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Robin Robertson’s fourth collection is an intense, moving, bleakly lyrical, and at times shocking book. These poems are written with the authority of classical myth, yet sound utterly contemporary. The poet’s gaze—whether on the natural world or the details of his own life— is unflinching and clear, its utter seriousness leavened by a wry, dry, and disarming humor.

Alongside fine translations from Neruda and Montale and dynamic retellings of stories from Ovid, the poems here pitch the power and wonder of nature against the frailty and failure of the human. This is a book of considerable grandeur and sweep that confirms Robertson as one of the most arresting and powerful poets at work today.

Book review: ‘The Wrecking Light’ by Robin Robertson

The Los Angeles Times Book Review – October 23, 2011 (Excerpt)

Robin Robertson is caught between worlds — between the contemporary London in which he lives and an epic past evoked by longboats and bonfires and where myths, not science, explain the workings of the world. His 2006 collection “Swithering” actively moved between both just as that interesting word — a Scottish one referring not only to agitation but also to vacillation and movement — clearly announced on the book’s cover.

And in his new collection, “The Wrecking Light” (Mariner Books: 97 pp., $13.95 paper), that tendency to swither remains as the poet moves between homages to Ovid, Neruda, Baudelaire and other great figures of the past and moody glimpses of himself and the modern world (“How long ago,” he asks in “Easter, Liguria,” “did I notice that the light was wrong,/ that something inside me was broken?”)

One of the collection’s centerpieces is “Leaving St. Kilda,” an extraordinary poem, written in that full-blown rhetoric of epic adventure that you might find in a translation of “The Odyssey” or “The Iliad” about a pitiful little island beyond the Outer Hebrides — a place so tiny it barely merits a mark on most atlases of the world. Small as it is, however, Robertson invests its entire landscape, the place names and landmark names, with a magic that’s clearly in the spirit of Tolkien (or, for that matter, George R.R. Martin). [Read the full article...]

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THE BLEEDING HILLS
A Novel by Wilfried F. Voss

I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith.
- 2 Timothy iv. 7

The Irish War is officially a part of history, but not for Finnean Whelan, an IRA veteran of almost 40 years. British Intelligence has produced evidence that he is the mastermind behind a conspiracy to assassinate the First Minister of Northern Ireland. For Whelan this is not only a mission of revenge, but marks the beginning of a journey into the past and the return to the one true love: Ireland. [More...]

The Bleeding Hills is available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Nobel, and any other good bookstore.

By Irene Watson

I recently received this email:

well my book with strategics an publisher is [email address removed] is out this yr so they told me 2 get ahold of u so thts wht I’m doin

I was tempted to write back:

w@= tbh i ttly dnt hv a clu wht u r wan me 2 do wud u pls tilii

but, I didn’t.  In fact, I didn’t even respond.

I had to ask myself whether this “author” actually had her book edited or if it was written in texting or in English.  I also had to ask myself if this person in reality wrote something that was marketable, or even sellable. After about a 20-second thought process I felt responding or getting involved in attempting to assist this author would be futile.  It may have been a harsh decision and some would say I should have given her a chance.  Maybe.

And, maybe I’ve put authors on a pedestal and have expectations that are sometimes unreasonable. But I doubt that.  I’m a firm believer that a well written and well edited query letter is one of the most important aspects of creating interest in the book. It will also prove that the author is qualified to write the book and the presentation is of quality.

But, just writing a query letter is not exactly what this person should have done.  The first thing she should have done is searched the site for the guidelines which obviously she didn’t do otherwise I wouldn’t have received an email like I did.

I get numerous requests for reviews each week via email. I can’t tell you how many requests we get from authors who think somehow their book deserves special attention or authors who simply do not bother to read our guidelines, to take the time to be courteous enough to find out what we do and how best to work with us. Even more so, I find that publicists, although present a good query letter, do not read the guidelines either.  As an author, I would hope that after spending $12,000 to $15,000 over a 3 month period for a publicist, she or he would at least be capable of reading guidelines and represent me in an acceptable manner.

Most reviewers, publishers, or other companies associated with the book publishing world are very reasonable. They have submission guidelines for a reason—to answer the author’s questions and to let the author know what is needed to save the author time and trouble. In turn, it also saves the reviewer or publisher time, not having to chase after the author for information or having to answer multiple emails or phone calls.

Bottom line: If you’re an author and you want your book considered for publicity, for review, for publication, or for any other service, take a few minutes to read the guidelines and understand how the company or reviewer functions. Those guidelines were put there to make your life easier. If you were invited to a dinner party that started at 6 o’clock, you wouldn’t show up at 5 o’clock or at 7 o’clock, so why would you fail to follow directions for something far more important—getting attention from the people who can help to make your book a success?
I’d like to know what you think about this topic.  Have you sent out query letters that were successful?  Do you find it easier to follow guidelines than wonder what you should write or how to approach a specific service provider in the publishing industry?

I’d like to hear from you here.

PS - Books for Soldiers Update
as of Sat. Sept. 24th we received:
1138 books
24 music CDs/6 movie DVDs
23 pounds of candy for packing
$10 donation to buy candy

Thank you to all the doners! And, yes, we are still accepting donations on an ongoing basis.

Lorelei Bell is author of Vampire Ascending, and soon to be released Vampire's Trill

More of author Lorelei Bell’s posts can be found at Lorelei’s Muse

I was recently given an ARC (advanced reader copy), and I really want to tell you about it. Oh, and don’t let the title throw you. Or, maybe you should? Maybe it does titillate the consumer exactly as intended.

American Male Prostitute, by Wilfried F. Voss is a work of fiction–I emphasize this because that’s really important. The story, however, is a subject near and dear to my heart: The trials and tribulations of trying to get published with a “traditional” publisher.

In American Male Prostitute, happily married man, Stuart Martin Berry, is given 3 months to find a publisher for his book. His pregnant wife gives him full and free rein “to do whatever it would take to get a book deal. Her only request was not to share any details of how I got there.”

This story is for anyone who has tried in vain, again and again, to hook an agent, even though you have bought every writing magazine, every book on “how to hook an agent,” or “how to write the perfect query letter,” (raising my hand here).  In this story, we’ve got someone in Stuart to root for. It may be a work of fiction, but to a point it is all very much true-to-life. Not only that, but a lot of things are revealed that the would-be-author may not know about the publishing business, how it works. Or why you don’t get audience with an agent or a publisher, or why the agent doesn’t work out in your behalf.

We realize early on that Berry will have to stoop to using sex, lies and deceit, as he attempts to get his foot, literally, in the door of the publisher of his choice. Many of you out there might say this could never happen. Well, I’m sure it doesn’t always happen, but believe me, it can and does. The subject was breached with yours truly, once, a very long time ago. I didn’t go for it and let that person know. Would I have been well published by now? I guess I’ll never know. Me and my conscious.

But here, in American Male Prostitute,the fantasy of using people who are just as deceiful–and possibly really deserve it–takes shape and unfolds as our hero/aspirting author, Berry goes on the hunt for that book deal and moves to New York where he shamelessly promotes his book. He does have an agent, but she’s rather unproductive, and he learns that she is really disliked by his target publisher. There is intrigue woven throughout, as well as the expected titillating situations required. It has realistic places, the  parties, money and people in power, as well as believable publishing mogals in their holier-than-thou realms.

If nothing else you come away with better knowledge of the “disturbingly dysfuctional world of writing and publishing”, as Berry pulls off the blinds–or the sheets, as it were–of the publishing world and what actually may entice those in power to say yes or no to you better than just a well written query letter.

Over all, Wilfried F. Voss has done an exceptional job, if only to have the guts to tell such a story. He gives us aspiring writers something to think about as we wonder why the hell a query letter, or a pitch isn’t working. You wonder about it. You really do.

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AMERICAN MALE PROSTITUTE

How I (Almost) Got A Book Deal Through Sex, Lies, And Deceit

Stuart Martin Berry has only three months left to find a publisher for his first novel. In a desperate attempt to reach his goal he leaves his home to live in New York. His wife has given him free rein to do whatever it takes to get a book deal. Her only request was not to give her any details on how he got there. If he fails he will be forced to give up his dream of being a famous writer and take a regular forty hour a week job. For Stuart this is sufficient motivation to start a three month adventure full of sex, lies, and deceit, without losing focus of the ultimate goal. When he finally reaches the finish line, he has evolved and become a top expert in the publishing world.

The question remains, what does it take these days to get a book deal with a traditional publisher? What do you do when, hypothetically, you are running out of time and mere talent is not the be-all and end-all?

Stuart Martin Berry has found the answer: If you can’t impress them with your talent, baffle them with your bull-shit. [Read more, including an excerpt]

American Male Prostitute is available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.

Now, to address the title of todays post.  Where does Crimson Dawn fit into the literary world?  Genres are fighting for readers attention and it’s up to the author and publisher to decide where a title best fits.  Many successful ebook authors research the market to find out what is selling and then they specifically cater to those readers.  Such authors can turn out as many as 10-15 short, to-the-point novellas per year.  The amount of novellas released is only limited by the speed of the author and the relationship that they have with their publisher….Where was I going with this?  Oh, yeah.  With ebooks on the verge of taking over (I personally will never get tired of holding a bound book in my hands), some e-publishers are very particular about what genres they will accept.  I have come across some that only want m/m titles, or interracial romance, or won’t accept titles with heat levels below a 3.

I can’t write like that.  Of course I want my work to be well received and sell but I don’t think I can sit down write a story that is contained to one  niche genre.  I certainly didn’t do that with Crimson Dawn.  For the sake of reviewers and search engines, I classify Crimson Dawn as an urban fantasy, but my vampire novel is so much more than that.

Valeria’s hunt for Tristan is the basis of the storyline.  Valeria sometimes carries out the duties of her job as a Sentinel, with as much harshness and brutality as the gun wielding, arduer raising, necromancer Anita Blake of Laurell K. Hamilton’s urban fantasy titles.

But even so, the relationship between Val and Irulan quickly becomes a huge factor in the quest to find Tristan.  Their struggles to define what they are and the consequences of their struggle have a direct impact on whether or not Valeria will be successful. That kind of sounds like a paranormal romance to me.

Whatever category Crimson Dawn does or does not fall into, Val and Irulan are slowly but surely finding their audience.  A large part of that is thanks to my superb Wattpad fans who have helped spread the word and to the reviewers that have thus far, extended their blogs and time to a new author.  Thank you so much.

Here are the links to some wonderful guest post and reviews of Crimson Dawn and other stories in my Darklife world.  After you see what other people have to say about C.D., scoot on over to Amazon or the Copperhill Media store and grab you a copy so you can judge for yourself.

Head over to Patricia’s Vampire Notes and read my guest author post to find out the inspiration for Crimson Dawn:http://patricias-vampire-notes.blogspot.com/2011/04/veronica-massie-guest-blog-and-contest.html

To read a review of Crimson Dawn by Ms. Sally Sapphire, the wonderful web mistress behind the Bibrary Bookslut Blog you want this link. http://bibrary.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-crimson-dawn-by-ronnie-massey.html and while you’re there check out her review of  UnSpoken: A Val and Irulan Short. http://bibrary.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-crimson-dawn-by-ronnie-massey.html

For another set of eye’s take on UnSpoken head over to the Passion Reads blog which is run by Mrs. Tiptress: http://passionreads.com/ronnie-massey-unspoken-a-val-irulan-short/

And as always, you can find out more about Crimson Dawn and other Darkworld titles at my website: http://www.ronniemassey.com/

Or here: http://crimsondawn.copperhillmedia.com/

Be sure to sign up for the Frogen Yozurt Newsletter!

The thing about Ms. Tiptress and her reviews that I love is the fact that they aren’t your average review.  instead of outlining the story and picking apart plots and characters, she writes her reviews from more of a ‘what did it make me feel’, point of view.  She calls them ‘conversational reviews’.

One line of the review reads as follows…This is an exciting and sexy read that makes me want to hound the author until she gives me more…To read the rest head over to Passion Reads dot com. http://passionreads.com/ronnie-massey-unspoken-a-val-irulan-short/

For a free e-book download of UnSpoken: A Val and Irulan Short and Never Again: An Irulan Short, head over to my feedbooks page.  http://www.feedbooks.com/userbooks/recent?penname=Ronnie+Massey&user=136200

To check out more info on Crimson Dawn head over to my website (which I just so happen to have a contest up an running on) http://www.ronniemassey.com/

Remember to sign up for the Frogenyozurt.com newsletter for updates on the Crimson Dawn release date.

Hey everyone.  UnSpoken: A Val and Irulan Short, has gotten it’s first review, from the wonderful Ms. Sally Sapphire.  Ms. Sapphire is the wonderful woman behind the Bibrary Bookslut blog; a blog that focuses on LGBT themed literature.  She was also the first person to review Never Again: An Irulan Short. Well, once again she has given my little short an amazing review.  On top of that, there have been over 200 downloads in 2 days time!  I feel like Sally Fields the night that she accepted her Oscar for Places In The Heart; I‘m sitting at my laptop thinking, ‘You like me, you really like me’.

Here is a small bit of what she had to say about UnSpoken…this is a more intimate tale than the first, focused more on exploring the relationship between Val and Irulan. Ronnie has to walk a fine line between satisfying the reader’s hunger for the full-length Crimson Dawn, and potentially alienating readers who come to the novel without having read the shorts. I think she’s done an admirable job of it, introducing us to the characters, and providing just enough background to whet our hunger, without duplicating the experience of the novel itself. Val and Irulan are fantastic characters, and it’s clear that they (and the world in which they’ve been established) are well equipped to carry an exciting new addition to the urban fantasy genre.

Check out the full review by using the link below.  And although the title of the page say’s the review is for Never Again, it’s actually the review for UnSpoken.  http://bibrary.blogspot.com/2011/03/review-never-again-irulan-short-by.html

Although Unspoken: A Val and Irulan Short, is listed on Amazon as a Kindle e-book for .99, I am giving it away as a free download on my website, up until the release of Crimson Dawn, in April.

Now for the announcement.  I am having a giveaway to celebrate the April release of Crimson Dawn.  The contest will run from now until May 1st.  Winner will be announced at my DarkWorld Forums on May 6th, during my official online launch.  To find out the details, please head over to the DarkWorld Forums at my website, http://www.ronniemassey.com/.

In Gone to Green, Lois goes from being a corporate journalist at a large paper in the Midwest to the owner of The Green News-Item, a small twice-weekly newspaper in rural North Louisiana. The paper was an unexpected inheritance from a close colleague, and Lois must keep it for at least a year, bringing a host of challenges, lessons, and blessings into her life.

When Lois pulls into Green on New Year’s Day, she expects a charming little town full of smiling people. She quickly realizes her mistake. After settling into a loaned house out on Route 2, she finds herself battling town prejudices and inner doubts and making friends with the most surprising people: troubled teenager Katy, good-looking catfish farmer Chris, wise and feisty Aunt Helen, and a female African-American physician named Kevin.

Whether fighting a greedy, deceitful politician or rescuing a dog she fears, Lois notices the headlines in her life have definitely improved. She learns how to provide small-town news in a big-hearted way and realizes that life is full of newsworthy moments. When she encounters racial prejudice and financial corruption, Lois also discovers more about the goodness of real people and the importance of being part of a community.

While secretly preparing the paper for a sale, Lois begins to realize that God might indeed have a plan for her life and that perhaps the allure of city life and career ambition are not what she wants after all.

The Blues were born out of need, anger and pride. Murder comes from those same dark places. Memphis has both. One of Memphis’ most seductive and notorious socialites has vanished. Either she’s off on another drunken escapade or the disappearance is something much more frightening.

What begins as an ordinary day’s work for Detective Billy Able quickly grows into a complex spider’s web of tragedy, mystery, suspicion, and sordid secrets including a few of Billy’s own. With the help of Mercy Snow, the estranged sister of the missing socialite, Billy follows a twisted trail of human frailty and corruption to disturbing truths that undermine everything he thought he knew about himself and the people he loves.

“Memphis, the Mississippi River, and the underbelly of human nature they’re all exposed in the dark brew of this fast-paced Southern Gothic suspense. Page-turning and atmospheric, this tightly-plotted novel turns the screws and sends readers racing to its surprise conclusion.” ~Michael Finger, Senior Editor, Memphis Magazine

Grief. Hope. Love. Sword fights. And the crisp glory of fried okra. Ex-cocktail waitress and “convenience story professional” Eudora “Pea” O’Brien is filled with grief and regret, low on cash and all alone.

Headed down the hot, dusty back roads of central Texas, Pea is convinced she’ll find a sign leading her to the reincarnated soul of the sister who raised her. A sign that she’s found her place in the world of the living again. At least that’s what the psychic promised. In an unforgettably funny and poignant journey, Pea collects an unlikely family of strays-a starving kitten, a pregnant teenager, a sexy con man trying to go straight, and a ferocious gun dealer named Glory, who introduces Pea to the amazing, sword-wielding warrior goddesses of Texas author Robert E. Howard-creator of the Conan the Barbarian novels-and celebrated in festival every year.

Six foot tall, red-headed Pea looks good with a sword in her hand. Glory, the goddesses, and a grandmotherly café owner become Pea’s unlikely gurus as she struggles to learn swordplay and the art of perfect fried okra. She’ll have to master both if she’s going to find what matters most-her own lost soul. “Jean Brashear writes with warmth and emotion truth. The depth of her understanding of human nature marks her as a writer to watch, a writer to read and a writer to enjoy.” –Debbie Macomber, #1 NY Times Bestselling Author

“THE GODDESS OF FRIED OKRA is a fabulous read. Riveting. Original. Those characters grabbed my imagination and didn’t let go.” –Cathy Maxwell, NY Times Bestselling Author

Brown, author of the Navy Justice series and a former U.S. Navy lawyer, has written a book destined to top Christian fiction lists. A rogue Indonesian general and his army of terrorists attack oil tankers in the Strait of Malacca in order to profit from oil futures and buy nuclear weapons to establish an Islamic superpower.

Navy JAG officers Zach Brewer and Diane Colcernian race against the odds and a 24-hour deadline before nuclear attacks hit the United States. Departing from the sea of books barely better than soap opera romance and using the frantic pacing of suspense fiction, Brown glides flawlessly among global hotspots of terrorism — including the United States — and the book’s principal setting in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

The plot surges headlong with energy; characters — from various cultures — are both believable and accessibly; rich dialogue glows. A Bible-quoting evangelical Christian president in the war room is over the top, and while evangelical hot-button issues may please some readers and turn others off, Brown has penned another winner.

– Publishers’ Weekly

Yes, it is true, you can write a non-fiction book in 30 days at 1 hour a day, and what you get is utter nonsense like Joel Orr’s book. To his credit, Joel Orr is a very clever business man, but the success of his book is based on an utterly misleading title (he never really explains the concept of 30 days at 1 hour a day). It took me an annoying 10 to 15 minutes to scan through the continuing blubbering that is nothing but mere motivational crap (I apologize for my tone, but I am trying to be as polite as I can justify to myself after reading the book.)

The actual topic of his “trademarked” method (In truth, Orr has trademarked a number of marketing-rich terms, but not the methods) can be put into a few sentences: Select the topic to write about. Find a strong title. Write for about one hour a day without wasting time for editing. That’s it. Really!

Yet, Orr has the skills to write a 112 page book and actually sell it. Well, the average number of words per page is very low, and many pages are empty. It’s in the nature of books that pages between chapters are blank, but about 10% of the pages in this book are empty.

There is also a major flaw in his method. It may be true that you can write a non-fiction book in 30 days. His method (if you can call it that; in all truth you find more information about writing a book on the Internet) may produce a number of pages that would fill a book, but that doesn’t mean the writer has actually created a book. Orr explains that you don’t need to be a good writer, so if you write like you think it should be, but it’s like not good, and like you need an editor, and like it doesn’t matter … you get the picture.

Orr also attempts to provide tips on self-publishing, self-printing, marketing, etc., topics that are totally out of the scope of his book. That information is utterly superficial, but he needed something to fill the book, yet another point that his method is flawed.

Last, but not least, let me admit that I am very jealous that Joel Orr’s book is one of his publisher’s best selling books. Yes, I do believe I have the ability to write a non-fiction book every month, as shallow as his, and make some good money. My major flaw is my honesty. I would never be able to promote such a nonsense and take money for it.

In some way I am also very disappointed by the publisher, Booklocker.com. I receive and read Angela Hoy’s (she is a co-owner and also runs WritersWeekly.com) newsletter on a regular basis, and so far I did appreciate her straight-forward and honest style. But this is now the second time I bought a book she mentions in her newsletter, and it’s the second time that I call a book a fraud. I am a publisher myself, and I know about the strength of a good title. As a business man I also look into making as much profit as possible, but I don’t publish literature as misleading as Joel Orr’s book. See also my post Book Review: New Path to Riches by Nick Usborne, a book also published by Booklocker.com.

Booklocker.com is, of course, another vanity publisher, i.e. authors pay to be published. In all consequence, Booklocker.com is not responsible for the content, but their main focus is on profit.

Now it’s time to unsubscribe from Angela Hoy’s newsletter…

P.S. Just for the record: I have written and published four non-fiction books. None of them took only 30 days to write.

Highland Blessings is the story of a highland warrior who kidnaps the daughter of his greatest enemy and clan chief to honor a promise he made to his dying father. Bryce MacPhearson, a highland warrior, kidnaps Akira MacKenzie on her wedding day to honor a promise he made to his dying father. While Akira s strength in the Lord becomes a witness to Bryce, she struggles to overcome her anger and resentment when he forces her to wed him, hoping to end a half-century-old feud between their clans.

While Akira begins to forgive, and Bryce learns to trust, a series of murders leaves a trail of unanswered questions, confusion, and a legacy of hate that once again rises between their families. Clearly, a traitor is in their midst. Now the one man Akira loves no longer trusts her, and her own life is in danger. Can Bryce look beyond his pain and seek the truth? Will Akira discover the threat against her before it s too late? How will God turn a simple promise into bountiful Highland blessings?

Jennifer Hudson Taylor is an author who writes historical and contemporary Christian fiction set in the Carolinas and Europe. All of her novels include elements of faith, history, drama, suspense, and romance. Jennifer graduated from Elon University with a B.A. in Journalism. Her writing has been published in Guideposts, Heritage Quest Magazine, Everton s Genealogical Publishers, and The Military Trader. In 2007, two of her manuscripts placed in the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) Genesis Contest. She resides with her husband and daughter in Kannapolis, NC.

As the finale to Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest is not content to merely match the adrenaline-charged pace that made international bestsellers out of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire. Instead, it roars with an explosive storyline that blows the doors off the series and announces that the very best has been saved for last.

A familiar evil lies in wait for Lisbeth Salander, but this time, she must do more than confront the miscreants of her past; she must destroy them. Much to her chagrin, survival requires her to place a great deal of faith in journalist Mikael Blomkvist and trust his judgment when the stakes are highest. To reveal more of the plot would be criminal, as Larsson’s mastery of the unexpected is why millions have fallen hard for his work.

But rest assured that the odds are again stacked, the challenges personal, and the action fraught with neck-snapping revelations in this snarling conclusion to a thrilling triad. This closing chapter to The Girl’s pursuit of justice is guaranteed to leave readers both satisfied and saddened once the final page has been turned. –Dave Callanan

Click to buy from Amazon.com

Corduroy’s Fourth of July

by Don Freeman (Creator) and Lisa McCue (Illustrator)

Today is the Fourth of July, and Corduroy and his friends are having a fun- filled picnic. They eat tasty treats and play games in the hot summer sun. Then it’s time to cool down with a dip in the pool. Next they take part in an Independence Day parade! Scruffy Pup bangs the drum, Checkerboard Bunny plays the flute, and Corduroy carries the American flag. Once it’s dark outside, the friends gather to watch an amazing fireworks display.

This sturdy, brightly colored shaped board book is perfect for the youngest fans of Corduroy, one of the best-loved characters in children’s books for nearly 40 years.

Click to buy from Amazon.com

The Fourth of July Story

by Alice Dalgliesh (Author) and Marie Nonnast (Illustrator)

An accessible story of America’s birthday brings alive the history and spirit of the Fourth of July with an introduction to the fight for independence and the events and people that shaped American tradition. Reprint. H. AB.

Click to buy from Amazon.com

The Story of America’s Birthday

by Patricia A. Pingry

This little board book for children uses only 200 words that convey the story of the Declaration of Independence, the Revoluntionary War, and the freedom that was the result. It tells why we celebrate July 4th as America’s Birthday.

Patricia Pingry has written 14 children’s books for Candy Cane Press (an imprint of Ideals Publications) and lives in Nashville, TN. Her four grandchildren serve as critics of her stories.

Click to buy from Amazon.com

Hooray for the Fourth of July

by Wendy Watson

Author and illustrator Wendy Watson celebrates Independence Day in America with this cheerful book for preschoolers and early readers. Tracking a family through their summer holiday, Watson begins, “Crack! Pop! Snap! Wake up, everybody–today is the Fourth of July. It’s America’s birthday!” The next pages proclaim, “Everything is red, white, and blue, even breakfast,” and the lively illustration’s accompanying verse reads, “Strawberry, blueberry, cream of tartum, tell me the initials of your sweetheartum!” Young children will enjoy the silly, often quirky traditional poems and songs, as well as the colorful, cartoonish depictions of a small-town family’s Fourth of July romp.

Evans’s lively book seeks, first, to demonstrate that Communists worked, often successfully, to undermine American security during the Cold War. It tries, second, to defend Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the egregious scourge of American Communists and fellow travelers, against those who, in Evans’s (The Theme Is Freedom) view, have unjustly ruined his reputation. On the first point, save for some new details, Evans, a contributing editor to Human Events, treads worn ground. Most scholars, having also used Soviet archives, concede his position and argue now only over secondary matters, like the guilt of Alger Hiss. On the second point, Evans has a tougher case, which he seeks to make as a defense attorney would: by conceding nothing to McCarthy’s detractors.

Evans is also given to conspiracy thinking—an approach that, by its nature, yields claims that can neither be confirmed nor falsified. Defense attorneys and debaters like Evans follow different rules than historians—they try to score points, not to advance knowledge. Evans is good at the former, his propulsive style carrying much of the argument’s burden. But the history Evans relates is already largely known, if not fully accepted.

- Source: Amazon.Com

Reviews

“It takes M. Stanton Evans’s meticulous investigative journalism to show what Joe McCarthy’s short stay on the national stage (a little under five years, from February 1950 to December 1954) really was about.”
-Robert Novak, Weekly Standard

“So comprehensive is Evans’s research that it will be a foolish historian who does not consult Blacklisted by History when a question arises over some person or event that comes into the McCarthy story.”
-John Earl Haynes, co-author, Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America

“This book will change forever how you think about Sen. McCarthy and the Soviet penetration of the U.S. government and society.”
-Bob McMahan, Foreign Service Journal

“Evans goes through extensive files and transcripts with complete mastery of complex material and an engaging turn of phrase that makes more than 600 pages of painstaking analysis both a triumph of historical scholarship and a gripping detective story.”
-David Ashton, The Salisbury Review

“Of the hundreds of books on the McCarthy era, Stan Evans has written the best—a nuanced, incredibly detailed work of scholarship.”
-William Schulz, The American Spectator

“In this masterful instant classic, M. Stanton Evans sets out to tell the ‘Untold Story of Joe McCarthy’ and does so definitively.”
-Jack Cashill, WorldNetDaily

“This is a master newspaperman at work: digging, interviewing the record, pulling apart and putting together the details of deeds done mostly by the politicians who ran our imperfect national government in the nineteen fifties.”
-John Willson, Chronicles

“After combing through masses of declassified documents from Congress, the FBI, the State Department and other federal agencies, Stan Evans has produced a masterpiece of tru th.”
-Terry Jeffrey, Human Events

“Evans, a veteran journalist, doesn’t shout. He displays, instead, a deadly meticulousness that is, at last, overwhelmingly convincing.”
-William Rusher, United Features Syndicate

“the most thorough scholarly examination of [McCarthy's] career”
-Cliff Kincaid, Accuracy In Media

“brilliantly documented”
-Wes Vernon, RenewAmerica.us

“monumental … the result of six years of reading primary sources. Evans proves that almost everything about McCarthy in current history books is a lie and wil l have to be revised…. one of Reagan’s old radio commentaries referred to Evans as ‘a very fine journalist.’ He is, indeed, but this book shows that he also is a Sherlock Holmes-type detective who chased every clue to find the truth and to write accurate history in elegant prose….. Everyone who henceforth writes about Joe McCarthy will have to check his facts with Evans’ documented discoveries.”
-Phyllis Schlafly, Creators Syndicate

Lee Child on Rules of Deception
Lee Child has crafted one of literature’s most popular anti-heroes in the form of Jack Reacher, the iconic ex-military policeman of his bestselling novels. The author of Nothing to Lose talks about what makes a good thriller — and why Christopher Reich is a novelist worthy of a gold medal.

I discovered Christopher Reich exactly ten years ago. His first book came out around the same time my second book was published. The modest prosperity that one’s first book deal brings allowed me to pick up hardcovers that caught my eye. And Numbered Account caught my eye. And it lived up to its promise. It was fast, fresh, glossy, and very exciting. I thought: Reich is a keeper.

And then he got better. It was always clear that he had talent to burn, but he chose to accompany it with a real work ethic. His second, third and fourth books built and built until the release of the next one was an event to be anticipated. (And right there is my only complaint: Reich doesn’t write fast enough.)

His fifth book - The Patriot’s Club – was a real achievement. It was a slam-dunk winner of the International Thriller Writer’s first annual Best Novel award. Awards are often awkward. There’s usually a measure of grumbling, because often people don’t agree with the choice of winner. But not a word was heard against “The Patriot’s Club.” In fact nothing was heard, because the applause was too loud.

So I was really looking forward to Rules of Deception. I got an advance copy. I cracked it open. I started reading. Mostly I read like any other reader, but a small part of me reads like a writer. I think all writers experience the same thing. We sense things between the lines, especially energy and inspiration.

And ambition.

Rules of Deception starts with a short prologue, and then the first chapter introduces Jonathan Ransom, the main character. Two pages, and then nine pages. The prologue is a teaser. It baits the hook. It’s a two-page masterpiece. It’s intriguing, and then it’s really intriguing. It promises big things ahead. Then chapter one introduces the guy who’s going to have to deal with them. And why, indirectly.

Eleven pages. The reader in me wanted to race ahead. But the writer in me had to pause a moment. Because between the lines I was sensing something. Maybe because it’s an Olympic year I can only explain it like this: picture the high jump event. Six competitors are still in. Then five, then four. Then three. Then the gold, the silver, and the bronze are settled. But the rules of track and field allow the winner to go on. The bar is raised. A personal best. The Olympic record. The bar is raised again. World record height. The stadium goes quiet. The jumper stills himself on the runway. Intense concentration. The gold medal is already in the bag. Uncharted territory. The jumper rocks from foot to foot, his mind on nothing except jumping higher than he has ever jumped before.

That’s exactly the between-the-lines feeling I was getting from Reich, eleven pages into Rules of Deception – a world-class writer preparing to accomplish something truly noteworthy.

There are a further 377 pages. They live up to the promise. –Lee Child

Amazon Exclusive Essay: Christopher Reich on Thrillers
Name your five favorite books.

For me they’re all thrillers. The Day of the Jackal, Eye of the Needle, The Bourne Identity , Noble House, and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. My life stopped when I picked up each of those books and it didn’t start again until I finished the last page. I didn’t actually read them so much as disappear between their covers. That was me trying to catch the Jackal before he assassinated Charles De Gaulle, and me again at the wheel of a Jaguar XKE convertible racing down the Peak in Hong Kong. The fact is that for me life is somehow better when I’m reading a great book. Richer, more exciting…heck, I don’t know, just better.

About two years ago, I decided that it was my turn to write the thriller I’d always wanted to read. I knew exactly where to start. All I had to do was “write what I know.” These days, I know a lot about the intelligence community. Not the stuff you read about in the papers — the stuff you never read about. Over the years, I’ve made a lot of friends in Washington and overseas. Diplomats, spies, soldiers, politicians – men and women at the highest levels of government. And, I can assure you that what they’ve taught me about how the world really works is a lot more interesting and a lot more frightening than you’d ever imagine.

That’s where my newest book, Rules of Deception, comes in. It’s a story about an honest and courageous doctor named Jonathan Ransom. He’s a surgeon who works for Doctors Without Borders in some of the toughest parts of the world. He’s a happily married man with a big heart and a beautiful English wife he deeply loves named Emma who works with him. What Jonathan doesn’t know is that nothing about his life is what it seems. In fact, it’s all a web of lies and he’s caught in the middle of something extraordinarily dangerous.

I can’t say more than that, and I shouldn’t have to, because if I’ve done my job right, when you get to page five you’ll be hooked and you won’t come up for air until it’s all said and done. –Christopher Reich

Image courtesy of a user of the Kate Bush News & Info Forum

Kate Bush, born Catherine Bush on July 30, 1958, is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom’s most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years. Bush was signed by EMI at the age of 16 after being recommended by Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour. In 1978, at age 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut song Wuthering Heights, becoming the first woman to have a UK number-one with a self-written song and was the most photographed woman in the United Kingdom that year (Source: Wikipedia).

Almost to the day, 31 years ago, Kate Bush played her final live concert, ending her only concert tour through the United Kingdom and other European countries. The Tour of Life was an extraordinary endeavor with Cirque-Du-Soleil-like dimensions and characteristics, combining music, dance, poetry, mime, burlesque, magic and theatre.

According to Graeme Thomson, author of Kate Bush: Under the Ivy: “Few other artists had taken the pop concert into quite such daring territory; its only serious precedent was David Bowie’s 1974 Diamond Dogs tour. There were 13 people on stage, 17 costume changes and 24 songs – primarily from her first two albums, The Kick Inside and Lionheart – scattered over three distinctly theatrical acts. Her brother John declaimed poetry, Simon Drake performed illusions and magic tricks, and at the centre was a barefoot Bush, still only 20 years old.”

Thomson also speculates in regards to the fact that the Tour of Life was Bush’s only concert tour: “There are plausible theories, but at its heart the tour exposed an aesthetic conundrum. Bush is essentially a child of the studio, preferring to work over time at her creative impulses in silence and solitude. Like an author, the connections with her audience occur privately, conducted as a conversation rather than a mass declaration. The results have frequently been bewitching and yet, in a career with an abundance of creative peaks and critical praise, her reluctance to perform live remains a source of deep regret, particularly following the extraordinary promise shown on the Tour of Life.”

Kate Bush: Under The Ivy by Graeme Thomson

Click on image to buy from Amazon.Com

This is the first ever in-depth study of Kate Bush’s life and career. “Under the Ivy” features over 70 unique and revealing new interviews with those who have viewed from up close both the public artist and the private woman: old school friends, early band mates, long-term studio collaborators, former managers, producers, musicians, video directors, dance instructors and record company executives. “Under the Ivy” undertakes a full analysis of Bush’s art. From her pre-teen forays into poetry, through scores of unreleased songs. Every crucial aspect of her music is discussed from her ground-breaking series of albums to her solo live tour. Her pioneering forays into dance, video, film and performance. Combining a wealth of new research with rigorous critical scrutiny, “Under the Ivy” offers a string of fresh insights and perspectives on her unusual upbringing in South London, the blossoming of her talent, her enduring influences and unique working methods, her rejection of live performance, her pioneering use of the studio, her key relationships and her gradual retreat into a semi-mythical privacy .
(Source: Amazon.com)

Wuthering Heights

A little over a year before her Tour of Life, Kate Bush had released her most successful single to-date, Wuthering Heights. She impressed critics as well as the general audience with her striking looks, high vocal register and Lindsay Kemp-inspired dancing. She was only nineteen years old at the time, but she wrote some of the songs on her album The Kick Inside when she was as young as thirteen.

Wuthering Heights is based on the novel of the same name by Emily Brontë. It is a gothic novel, first published in 1847. The name of the novel comes from the Yorkshire manor on the moors on which the story centers (as an adjective, wuthering is a Yorkshire word referring to turbulent weather). The narrative tells the tale of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted, love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and many around them.

Kate Bush was inspired to write the song by the last ten minutes of the 1970 film version of Wuthering Heights. She then read the book and discovered that she shares her birthday with Emily Brontë. Bush reportedly wrote the song, for her album The Kick Inside, within the space of just a few hours late at night.

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Queen of Misfortune

A Lady Jane Grey Novel by Peter Carroll

A Love Story of Almost Shakespearean Dimension!

Queen Of Misfortune is the fictional story of Lady Jane Grey as told by her beloved tutor, John Aylmer. At the time of her execution a stranger is recorded to have assisted her when, blind folded, she lost her way upon the scaffold. Was it the same ‘stranger’ who was also recorded to have visited her when she was imprisoned in the Tower? Little is known of this unfortunate girl who was beheaded for treason in the 16^th Century. She was only 16. She is omitted from the list of monarchs but was actually queen for nine days. Author Peter Carroll, in his novel, follows John Aylmer’s close relationship with Jane as her tutor and later, as she grows up, her lover. [More...]

Available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.

Product Description

A research fellow in history at De Montfort University Leicester (U.K.), Cronin offers synopsis with little insight in this overview of Irish history. Starting with ancient Gaelic Ireland, he quickly moves on to the introduction of Christianity, the Viking and Norman-Anglo invasions, and the effects on the Protestant Reformation. With Cromwell’s invasion in the mid-17th century came the redistribution of land from the Catholics to the Protestants. This is the strong point of the book, as Cronin compacts convoluted Irish history into a comprehensive, readable form. He then briefly covers the 1798 Rebellion, Catholic emancipation under Daniel O’Connell and the great famine of the 1840s, all of which set the stage for the Fenian rebellion of 1867. The Fenians, though unsuccessful, would leave their imprint on Parnell and his Land League. Cronin paints a concise, albeit limited, picture of the events of 1914 through 1923. His portrait of John Redmond, the head of the Irish delegation at Westminster, is telling of the man and his political philosophy. Redmond, who warmly embraced Britain’s entrance into WWI, found himself isolated from his own constituents in the aftermath of the 1916 Rebellion. But the author’s sketchy and incomplete analysis of post-Civil War Ireland and some of his questionable judgments of important figures will leave some readers baffled. He praises the government of William T. Cosgrave (1922-1932) for his post-revolution adaptation of the in-place British systems in many respects returning Ireland to the status quo ante. He also praises Eamon DeValera, whose ascension to power is often viewed as hypocritical, because he renounced everything for which he had fought the Civil War. Cronin’s assessment of the Good Friday Agreement is inadequate: only once does he mention President Clinton, who played the seminal role in brokering the accord. Unfortunately, Cronin sacrifices depth for the sake of brevity; his superficial rendering would best serve as a primer for those who are new to Irish history.

Review

I have to say, I do not agree with the above product description (Amazon.com). The author did a great job of condensing the events of the tumultuous Irish history into less than 300 pages. Any complaint that one particular detail had not been explained to the full extend is simply ridiculous. This book is for everyone looking for a concise, yet very readable description of Irish history. During my intense research for my novel The Bleeding Hills I have been reading extensively, and one of the very few books I can whole-hertedly recommend is A History Of Ireland by Mike Cronin. Reading this book is highly recommended! I like that it is, compared to many other works on Ireland, actually readable and entertaining. If you need a relatively quick overview on the history of Ireland (the tile of the book doesn’t lie!) this is the one I recommend.

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Queen of Misfortune

A Lady Jane Grey Novel by Peter Carroll

Now Available As Paperback And Kindle Edition!

Queen Of Misfortune is the fictional story of Lady Jane Grey as told by her beloved tutor, John Aylmer. At the time of her execution a stranger is recorded to have assisted her when, blind folded, she lost her way upon the scaffold. Was it the same ‘stranger’ who was also recorded to have visited her when she was imprisoned in the Tower? Little is known of this unfortunate girl who was beheaded for treason in the 16^th Century. She was only 16. She is omitted from the list of monarchs but was actually queen for nine days. Author Peter Carroll, in his novel, follows John Aylmer’s close relationship with Jane as her tutor and later, as she grows up, her lover. [More...]

Available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.

Product Description

Few outside the security services have heard of 14 Company. As deadly as the SAS yet more secret, the Operators of 14 Company are Britain’s most effective weapon against international terrorism. For every bomb that goes off 14 Company prevent twelve. The selection process is the most physically, intellectually and emotionally demanding anywhere in the world. Trained to operate under cover, Operators have at their disposal an arsenal of techniques and weapons unmatched by any other UK government or military agency. This is the true story of one Operator and of some of the most hair-raising military operations ever conducted on the streets of Britain.

Review

My reason to buy this book was the hope that it would contribute interesting insights for my research on the Irish Troubles. To put it in a nut-shell: I hope the author didn’t quit his day job over writing this book. What caught my attention was the sub-title “On the streets with Britain’s most secret service,” which proves yet again how important, but also how terribly misleading a title can be.

Little did I know how immature the writer deals with a serious topic like the Irish Troubles. The book starts with “Standby, standby. Zero, Oscar. I have Bravo 1 foxtrot from Alpha 2 towards Charlie 2,” and it doesn’t get much better from there. There is not much to say other than reading this book was a huge waste of my time.

Saint Patrick by Jonathan Rogers

Description

Christian Encounters, a series of biographies from Thomas Nelson Publishers, highlights important lives from all ages and areas of the Church. Some are familiar faces. Others are unexpected guests. But all, through their relationships, struggles, prayers, and desires, uniquely illuminate our shared experience.

At age 14, he was captured from his homeland of Scotland by Irish marauders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years tending his master’s flocks. In his early twenties, he fled over 200 miles and escaped by ship, returning to his family. By the eighth century, he had come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland. What did he experience during his years of slavery that proved invaluable to this man who became a revered missionary who “baptised thousands of people,” converted sons of kings, and led wealthy women to become nuns? Learn about the sustaining faith of St. Patrick in this Christian Encounters biography.

Review

Well, it is not a review yet. As of today I have signed up to select and review books on BookSneeze.com. Their slogan is “Great books are contagious. I get them from Booksneeze for free.”, and that’s how it is. So, stay tuned for my review. It may take a little time, though…

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Usually, I try to be nice and diplomatic about books that I didn’t care for. After all, it’s all about personal taste. However, when I smell fraud I get aggravated, and I have a hard time holding back some profane thoughts. That is the case with New Path to Riches by Nick Usborne.

As a matter of principle, I do not buy any books that promise the reader the guaranteed path to success, but every now and then I need a slap in the face, I guess. The not-so-literal slap in the face came with buying and reading New Path to Riches by Nick Usborne.

Well, my excuse is that I bought the eBook version through BookLocker.com, a business managed by Angela Hoy (who also publishes WritersWeekly.com). I do LOVE Angela’s weekly newsletter, and I do love her style and her approach to publishing. She is, however, not responsible for the content of the books she sells. My hope was that the authors she deals with are as honest and as straight-forward as Angela, or, at least, in the same ballpark. Unfortunately, Nick Usborne is not in the same class as Angela.

My hope was also to learn intimate details about creating a money-making web site, but his book New Path to Riches is a 150+ page collection of mindless blabbering that reads like the presentation of a motivational speaker. There is absolutely NOTHING in this book that you cannot find on the Internet free-of-charge. There is close to NULL profound information on how to create a web site and make it work – as I said before, just mind-boggling bla, bla, bla, and… bla.

Don’t waste your money with this book. Spend a few minutes on the Internet to get REAL information.

Last, but not least, if you want honest information on how to start a web site or blog and make money from it, check out my book, A No-Nonsense Guide to a Professional Blog (There is also a preview of the book). Honestly, I wrote it after learning about the so-called “Google Profit Library”, but especially after reading New Path to Riches by Nick Usborne. I deemed it was time to stop the nonsense. The book shows you step by step how to set up a professional blog with some advice on how to run it, and maybe even make some money from it. The difference is, you don’t pay me at all (I would appreciate that you buy the book, paperback or PDF), and the required investment of roughly $120…200 per year goes to your Internet service provider for running your web site. Also, check out myprofessionalblog.com. This is the web site I created to write the book, meaning I created the web site, made screen-shots and included them into the document.