A suggestion: My novel, THE PENCIL ARTIST
is available as an e-book on Smashwords, Kindle,
and Barnes
and Noble; as a paperback on Amazon.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Shingles aftermath forever?
Two weeks ago, for the first time in 14 months I felt the aftermath of shingles receding. There was the slightest sensation just above the right corner of my left eye. The shingles aftermath was still there, but barely. In the morning, I awoke to the full fledged, unpleasant presence of the shingles aftermath: swelling, itching, aching, all-around unpleasantness. It hasn't abated since. I wonder how long this will go on? Perhaps for the rest of my life. Along with the day-long and night-long discomfort, there is the exhaustion factor. I get fatigued very easily, sometimes painfully so.
Friday, October 30, 2009
THE DEATH OF JIM LONEY
THE DEATH OF JIM LONEY
by James Welch
I had to push myself through THE DEATH OF JIM LONEY (Harper & Row/1979). This was Welch's third novel and a pretty shabby work in comparison to what he would produce in the future (meaning FOOL CROWS and THE HEARTSONG OF CHARGING ELK). I consider Welch one of the best writers I have read. The protagonist, Jim Loney, is a loser from the outset, who in the end is shot to death by an Indian policeman for a killing which was accidental. The novel is primarily a character study of the low-lifes around an Indian reservation in Montana. Loney is a half breed, torn between two cultures, and is an uneducated, aimless wino. He has a sister, who wants to rescue him as does his attractive girlfriend, a white school teacher from Texas. He doesn't want to be saved because of the emptiness of his soul. He has never recovered from being abandoned, along with his sister, by his reckless mother and his drunken father. Had this been the first Welch book I read, I would have skipped the others at a great loss to myself since his later books are wonders to be treasured.
by James Welch
I had to push myself through THE DEATH OF JIM LONEY (Harper & Row/1979). This was Welch's third novel and a pretty shabby work in comparison to what he would produce in the future (meaning FOOL CROWS and THE HEARTSONG OF CHARGING ELK). I consider Welch one of the best writers I have read. The protagonist, Jim Loney, is a loser from the outset, who in the end is shot to death by an Indian policeman for a killing which was accidental. The novel is primarily a character study of the low-lifes around an Indian reservation in Montana. Loney is a half breed, torn between two cultures, and is an uneducated, aimless wino. He has a sister, who wants to rescue him as does his attractive girlfriend, a white school teacher from Texas. He doesn't want to be saved because of the emptiness of his soul. He has never recovered from being abandoned, along with his sister, by his reckless mother and his drunken father. Had this been the first Welch book I read, I would have skipped the others at a great loss to myself since his later books are wonders to be treasured.
A suggestion: My novel, THE PENCIL ARTIST
is available as an e-book on Smashwords, Kindle,
and Barnes
and Noble; as a paperback on Amazon.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
New Indie-author outlet
Like most Indie authors I am always on the outlook to expand the distribution network of my novels, for sale and for free. Recently, I discovered obooko, a year-old free eBook site based in Great Britain. The process of uploading your book onto obooko is very simple indeed. Obooko distributes novels, nonfiction, and poetry worldwide on the PDF platform so that the potential audience needs only a computer rather than an eBook or Kindle-type device.
Adding to the pleasure of finding obooko onto which I loaded my novels, THE DREAM DANCER and THE JYNX, I discovered a link to BookCoverPro, which sells modestly-priced programs to rather easily create your own book covers. I went through some agony in the past trying to figure out a means of designing book covers transferable to the web for full-cover paperbacks and front cover eBooks. I failed to find any that would do the job for a reasonable cost.
BookCoverPro was the answer to my cover-creating crisis. Like most authors, my computer skills are limited. I spent a couple of weeks struggling through the process of the first cover. I did the second cover in half an hour. I bought the program with the intention of doing covers for six novels so the price didn’t put me off: there are two BookCoverPro programs, the standard for $97 and the deluxe for $187.
In a future blog, I will provide my guide for the Indie-author with limited computer skills, like me, to put together a cover with the BookCoverPro program.
Adding to the pleasure of finding obooko onto which I loaded my novels, THE DREAM DANCER and THE JYNX, I discovered a link to BookCoverPro, which sells modestly-priced programs to rather easily create your own book covers. I went through some agony in the past trying to figure out a means of designing book covers transferable to the web for full-cover paperbacks and front cover eBooks. I failed to find any that would do the job for a reasonable cost.
BookCoverPro was the answer to my cover-creating crisis. Like most authors, my computer skills are limited. I spent a couple of weeks struggling through the process of the first cover. I did the second cover in half an hour. I bought the program with the intention of doing covers for six novels so the price didn’t put me off: there are two BookCoverPro programs, the standard for $97 and the deluxe for $187.
In a future blog, I will provide my guide for the Indie-author with limited computer skills, like me, to put together a cover with the BookCoverPro program.
A suggestion: My novel, THE PENCIL ARTIST
is available as an e-book on Smashwords, Kindle,
and Barnes
and Noble; as a paperback on Amazon.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
THE ONLY MONARCH
On the eve of fall, Sept. 21, 2009, my wife Rae spotted a Monarch Butterfly on the Buddleia Butterfly Bush in our backyard on Long Island. She immediately called me to share the wonder of seeing the only Monarch we have seen this summer, and this on the last day of summer.
In the past we have always seen Monarchs, plenty of them, in August at our local town park and in our backyard. This year, we saw very few butterflies of any sort in either place—normally we see many. This summer, we spotted a couple of Black Swallowtails and Eastern Tiger Swallowtails.
I read that the wet, cold spring of 2009 had damaged the butterfly population. Our experience seems to be proof of that. Or, is Global Warming at play in diminishing the butterfly numbers?
In the past we have always seen Monarchs, plenty of them, in August at our local town park and in our backyard. This year, we saw very few butterflies of any sort in either place—normally we see many. This summer, we spotted a couple of Black Swallowtails and Eastern Tiger Swallowtails.
I read that the wet, cold spring of 2009 had damaged the butterfly population. Our experience seems to be proof of that. Or, is Global Warming at play in diminishing the butterfly numbers?
A suggestion: My novel, THE PENCIL ARTIST
is available as an e-book on Smashwords, Kindle,
and Barnes
and Noble; as a paperback on Amazon.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
A Year of Shingles
On Sept. 15, 2009, I completed a full year of affliction with shingles centered on my left eye. There have been times just in the past week for very brief spans when I would say my eye and the area around was feeling neutral—usually in the first closing of my eyes to sleep. Then the pressure or the itching or the distant ache return would return.
I am now writing for two hours a day—that is, two one-hour segments. I can read newspapers and books again, but for limited spans. And, I can watch TV, but with my left eye mostly closed.
TV watching with the left eye seems to provoke my shingles.
One affliction that hasn’t abated is fatigue. After a curtailed daily exercise (stretching, 25 sit-ups, walking a mile and three-quarters, a brief tai chi routine), followed by breakfast, and then writing for an hour, I am at the very least tired and sometimes exhausted. So I lay down for an hour to listen to WNYC or a book on CD, often falling asleep.
I get tired quickly even doing any light physical work like cutting a small section of the lawn or raking a few bags of leaves.
My great hope is that the shingles finally is diminishing to a lesser presence. As I type this, I feel a very light pressure on a corner of my left eye. On the scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the worst, I would say my eye is at a 1, mostly it is a 3.
Friends and relatives ask: Why can’t the doctor do something for you? My answer is: If he could, he would.
I am now writing for two hours a day—that is, two one-hour segments. I can read newspapers and books again, but for limited spans. And, I can watch TV, but with my left eye mostly closed.
TV watching with the left eye seems to provoke my shingles.
One affliction that hasn’t abated is fatigue. After a curtailed daily exercise (stretching, 25 sit-ups, walking a mile and three-quarters, a brief tai chi routine), followed by breakfast, and then writing for an hour, I am at the very least tired and sometimes exhausted. So I lay down for an hour to listen to WNYC or a book on CD, often falling asleep.
I get tired quickly even doing any light physical work like cutting a small section of the lawn or raking a few bags of leaves.
My great hope is that the shingles finally is diminishing to a lesser presence. As I type this, I feel a very light pressure on a corner of my left eye. On the scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the worst, I would say my eye is at a 1, mostly it is a 3.
Friends and relatives ask: Why can’t the doctor do something for you? My answer is: If he could, he would.
A suggestion: My novel, THE PENCIL ARTIST
is available as an e-book on Smashwords, Kindle,
and Barnes
and Noble; as a paperback on Amazon.
Friday, August 28, 2009
THE RUINS by Scott Smith
X THE RUINS by Scott Smith
Read by Patrick Wilson, who has a nice, clear voice.
(Simon & Schuster Audio)July 2006
Scott Smith goes far beyond the usual horror story in THE RUINS. The book came across to me as a metaphor for global warming as six tourists on a day trip to an archeological site in a Mexican jungle stumble into the jaws of a pitiless adversary.
Smith presents us with six clearly defined characters including a flighty woman, a serious woman, a male weakling, two very strong, resourceful men, and a happy Greek, who doesn’t speak English so he can’t communicate with his companions. In addition there is a language gap between the day trippers and Mayan villagers who try, but fail to warn them of the awful danger awaiting them.
I found myself saying: “This is what I would do” to escape the tangle in which the characters have fallen. That is the mark of a worthwhile author, who draw the reader (or in this case the listener)that far into the story.
Read by Patrick Wilson, who has a nice, clear voice.
(Simon & Schuster Audio)July 2006
Scott Smith goes far beyond the usual horror story in THE RUINS. The book came across to me as a metaphor for global warming as six tourists on a day trip to an archeological site in a Mexican jungle stumble into the jaws of a pitiless adversary.
Smith presents us with six clearly defined characters including a flighty woman, a serious woman, a male weakling, two very strong, resourceful men, and a happy Greek, who doesn’t speak English so he can’t communicate with his companions. In addition there is a language gap between the day trippers and Mayan villagers who try, but fail to warn them of the awful danger awaiting them.
I found myself saying: “This is what I would do” to escape the tangle in which the characters have fallen. That is the mark of a worthwhile author, who draw the reader (or in this case the listener)that far into the story.
A suggestion: My novel, THE PENCIL ARTIST
is available as an e-book on Smashwords, Kindle,
and Barnes
and Noble; as a paperback on Amazon.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
THE GIRL OF HIS DREAMS
THE GIRL OF HIS DREAMS by Donna Leon, a Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery (BBC Audio) narrated by David Colacci (8 cds)
Written from the perspective of Commissario Brunetti, the novel’s protagonist who is a Venetian police detective, we only see what he sees, knows, and does—so there are some issues left hanging, as there are in real life. Brunetti is what we would like every police officer to be, especially those who wander into our lives. He is thoughtful, considerate, wise, caring, self-aware, and a first-class investigator.
What I find amazing about this novel is that it is Donna Leon’s 17th about Commissario Brunetti, but it reads (or I should say speaks) with an originality that is breathtaking. I have found in my decades of reading that an author’s first or second book in the mystery, police procedure or thriller genres are usually the best with a steep slide downhill thereafter as the main character and the writer become worn by repetition.
Of course, THE GIRLS OF HIS DREAMS, was the first Leon novel to which I have been exposed. I plan to go back to read the first and then a more current one. For birthday gifts, I have ordered her first novel, DEATH AT LA FENICE (1992), for my wife, Rae, and her 18th novel, ABOUT FACE (2009), for my sister, Miriam.
David Colacci, the narrator, has a wonderfully clear and interesting voice, which is so important in a CD-Book. I find that most readers with accents, Italian, British or otherwise, are impossible to hear comfortably—so I dump those CDs immediately.
Police departments around the world would do well to ask their detectives and front line police officers to read Donna Leon to a find model in Commissario Brunetti for behavior and investigative procedure.
If Cambridge (MA) Police Sgt. James Crowley had followed the Brunetti approach, he would have asked Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. not only for his ID, but for his phone number in their famous meeting in the doorway of Gates’ home. In the Brunetti mode, Crowley would have called his dispatcher to double check and call the number. After the phone rang in the house or the professor’s pocket as they stood facing one another, he could have said, ‘I guess that clears up this case. Have a nice day Professor Gates.’
I am really looking forward to reading DEATH AT LA FENICE—after my wife finishes it, of course.
Written from the perspective of Commissario Brunetti, the novel’s protagonist who is a Venetian police detective, we only see what he sees, knows, and does—so there are some issues left hanging, as there are in real life. Brunetti is what we would like every police officer to be, especially those who wander into our lives. He is thoughtful, considerate, wise, caring, self-aware, and a first-class investigator.
What I find amazing about this novel is that it is Donna Leon’s 17th about Commissario Brunetti, but it reads (or I should say speaks) with an originality that is breathtaking. I have found in my decades of reading that an author’s first or second book in the mystery, police procedure or thriller genres are usually the best with a steep slide downhill thereafter as the main character and the writer become worn by repetition.
Of course, THE GIRLS OF HIS DREAMS, was the first Leon novel to which I have been exposed. I plan to go back to read the first and then a more current one. For birthday gifts, I have ordered her first novel, DEATH AT LA FENICE (1992), for my wife, Rae, and her 18th novel, ABOUT FACE (2009), for my sister, Miriam.
David Colacci, the narrator, has a wonderfully clear and interesting voice, which is so important in a CD-Book. I find that most readers with accents, Italian, British or otherwise, are impossible to hear comfortably—so I dump those CDs immediately.
Police departments around the world would do well to ask their detectives and front line police officers to read Donna Leon to a find model in Commissario Brunetti for behavior and investigative procedure.
If Cambridge (MA) Police Sgt. James Crowley had followed the Brunetti approach, he would have asked Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. not only for his ID, but for his phone number in their famous meeting in the doorway of Gates’ home. In the Brunetti mode, Crowley would have called his dispatcher to double check and call the number. After the phone rang in the house or the professor’s pocket as they stood facing one another, he could have said, ‘I guess that clears up this case. Have a nice day Professor Gates.’
I am really looking forward to reading DEATH AT LA FENICE—after my wife finishes it, of course.
A suggestion: My latest novel, THE PENCIL
ARTIST is available as an e-book on Smashwords, Kindle,
and Barnes
and Noble; as a paperback on Amazon.
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