roll of scotch tape next to my night stand.

What would your characters say about the book?

Olivia, the main character, would probably love it, because she’s very self-involved like that. And Polly would have a love/hate response. Some of it would be terribly uncomfortable for her to read, but in the end I think she would say I did a good job with it. Aunt Zhanya probably wouldn’t be able to read it, because she doesn’t speak English and it hasn’t been translated into Russian (yet!). Missy Pander would probably want to buy up all the copies and burn them. Unfortunately for her, she would have a hard time doing that with ebooks!

Who are your favourite characters and why? Who would play your characters in a movie?

I love Olivia, the narrator. I actively miss her these days. She feels very real to me, like an old friend who I only see on Facebook from time to time. As for the movies…oh! Please let this one day be a real quandary for me! I really don’t know, except that I am obsessed with the television show Nurse Jackie. I don’t think Edie Falco actually makes sense for any of these characters, but maybe she could play a minor role.

What would you take to a lonely island?

Other people.

Who would you most like to meet?

It might be fun to have tea with Agatha Christie.

What else would you like us to know about yourself and your books?

Just that I hope people find my books and enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them!

Where can we find you?
http://www.jenniferoko.com
facebook.com/jenniferokoauthor
@Jennifer_Oko

Thank you so much!!!

Head Case
by Jennifer Oko

About The Author:

Jennifer Oko’s first book, Lying Together: My Russian Affair (written under her maiden name, Jennifer Beth Cohen), was published in 2004 and received numerous positive reviews. The New York Times Book Reviewcalled Lying Together “riveting” and twice named it an Editors’ Choice. The San Francisco Chronicle raved, saying it was “a heady cocktail” and “a quick, juicy read.” Her second book, a satirical novel about morning television news entitled Gloss, was a Marie Claire “pick of the month” in 2007 and chosen as a “hot summer read” by USA Today.

Currently working as a freelance writer and media consultant, Jennifer is a “recovering” journalist and award-winning television news producer. A graduate of Columbia University’s Journalism School, her career has taken her across the country and around the world.

Additionally, Jennifer’s writing has been published in a variety of magazines, including The New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, Maxim, Self and Allure.

Jennifer lives in Washington, DC with her husband and their son and daughter.

Website | Facebook | Twitter


Head Case

Genre: Humorous MysteryHEAD-CASE-COVER-new dimensions (1) (1)

Publisher: Jennifer Oko

Release Date: February 2013

Amazon

Book Description:

As one reviewer states: “HEAD CASE is an enjoyable gem of a mystery, and more…There are drug-dealing grannies, pill-popping celebrities, Russian mob bosses, eccentric ex-Soviet chemists, feuding roommates, faltering friendships, bad bosses and a rat named Raskolnikov – so how can you not have fun?“

HEAD CASE is a new, exciting and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny mystery from an author whose work has been called “SIMPLY RIVETING” by The New York Times and “SHARP AND FAST-PACED” by Publisher’s Weekly. It’s like Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones meets Carl Hiaasen’s Nature Girl (with a dash of Janet Evanovich’s One for the Money) as Olivia embarks on a postmortem quest to deconstruct the remarkable events that lead up to her mind-altering death.

A comic satire of the influence of the psychopharmaceutical industry on American life, HEAD CASE takes Olivia and her estranged friend and roommate Polly Warner on a collision course involving ethically challenged executives, spotlight-hungry celebrities, third-rate mobsters and drug-dealing babushkas. A smart and savvy page-turner, HEAD CASE explores the meaning of personal relationships, emotional intelligence, and mental health while taking the reader on a synapse-stirring, neurotransmitting rollicking ride.

Praise for Head Case

“Head Case is an enjoyable gem!” ~Dan McGirt, Amazon Reviewer

“Oko’s writing is as addictive as the pills she pokes fun at!” ~ElevenelevenAM, Amazon Reviewer

“All I can say is that if you don’t put ALL YOUR OTHER BOOKS AWAY and read just the FIRST chapter you are NUTS; you will find yourself going and going and I will just say it now –your welcome!” ~Jennifer Elizabeth Hyndman, Amazon Reviewer

Excerpt

We stopped at a red light and I thought about trying to unlock the door and jump out, but I could see that his eyes were peering at me through the rearview mirror. They appeared to be curious, like he was trying to make sure he got the right girl. Or maybe he was surprised that I, short of stature, thin of frame—conventionally attractive in a conventionally symmetrical sort of way, but not exactly anyone’s exotic fantasy, especially considering the weary, exhausted facade typical of a candidate for a PhD in neurochemistry who was hard up against a number of deadlines and concerns—was the girl he was sent to get. He was no looker, either. His face was puffy but his eyes were squinty, almost closed. The lids were drawn down—the gravity of age, it looked like. But there was something soft about them, something almost sympathetic. These were not the eyes of someone I should fear. At least that’s what I told myself. For a kidnapping cabdriver, this guy was a softie.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked again, as composed as I could muster.

The traffic stopped and he turned to face me.

His face was round, almost cherubic. A bulbous nose. Untamed, wiry white eyebrows, just like the photo on the license. A tweed cap was pushing down what appeared to be unmanageably coarse and long-since overgrown salt and pepper hair. He looked like a combination of Einstein and Mr. Magoo.

I could feel my phone vibrating in my pocket and started to pull it out again to see who was calling. Polly’s name was on the caller ID, but before I could answer, the driver waved his finger in the air, admonishing me. I put it back again and held up my empty hands like someone might do after the police tell them to drop their weapons.

The traffic began to move. An icy drizzle started splattering on the windshield. He hit the accelerator and the car lurched forward.

“Where are you taking me?” I repeated, this time a little louder.

He sighed as if I were pestering him with my questions. “Brooklyn,” he relented.

“Why? Where in Brooklyn? Where are we going?”

“Please. Please, no worry,” he said, apologetically, like I should not think it a big deal that there was a strange man driving me against my will to a place I did not ask to go.

I looked out at the East River passing on my left, trying to put all of this cryptic information together, trying to figure out what I should do next. Had I known that I was nearing, well, oblivion, I might have done something differently. I might have ignored Lumpkyn and picked up the phone—told my parents I love them, told that intern over in Oncology that I thought he was cute, told Polly that I was sorry. I mean, what would you do if you were locked in a New York City taxicab with only fifteen minutes left to live? What issue would you want to resolve?

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David Dennis: Why she left us

14 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

man and woman hands

It was the summer of 1985, and she was young and inexperienced, but longing to love and to be loved in return, when he entered her life.
At the same time, while she was desperately seeking the love and approval of a mother who never wanted her in the first place, events totally beyond her control claimed her as their victim, leaving those she left behind unable to cope with the enormity of her absence.

“WHY SHE LEFT US” is written as a series of diary entries, the events seen through the eyes of several different people.

But at its center is a love story chronicling a romance that transforms the lives of two people who, for too brief a period of time, experienced the greatest happiness they had ever known

My Review:

“Why she left us” by David Dennis on the surface is a compelling tale about three sisters and their muddled love life. Their mother, an amorously restless and seemingly selfish and disinterest woman, and their aunt, unhappy and single, have little influence on them.
Not surprisingly it is two young men who drive the plot forward, and the rivalries over the two and between the two men as well.
On a deeper level the book deals brilliantly with the issues of self worth and the desire to be loved. Told by various separate narratives the book allows great insight into the motifs and the thinking of five characters within the story. Although this had me at times a little confused about the plot, it allows us to feel intensely the pain, confusion and desires of those chosen characters. It also works incredibly well for the unfolding of the story and some of the twists and surprises to come. A lot is implied but not said until much later, keeping suspense and interest at a high rate.
What distinguished this book from coming of age and superficial teenage literature and makes it so precious is the non-stereo-typical characterisation, the clever plotting and the raw insights the author provides into his characters’ psyche.
This is an intense and emotional read, one that is hard to forget easily and one that should do well in literary circles.

Excerpts from an Amazon review: The Great American Novel?, March 31, 2013

[…The author’s] gift to the literary world is that he dignifies and honors the struggles, travails, and passions of these humble people for whom college attendance would be like completing a marathon for most of us. There is no sermon anywhere in here. Even the most spiteful act is understood; lust is accepted, and when coupled with a rush of spirit, is honored. Only one character shows ill throughout, and that is Carl Peters, who lives in resentment that the world hasn’t given him his every whim. Carl shows a horrid dark side, which will allow this book to be used as a study in psychopathy. However, even Carl’s malevolence evolves over the course of the book.

Why She Left Us is a dramatic book. I don’t envision it on the silver screen, but I can imagine an effective staging of the book as theater. A director would have to manage the parallel timelines between the crucial summer of 1985 and its grim aftermath in 1986. The author crafted the ’85 and ’86 scenes with absolute precision. At 428 pages, this qualifies on some Goodreads lists as a “big book,” and I found that it required work to get through. However, I found the characters accompanying me through my work day, reacting to events in my own life. The absolute surprise at the end wouldn’t be enough if the characters weren’t so lovingly treated, so don’t read this like a whodunit. But if you want to experience real life, with real emotions and a unique take on the eternal question of love, then you should make sure that Why She Left Us is part of your world.”

SAMSUNG

Interview with David Dennis:

David, please tell us a little something about yourself as a person and an author:

I taught English to seventh-grade students for a period of 28 years, having retired in June 1999. Throughout the years, I’ve usually had my nose in a book, whenever I wasn’t listening to opera and classical music, or performing in community theatre, or weight-lifting – a rather strange mix of activities, I’d say. Even though in my younger years I was something of a performer (either as a teacher or as an amateur actor), I’ve always been primarily an introvert. I suppose that the trite old expression “Still waters run deep” applies to me a good deal.

What made you decide to be a writer? Have you always written?

Writing was something I did in my spare time. Now that I’m retired from teaching, it’s something I enjoy doing even more, especially since it’s a lot easier to get my thoughts on “paper” now that I’m not restricted to using my old Underwood typewriter. That old typewriter got a lot of use, even when I was in 5th grade and began writing little adventure stories that, at the time, I thought were both exciting and amusing.

Have you published anything else? If so, please tell us about it.

In addition to the novel “Why She Left Us”, I have published nine books in my series of Brett Cornell comedy-mysteries. These novels are deliberately written in a tongue-in-cheek style and feature a crass, wise-cracking private detective who’s something of an anti-hero, as he struts through each of the novels, wreaking more havoc along the way than the murderers and criminals themselves whom he gets hired to investigate or track down. They’re meant to be breezy, lightweight entertainment – not to be taken seriously, in fact, since a real-life Brett Cornell would be someone you’d definitely want to have as little to do with as possible.

How did you come up with the idea / story for this book? Who or what inspired you?

The idea for “Why She Left Us” originated as a sub-plot in a huge family saga that I was writing during my college years. Decades later, I decided to develop this sub-plot into a stand-alone piece of writing, prompted mainly by the personalities of the characters involved, as well as the dramatic and even tragic possibilities that the story-line entailed.

Did you ever entertain the idea of a linear narrative for the story?

Since all of my other writings were created in a fairly traditional and conventional manner, I wanted to try something different with this work. Hence, the idea arose to utilize multiple narratives and a timeline that bounced back and forth from the past to the present.

What would you say is the main message of the book? What was your motivation to write this story?

The main message of the book deals with the idea that the loss of an individual can often have a profound effect upon those who are left behind, often in such a way that one doesn’t realize right away that such a thing is actually happening to them. For example, one of my characters mentions that, even while attending the funeral of the recently deceased person involved, she couldn’t think of a real reason why she should be grieving at all. Later on, as the reader finds out, the death of that person has drastic repercussions for her own life – perhaps even more so than many of the other characters in the book.

Did you know what was going to happen in the book before you started writing or did the story unfold itself and forced you to re-write?

I actually knew from the start how the whole story was to be played out. In that way, I was able to provide little hints, here and there, as to what was behind a certain character’s decision to do what she did on the fateful day of September 4, 1985.

Did you have any actors or actual people in mind when wrote your characters?

When I wrote the first draft (many years ago, as it turns out), I was thinking of some of the then-popular actors and actresses. Nowadays, I’m thinking mainly of Australian actor Chris Hemsworth for the role of Wayne Brown Junior and British actor Nicholas Hoult as Carl. The female characters, I think, would be tougher to cast, as I see it right now.

Which character did you most enjoy writing?

I enjoyed writing the character of Wayne Brown Junior quite a bit, mainly because I found it challenging to be able to elicit sympathy for a character who remains largely silent throughout the novel but who’s misunderstood by some of the more prominent characters with whom he gets involved.

Are you like any of your characters? How so?

In a way, I guess I’m a little bit like all five narrators (even the women), although comparing myself to Carl may seem alarming to people who have already read the book. Let me just say, then, that Carl and I both share a tendency to feel a bit self-important from time to time – although I sincerely hope that I’m not as obnoxious about it as Carl is!

What is your writing environment like?

In my younger years, I would sit at my typewriter with music coming full-blast out of a pair of nearby speakers. Nowadays, I tend to keep my environment fairly quiet. (Living alone helps, in that respect.)

Did you have any say in your cover art? What do you think of it? Tell us about the artist.

I chose the same graphics designer who did the cover art for my Brett books. My choice of images quickly got narrowed down to 2: the one I ultimately chose, and a different one which was more conventional (a man lifting a woman off her feet, lovingly and in silhouette). I was tempted, at first, by the latter image, but the first one, with its aura of tender sadness, ultimately won me over. (My graphics designer’s website is http://graphiczxdesigns.zenfolio.com)

How have you found the experience of self-publishing? What were your highs and lows?

Self-publishing, for me, has been mostly a lot of fun. I still remember how excited I felt when I actually saw the book cover image of my first Brett book (“Poolside with Brett”) upon its first appearance on Amazon. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite prepared for all the competition my books were up against, with such an incredible number of books being released every single day!

What do you like best about writing? What’s your least favourite thing?

What I like best is when, upon finishing a chapter, I can sit back and tell myself: “There! I really nailed that scene!” My least favourite thing is, upon re-reading that same scene later on, I sit back and, with head shaking, tell myself: “That wasn’t so hot, after all!”

What is your advice to new writers?

I’d advise new writers to try to exercise patience in not rushing to see their books in print, without their writing having undergone some serious editing and, most of all, some serious contemplation. After finishing a book, it’s usually a good idea to literally stay away from it for about 2 weeks, then go back and re-read it and analyze the sort of impression it’s making on you.

Who are your favourite authors?

In the mystery genre, I’ve always been a huge fan of Agatha Christie, but as time goes on, I find myself drawn more and more to writers from the past, such as Henry James and Anthony Trollope.

What is your favourite book?

That’s another tough one. As a teen-ager, I was hugely entertained by “The Arabian Nights.” That one stands out in my memory, as I don’t remember having read anything as clever and exciting in many a long year. On the other hand, I’m somewhat fanatical about Anthony Trollope – not so much his popular “Barchester Towers” but, rather, some of his later works like “John Caldigate” and “The Way We Live Now.”

What book are you currently reading and in what format (e-book/paperback/hardcover)?

I’m currently stuck halfway through Trollope’s “The Bertrams.” I have it both in paperback and in Kindle format.

How do you handle criticism of your work?

Initially, I think I was a bit too sensitive about it. Gradually, I’ve come to realize that my writing – especially my Brett books – may not appeal to everybody. For example, “Brett Always Wins” has received mostly five-star reviews, but also a couple of one-star reviews, claiming that the book was a waste of time. I had to laugh!

Tell us one weird thing, one nice thing, and one fact about where you live.

One weird thing about the city I live in is that it has probably more churches per square mile than any other city in the area, and at the same time, the highest crime rate! One nice thing is that, in my immediate neighbourhood, most of the residents are either at work or at school during the daytime hours, so I can concentrate on my writing/reading in a relatively quiet atmosphere. I also happen to love my house (it’s the right size, and I feel relaxed in it), but everyone’s always telling me I should move into a nicer place!

What are you working on now?

At the moment, I’m not doing any writing, but I think that a tenth Brett book will be coming out before too, too long.

Is there anything you would like us to know about yourself and your books?

As far as the Brett Cornell Series is concerned, I’d be happy if readers simply got a few good laughs out of reading them and didn’t take the character of Brett too seriously.

With “Why She Left Us”, it would be great if readers found themselves totally immersed in the storyline and in the characters and, most of all, if the book were to deeply affect them on either an emotional or an intellectual level (or both).

My blog: http://brettcornell.blogspot.com
Facebook pages: http://www.facebook.com/BrettCornellSeries
http://www.facebook.com/BrettGetsHammered
http://www.facebook.com/WhySheLeftUs
Links to books on Amazon:
“Why She Left Us” — http://www.amazon.com/Why-She-Left-Us-ebook/dp/B00AHYQ7LA/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1_XGD7
“Poolside with Brett” — http://www.amazon.com/Poolside-Brett-Cornell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00753PQ04/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370445017&sr=1-1&keywords=poolside+with+brett
“Brett Aerobicizes” — http://www.amazon.com/Brett-Aerobicizes-Cornell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B007ECTXWI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370445065&sr=1-1&keywords=brett+aerobicizes
“Brett Always Wins” — http://www.amazon.com/Brett-Always-Cornell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B007P3NOLM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370445100&sr=1-1&keywords=brett+always+wins
“Wedding Bells for Brett” — http://www.amazon.com/Wedding-Bells-Cornell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B007SNSHEI/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1
“Brett Enters the Square Circle” — http://www.amazon.com/Enters-Square-Cornell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B007Z0XUNM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370445180&sr=1-1&keywords=brett+enters+the+square+circle
“Brett Gets Hammered” — http://www.amazon.com/Brett-Hammered-Cornell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B008CFDJJO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370445220&sr=1-1&keywords=brett+gets+hammered
“It’s All Brett’s Fault” — http://www.amazon.com/Bretts-Fault-Cornell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B008HS307W/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370445265&sr=1-1&keywords=it%27s+all+brett%27s+fault
“Beach Bum Brett” — http://www.amazon.com/Beach-Brett-Cornell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B008RLB1IO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370445300&sr=1-1&keywords=beach+bum+brett
“Don’t Mess with Brett” — http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Brett-Cornell-Series-ebook/dp/B009WQ05I0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370445337&sr=1-1&keywords=don%27t+mess+with+brett
(Author photo and some book cover images, attached to email)

Review of Brett gets Hammered:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars…A solid read (from a picky reader)! September 23, 2012
By Leonard Kilbane

Don’t let the silly titles fool you, these Brett novels are jam-packed with interesting situations and characters, riveting action, and surprisingly, tons of complex human interaction. And of course they are hilarious. Over the top? Yes. But that is how the series was designed, for those that missed that point. Mr. D’Aguanno deftly shifts from one interesting environment to another, and I felt as though I was sitting or standing in the vicinity of Brett and the other well defined characters. What I’m wondering is if this might become a series, because it seems like it is tailor made for a fun TV show.

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The Indie Tribe

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Many of you have asked me recently about the Indie Tribe and how I made it into their charts. I don’t know about the charts, but I can explain a little about the Tribe.

I joined the Indie Tribe back in January. It is simply an online group of independent writers to promote our books. This website features books published by the members on a regular basis and offers links to blogs and websites, a news flash service and other promotional tools for free. It is also a great source of information for readers and writers and features writers tips and guest blogs regularly.

On top of that is a range of commercially available options. I have taken out the Gold Membership for £45, which gives me an independent review of the book an author interview, guest blog and a review of my website.
Book showcases, a book store and a full editing service are also offered.

For any author who has a number of books to promote, the Indietribe’s Multi Book Promotion offers extreme value for money at a one-off £45 fee. Every book is showcased, including future ones, and every book is included in Indietribe’s Book Store. The writer also enjoys an enhanced link to his website or blog.

http://www.theindietribe.com/multi-book-promotion/

I have been looking online for good publicity tools ever since I published my book in November and I have to say that this seems a very reasonable offer, given the amount of time the man behind the scenes puts into it. So apologies for advertising but here is the man, Charlie Bray, himself, to talk about how the tribe came to be and how he is doing thus far.

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Hello Charlie, thanks for joining me on my blog. So first things first: When did you have the idea for the Indietribe and how did you bring it to life? Were there many other people involved or is it a complete one man operation?

Having joined the ever-growing tribe of wannabe authors who write a book, upload it themselves to Amazon as an eBook, I suffered the pain of realising that sales don’t necessarily follow. I quickly realised that thousands of others share that pain, and decided to do something about it. I launched http://www.theindietribe.com myself, and operate it alone. Having said that, it would be nothing without members and their contributions keep the plate spinning.

How much of your time does your work for the tribe take up?

Around ten hours a day, seven days a week. Retirement from the day job enables me to do this, but my own writing and, of course, my wife suffer.It is quite a commitment you put in there for others. How do you motivate yourself to keep going?
It’s very much a labour of love. I love books, I love fellow authors, well, the vast majority anyway.
Most of all I feel passionate about the indie movement and will always do all I can to support it.

How large is your audience and where are your main followers?

Indietribe currently has over 1,000 members and we have around 1,500 Twitter followers and a loyal following on Facebook, Goodreads and Linkedin, which is great since I only launched in September.
Members tend to pass the word around to other indie authors and our membership is on an upward spiral..

What is your background in publishing/ writing?

I’ve been writing short stories and magazine features since the 70s and published and contributed to my own art and frame trade magazine, Art & Frame Buyer for many years.

What do you enjoy most about the work for the tribe?

The feeling of satisfaction from seeing members’ sell more books by being part of the tribe. Our weekly Top 10 is a result of hundreds of click-throughs to Amazon each month.

What is the least enjoyable part?

Struggling to meet self-inflicted deadlines and occasional abuse from the odd member who is getting everything for free anyway.

Where can you be contacted?

Through the contact page on http://www.theindietribe.com

Can readers follow the tribe?

Yes, quite easily. They can join for free on this link: http://www.theindietribe.com/contact-2/
They can follow the tribe by clicking the RSS button on the home page of my site, or by subscribing to our email newsletter on the same page. I am keen to attract as many readers as possible to the Indietribe. They are our life-blood. They can use this link: http://www.theindietribe.com

How often do you publish the features / interviews and reviews?

Normally a new post appears around three or four times per week so there is always something fresh to see.

Where do you post the reviews?

Everything is posted on http://www.theindietribe.com, but each post is also reproduced in full on Facebook, Goodreads and Linkedin and Twitter

“The Dividing Season” by Karen Casey Fitzjerrell

10 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 17 Comments

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The Dividing Season, winner of the 2013 EPIC Award for Best Historical Fiction, is a retrospective tale of how a group of people coped with the pitfalls of living on the cusp of a new era in American History. Trail riding days are all but dead, the Mexican Revolution has crossed the border into West Texas, drought nearly choked the life out of the cattle industry and oil has been discovered in East Texas. Nell Miggins, the central character, realizes she can no longer manage her ranch as it had been for the last three generations. She doesn’t know which way to turn, feels something vital missing from her life even though she’s felt blessedly happy up until that one spring day when everything in her life gets turned upside down. As a result, she makes the guilt-ridden decision to sell her ranch. While organizing her last cattle round up and sale, a group of men attacked by Mexican bandits show up in need of shelter, a windmiller arrives to repair a windmill essential to ranch operations, and Nell is forced to hire a shady character from Alabama to help drive her cattle to town. Before all is said and done, Nell finds herself “oceans away from anyone who knows her history.”

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My review:

“The Dividing Season” by Karen Casey Fitzjerrell was recommended to me by a friend, herself a gifted writer of historical fiction, so the book had very high expectations to live up to, which fortunately it easily did.
The book drew me in immediately with the all-knowing narrative first focusing on our main character Nell, an ‘old spinster’ who – after her father’s death – considers selling her cattle ranch in Texas in the 1910s in order to live her dream of travelling and freedom.
The book then introduces other characters joining the busy and hard life on the farm; for example an Archaeologist and his team, who have found traces of Mayan presence in Texas and who hope to get funding for further investigations but who are stuck on the farm after an attack from Mexican bandits; and a wind-miller in search of employ.
The unique situation of Nell given the time and place and her role for the lives of so many other people gave her hesitations a credible conflict and an intriguing spin.
The historical research that shines through every page of the book makes this a great read just on its own. Details about the climate, the cattle ranching of the times, the role of women, the sequences about the archaeological findings and research at the time were amazing and kept me glued to those pages.
Fitzjerrell has created a wonderful piece of Historical Fiction with a well written and interesting story that in its three parts takes you on a journey of self exploration and travels across the Gulf to Mexico, where a considerable part of the story showcases the simpler life of Mexicans and their culture in the jungle, an important addition and contrast to the Mexican bandits who have featured in the story before.
This is an amazing achievement and a very entertaining and gripping read with great thoughtful moments and a terrific ending. Very well done and highly recommended.

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Interview with Karen:

Hello Karen, thanks for joining us today. Tell us a little about yourself as an author and a person.

Christoph, I grew up on the flat cattle prairies of Liberty County, Texas. My writing is heavily influenced by the fact that I was second oldest in a family of five children born during the 40s and 50s. The adults in my growing-up days were boisterous, fun loving, as carefree as the cattle they raised and as rich in spirit as the oil they pumped from the ground.

How did you come to writing in the first place?

In the 1990s I read a newspaper magazine that featured a weekly column titled, State Lines. The concept focused on personal narratives about Texas experiences and perspectives. I’d always kept a journal and was shocked how close the essays were to what I’d been writing on the sly for years. On a whim, I submitted a journal entry. The editor called me two weeks later wanting to run the essay. I was dumbfounded when he instructed me to “send an invoice.” I couldn’t believe I’d be paid for something I’d been doing for years for the simple cathartic joy it gave me. The magazine editor soon became my mentor and beloved friend. I knew nothing about writing “formally” and certainly nothing about submitting work. I ended up writing other columns for him including features and travel articles for more than eight years. Though he has long since retired, we are still in touch.

Where does your connection or fascination with the American West and the portrayed cultures in The Dividing Season come from?

I have lived smack in the middle of the Texas-Mexico border culture all my life. In The Dividing Season the attitude Nell has for Pablo and his family is one that I share. The affinity I have for the border region is hard to explain to anyone who didn’t grow up here. And, as a child I loved to sit in our hay loft door watching my dad and his brothers work cattle. I’d listen to their worries about drought, cattle diseases and hay prices. It was and is a life and culture I love.

How difficult was it to draw the balance between research and invention/ imagination?

Very hard. I view historical fact as the glue that holds a story together, in the same manner book binding holds the pages of a book together. It is difficult to keep pages turning in historical fiction if the “glue” is too thick. And, too, while working on the novel, I realized few readers would be as fascinated about Mayan history as me, or care to know how I unearthed enough facts to connect Mayan peasants to the Rio Grande region of Texas. It was painful to go back and, as my editor put it, “get rid of the information dump.”

When did you first have the idea for this book?

Believe it or not, I heard an old cowboy folk song eons ago that referred to “a windmiller” and I’ve been intrigued since. I tried to imagine a windmiller, his intimate connection to something as symbolic as the windmill is to the American West. The novel ended up as much Nell’s story as the windmiller’s, but he was the springboard for my imagination.

Could this become part of a series? Could Nell return for more adventures?

No series planned. However, I’ve often thought I’d return to Carrageen Ranch when Mary (Lupe and Pablo’s baby daughter) is grown. Pick up the story when she is about thirty years old.

How long did this book take you to write?

It felt like forever. I worked on it for 10 years. I shopped it around to many agents and publishing houses in the late 1990s. Most had positive things to say about my writing but bulked at a story set in the West. It was very discouraging, so I put the novel away for months at a time and set out to write a second novel. I continued to go back to The Dividing Season to fine tune, hoping to get it published. I think attitudes for American West stories have turned a little for the better.

How many rewrites did it take you?

No way to count. Dozens would be a guess.

Did you have any input on the cover art?

During one of my last re-writes I happened to be on sabbatical at my sister’s ranch in Colorado County, Texas. I often take breaks to “ranch sit” for her when she and hubby travel. While there, I took hundreds of photos with the idea in mind of using them for my blog posts. But I knew from the first moment I loaded the photo of the tree and winding road to the gate that I wanted to use it for The Dividing Season. I’ve had many positive comments about it – mostly from men.

What did you find most challenging about this book? What do you like most and what least about writing?

The most challenging was, without a doubt, researching what archeologists knew of the Maya in 1910. I had a tendency to write from what is known today. It was very difficult to find books written in the late 1890s about the subject. What I like least is EDITING and RE-WRITING – No surprise there.

Who are your editors and how do you quality control your books?

I have at least three beta readers for everything I write. Then editor, writer, educator, Heidi M Thomas (www.heidimthomas.com) edited The Dividing Season. I felt I was in good hands because she is very aware of the difficulties of writing about the American West. Phrasing the language, weaving history into the story without burdening it, and using regional dialect.

How do you handle criticism?

During my freelance days writing for newspapers and regional magazines, I learned that some people will never “get” me or my writing. Simple as that. I’m lucky that there have been nice things said about my writing/stories sprinkled among the bad things. I continue to believe that writers should be true to the stories in their hearts while opening their minds to honest feedback about plot, language and character behaviour and development.

Who are your favourite authors?

James Lee Burke, Elmer Kelton. Too many to list here.

What books have you read more than once or want to read again?

Out of Africa is my all time favourite book. I read it through two times and go back to it often to read passages I’ve underlined. Years ago I read The Living by Annie Dillard and have always wanted to read it again. Wonderful books both.

What are your next projects and where would we be able to hear about them?

Forgiving Effie Beck is the title of my next novel. It will be available in about a month at all the usual online book buying venues as well as through my website. The story, which takes place in 1930s America, is about the blurred line between
right and wrong and what happens when all the “good” people look the other way.
[For more information on Forgiving Effie Beck see below]

Karen Casey Fitzjerrell’s books are available at:

Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Barnes and Nobel

For more information about Karen Casey Fitzjerrell go to:
http://www.karencaseyfitzjerrell.com

Facebook Author Page

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The story, which takes place in 1930s America, is about the blurred line between right and wrong and what happens when all the “good” people look the other way.

Mike LeMay, a cynical Federal Writers’ Project interviewer arrives in a small Texas community a few days before the town eccentric, Effie Beck, is reported missing. He learns over the course of the story that the enigmatic, elderly Effie Beck has moved through the lives of the town’s populace “like brown smoke.”

What happened to Effie that she’d just walk out of her house and disappear? And what secrets did she take with her?

Writer Christine Hughes

07 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

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Falling in love with literature was easy for Christine Hughes.
Not sure where her love of reading and writing fit, she became a middle school English teacher. After nine years teaching others to appreciate literature, she decided to take the plunge and write her first novel, TORN – a YA paranormal released by Black Opal Books on June 9, 2012. Her second novel Three Days of Rain was released by Black Opal Books January 5, 2013.

I have read and reviewed both of Christine’s books and will feature them at the end of this post. Here is my Interview with Christine:

“Torn” and “Three days of Rain” are quite different books. Do you feel more at home in a particular genre?

At first, YA was more comfortable because I’d been a middle school English teacher for so long. The voice was easier for me to reach. Three Days of Rain is Women’s Fiction/Contemporary Fiction (depending on who you talk to) and that was a bit more difficult for me even though I wrote it much faster. Not sure if it was the subject matter or what, but it was more difficult. I guess, the answer is that YA is more of my comfort zone but I’d love to take more challenges and write outside of my comfy box.

“Three days of Rain” received an honorary mention at the Paris Book Fare (?) recently. How did they get to notice your books?

I entered their competition. Last year I entered TORN in the Hollywood Book Festival and won an Honorable Mention as well.

Congratulations! And…..you are also a finalist at the RONE Awards Paranormal Category! Well done!

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How did you come to writing in the first place?

I always kind of wrote something. Be it bad poetry, simple short stories – creative writing was my favorite class in college. Then I became a teacher and taught others how to write. It wasn’t until much later I really began to write for myself. Even then, I had no goal in mind. Just kind of wanted to see if I could do it.

Did you have the stories for your books already in place?

Not usually, except in the case of TORN’s sequel, tentatively titled Darkness Betrayed. Even then, I wasn’t sure where it would go. Then again, with Three Days of Rain, I based the entire story on a song of the same name written and performed by a friend.

How did you get the ideas?

Songs. Even if I’ve heard the song a million times, one day a storyline will hit me like a movie, almost, in my head. I build a playlist around the song and possible emotions I want to portray and begin writing. I have to have music playing or I get lost.

Does much change during your writing or is the story pre-written in your head?

Ha! So far, everything has changed. I try to outline but I am a panster at heart. I never follow the outline anyway so I guess it’s for the best.

What made you write for Young Adults in “Torn”? Was that planned or did it come out like that?

Not sure if YA was planned, per se, but I wrote, at the time, what I knew and what I knew was the YA voice. Originally, it wasn’t about angels. That happened organically. Also, it began as kind of a mystery ala Edgar Allan Poe. Not sure why it ended up where it did but I am very happy with it.

Parts of “Three Days of Rain” are quite heavy going. Was the experience of writing it painful, cathartic in any way or important to you for other reasons?

Gosh, it was so exhausting – mentally, emotionally – to write that novel. It was in me and I had to get it out. That book, more than TORN, was written just to see if I could get something so emotional out there. It’s hard too, because I can barely relate to any of the pain those characters felt. Poor Jake. I’ve gotten many, many “how could you do that?” messages from people about that book.

Would you say your books have a core message?

I don’t know. Hope? Hope that something greater is out there. Hope that no matter what’s thrown your way, something – whatever you believe in – will help you through.

What do you like most about writing and what least?

I love when an idea hits me. I love that feeling that I have to write it. The worst? Revising, editing. Blah. It’s the worst. Well, maybe the synopsis and back cover blurb are the worst. Nah. Revising and editing. Hate it.

Who are your favourite characters and why?

Ahhh. In TORN I love Sebastian. He’s the bad guy but he’s awesome. In the sequel, Damien is my favorite. In Three Days of Rain, I can’t pick. Even Madison has some redeeming qualities for me – though most may not agree.

What would they say about you?

They’d probably say I change my mind too often! And maybe I throw too much on them. If I’d just ease up and give them normal, happy lives…

What is your writing environment like?

Depends. I love to write outside when the weather permits. I have a space in my home and I wrote 90% of Three Days of Rain at Barnes & Noble.

What is your writing process like?

Process? Playlist on shuffle and write. That’s it. I review what I wrote the day before, do a little revision and move on.

Who are your publishers and editors? Cover artists?

My publisher for TORN and Three Days of Rain is Black Opal Books. My cover designer for TORN was my friend Jay Sabo and the photo for the cover of Three Days of Rain was taken by the amazing Simone Becchetti.

Who are your favourite authors?

I don’t know. I have so many. I’ve read every JD Robb and Harlan Coben book, I love Hemingway, Ray Bradbury. As a kid I read every Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine book –just not the Goosebumps. I’m just finding new authors to read and I am falling in love with so much more. Ask me next week and I may give you a different answer.

What and / which book would you take on a lonely island?

Can I load up my kindle and bring that? I honestly can’t answer that. It would depend on my mood that day!

Who are your favourite indie authors?

Sophie Davis is up there right now. So many others. I haven’t read much more than 1 or 2 books from anyone new because there are so many. I think Kyle Hannah has a big future. His Time Assassins was great.

What are you reading at the moment?

I must hang my head in shame – I just read Sloppy Seconds by Tucker Max.

What are you working on right now?

Ahhhh! I fun YA thriller where people get offed every other chapter! Oh, and I finfished the sequel to TORN a week and a half ago.

When and where will we be hearing about it?
Not sure. Stay tuned…

Well, there is one thing I should say. Your books are on offer until June 10th:

pizap.com13694431366951

torncover-1

With the sudden, mysterious death of her father, Samantha discovers her life isn’t what it seems. Not only isn’t she the normal teenage girl she thought she was, Sam must now take her father’s place in the fight between two groups of fallen angels, the Faithful and the Exiled, in a race to save humanity. In addition to dealing with a devastating betrayal—and having feelings for someone she’s forbidden to love—Sam must also fight the growing darkness within her as she struggles to make a choice between fighting alongside the Faithful or succumbing to the temptation of the Exiled. Both sides require sacrifices Sam isn’t sure she can make.

Review:

“Torn” by Christine Hughes is a great paranormal read for young adults. Samantha English lives with two boys her age who are there to protect her in the absence of her father.
Soon Samantha learns that her family has some paranormal roots and although now on the side of the good they used to be on the side of evil, making her a target for the evil forces as well as a potentially unreliable alliance partner. While Samantha comes to terms with this new knowledge she is being trained to control her powers and on to of this she falls for one of her protectors.
This is a very enjoyable action packed novel with deep and interesting characters who are ‘torn’ between the two sides.
The narrative begins with a sequence of Samantha’s father, creating extra interest by giving us a hint of what will come back later in the story.Hughes brings unusual depth to her story and does well in her portrayal of the torn nature of her protagonists. The romance part is also very convincingly done and as far as the paranormal parts are concerned the situation is more complex than I have described (so as not to spoil the experience for you).
To me paranormal and young adult novels are a hit and miss, but this book was a definite hit for me.

ThreeDaysCover Final

Just when he thought his life was turning around…

Things haven’t been easy for Jacob Morgan. Persecuted by the ghosts of his past, Jake lives each day just going through the motions, barely getting by. Then Lily Burns comes to town and befriends him. As Jake starts to heal, he begins to hope that he has finally overcome the mistakes and tragedies that have tormented him for so long. But just when he thinks his problems are solved, his past comes back to haunt him, and once again, Jake is confronted by situations he is ill-equipped to handle. Can Jake hold on to the progress he has made, or will the lies, guilt, and secrets he’s tried to ignore shove him back into an abyss from which there is no escape?

Review:

“Three Days of Rain” by Christine Hughes is an tragic story and an emotional reading experience but one that is worth your while.
Jake has an almost co-dependent and raw relationship with substance using Maddie and – as the clique goes – it is rather complicated. Just as it seems that Jake has given up on love he meets Lily, who has her hands full to get him to open up and trust her.
I was recommended this book by a friend and expected a straight forward romance novel, maybe that helped to deepen the impact this book had on me. I was stunned by the raw emotions, the deep insight into the tormented characters and the intensity of it all. It is not an easy read but one that draws you in and won’t let you out until it is over. I found the reading experience very compulsive and need to emphasise also that it was not all gloom and misery but where it is, it is well justified and purposeful. The author has amazing talent and a promising future. I will keep an eye on her next works.

LINKS
Three Days of Rain:

Kindle:http://www.amazon.com/Three-Days-of-Rain-ebook/dp/B00AWD5M4O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1369478514&sr=8-2&keywords=three+days+of+rain

NOOK: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/three-days-of-rain-christine-hughes/1114063532?ean=2940016166971&itm=1&usri=three+days+of+rain

TORN:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Torn-ebook/dp/B0089Z7QBY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1369479640&sr=8-5&keywords=three+days+of+rain

NOOK:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/torn-christine-hughes/1110918144?ean=2940014774918&itm=31&usri=torn

SMASHWORDS: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/chistinehughes

Christine Hughes

http://christine-hughes.com
http://www.facebook.com/ChristineHughesAuthor
http://www.twitter.com/HughesWriter

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