Congratulations to Joan Enders on her new book!
Joan taught literature and research skills in middle and high school libraries for 28 years. She is now a FamilySearch online volunteer fielding questions from directors of Family History Centers. Her new book, Semper Fi: Idaho to Iwo Jima, both tells one man's story and teaches the reader how to use primary source materials in putting together a life narrative.
You can read Joan's Book Chat interview here.
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Congratulations to Kate Ristau, YA author, folklorist, and Executive Director of Willamette Writers.
Kate's new book, Shadow Queene, was released in May from Not a Pipe Publishing. The second book in her Shadow Girls Saga, it's a Young Adult dark fairy fantasy -- but this one isn't a fairy tale. You can find out more about Kate and Shadow Queene at kateristau.com.
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Jeff Stookey's novels now available as audiobooks.
Jeff's Medicine for the Blues trilogy of novels is now available as audio books ($24.95 each) from audiobooks.com, libro.fm/audiobooks, and bookmate.com, as well as in paperback and eBook formats. The three books tell the story of two gay men in 1920s Portland at a time when the Ku Klux Klan was a growing political force.
You can sign up for Jeff's newsletter at JeffStookey.com.
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Fred Hudgin's book gets a Kirkus Review
"A clever blastoff of a seriocomic sci-fi saga that plays fecund what-if games with technology and social change…Readers will find echoes of Kurt Vonnegut, Harry Harrison, and Philip José Farmer (especially the last’s “Seventy Years of Decpop”) in Hudgin’s smart, edgy blend of the sardonic and the apocalyptic..."
--Kirkus Reviews
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Kirkus Reviews is a respected source and a smart way to get your book before a national audience. It's not cheap, costing around $350 to have a book reviewed, and it doesn't guarantee a positive review. Says Fred, "I had book one done a year earlier and [the review]was pretty hostile. I hired an editor and ended up rewriting a lot of the book. I asked for a second review and it glowed in the dark."
Good for you, Fred!
You can read the full review at Fredrickhudgin.com.
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Send your literary news for July to alan@alan-rose.com by June 30.
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"Real Magic"
By Craig Allen Heath
from his poetry collection,
The End of an Ordinary Life
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In this time of forced quietude and abnormal stillness, I was touched by Craig’s reflections on “the steady thrum” and contentment of family life
and domesticity.
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Real Magic
I help my boy with homework.
Nine and pink-cheeked, he is learning
the Spanish missions of California,
and I didn’t remember Father Serra—
had to look him up.
So we read together, forehead to forehead.
I feel warm boy-breath on my face,
and remember that age.
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I do most of the cooking.
Worry over weekly menus—
do I have tomatoes for the salad?
What’s in the freezer for tonight?
I chop onions, mix spices,
Pay attention—for the first time in my life—
to commercials that promise
“Your family will love it!”
I help my wife with laundry—sometimes—
and the dishes and dusting.
I tell her she looks great in that skirt,
put her to bed when she fades early evening.
She fills the rooms with candles and plants,
makes a home of this house,
after a workday of office politics and false smiles.
I once thought I was a magician—a poet-warrior.
I dreamed illusions of power and glory.
I once thanked the gods for a hot temperament
and intemperate love.
I reveled in trouble and strife,
thought it heroic to fight and argue,
then drive home on hot tires
to write a scorching poem of the outcome.
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Now, I am Family Man Nobody,
bland as mayonnaise.
No tectonic shifts,
earthquakes, storms, floods, fires—
just a steady thrum from dawn to dusk:
help the boy—help the wife—
feed the cats—mow the lawn—
pay the bills—
make love when we both are really too tired.
And I found a secret never dreamed:
this is Real Magic.
(Used with permission.)
Craig's book is available in paperback ($7.99) and as Kindle e-book ($4.99) on Amazon here, or in paperback ($7.99) from Barnes & Noble here.
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Interview with Joan Enders about her new book, Semper Fi: Idaho to Iwo Jima.
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About the book:
His mother called him “Sunshine Boy.” He played cowboy riding the goat, Jack, around their dry farm in Idaho, stalked lions (their dog Fritz) in the field, rode fine Arabian stick horses, and picked buttercups for the best mother in the world. He didn’t realize how poor they were until a city slicker pointed it out.
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W. Lee Robinson, retired vice president of forestry for Fibre, recently turned 96 and is "one of the most amazing persons I have met,"says Joan. Graduating from high school, Lee enlisted as a Marine and went off to war. This interactive book includes primary sources--Lee’s photographs, his own words, and official documents for the reader-detective to patch together Lee’s story, experiencing World War II, Iwo Jima, and his life on the personal level it was lived.
You can read Joan's Book Chat interview here.
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Vikki J. Carter produces the Podcast Authors of the Pacific Northwest, interviews with writers, editors and publishers, at www.squishpen.com
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Episode 88: Former defense investigator and legal assistant P. J. Howell (Paula J. Howell) (https://paulajhowell.blogspot.com) shares her journey to becoming a published author and secrets to writing a mystery series.
Episode 89: Halie Fewkes (https://www.secretsofthetally.com/) discusses the journey to publishing her fantasy series Secrets of the Tally and best marketing practices to promote her books.
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Book Review:
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
by Sonia Purnell
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Espionage, sabotage, and other "woman's work"
It seems a time-honored axiom that if you have a dirty job to do and want it done right, get a woman. But espionage? Organizing the French resistance? Messing with the Gestapo? This is “woman’s work”?
You can read the full review here.
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Excited about a book?
Email me at alan@alan-rose.com with the title and why you liked it, and we'll share it in What Are You Reading? in The Columbia River Reader.
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Photo-reflections
Rhododendron Road
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Getting up my hill is not for the faint-hearted.
It requires a 4-wheel drive,
or strong legs and a stout pair of lungs.
That was intentional on my part, preferring solitude.
Not many chance it, but those who do—and survive—
find rhododendrons lining both sides of the road.
This time of year, it's worth the risk.
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Find more news, reviews, interviews, and photo-reflections at www.alan-rose.com. and feel welcome to contact me at alan@alan-rose.com.
Previous newsletters available here: May 2020, April 2020, March 2020.
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