March 2023 Self-Promotion Party!

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Hello to everyone! We are now in Spring, and I thought it would be a good time to share what you have been writing and what you have written. I want once again to offer an opportunity for all writers who follow this blog to share information on their books. It can be very difficult to generate publicity for our writing, so I thought this little effort might help. All books may be mentioned, and there is no restriction on genre. This includes poetry and non-fiction.

To participate, simply give your name, your book, information about it, and where to purchase it in the comments section. Then please be willing to reblog and/or tweet this post. The more people that see it, the more publicity we can generate for everyone’s books.

Thank you for participating!

Keep on writing!

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Celebrate and promote your writing! Shout it out to the world! Let everyone know about your work!

Don’t be shy. Be your own best promoter and publicist!

Feel free to promote a new or an older book!

I hope this idea is successful, and I hope many people share information on their books!

Available on Amazon

Get The Draft Done! is available here: Amazon.com

Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.

Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.

An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

My radio interview:

interview

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon

Libraries of the Lehigh Valley, PA: Trexler Library of Muhlenberg College

The next entry in my series on libraries in the Lehigh Valley, PA is Trexler Library of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. We, in this area, are extremely fortunate to have not only several city public libraries, but also we have small town libraries and those in six private colleges and universities, and in an extension campus of Penn State University, and two community colleges. This section of Pennsylvania is truly blessed with an abundance of knowledge and resources from these numerous institutions.

This building has a fascinating design, with three floors that descend. The top floor is the area with the checkout desks, information areas, talking sections, and the valuable writing center. Down the next two floors are the stacks with books, and these are quiet areas.

Not only does this building hold many volumes of books, music, and films, but it also has a rare books room, in which displays of unusual and often unseen items are put on display.

I was delighted to find that Trexler Library has in its collection several example of cuneiform tablets, dating probably from circa 2500-3000 B.C. as well as several ancient parchments. Here are some examples:

I also want to mention that I am proud that two of my novels, Maledicus, The Investigative Paranormal Society, Book 1 and Gallows Hill, The Investigative Paranormal Society, Book 2 are in the library’s collection! 

Lastly, I apologize for the blurred photographs. Clearly, photography is not one of my talents.

Quotations On Censorship

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“Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.”

                                                                   Henry Louis Gates Jr.

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“Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you’re going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book…”
Dwight D. Eisenhower

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“Having the freedom to read and the freedom to choose is one of the best gifts my parents ever gave me.”

                                                                    Judy Blume

( By Moritz Daniel Oppenheim)

“Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.”

                                                                     Heinrich Heine

“In our current political climate, in which some politicians openly state their plans to ban books, it is time for those of us who love books and who honor and cherish the freedom to choose our reading, to oppose their censorship. Let our voices be heard. Stand up against censorship. Always remember that book banning is the act of a tyrant or someone who would be a tyrant.”

                                                               Charles F. French

Book Banning Quotations

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“I hate it that Americans are taught to fear some books and some ideas as though they were diseases.”

                                                                     Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

 

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“Having the freedom to read and the freedom to choose is one of the best gifts my parents ever gave me.”

                                                                     Judy Blume

 

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“Censorship and the suppression of reading materials are rarely about family values and almost always about control, about who is snapping the whip, who is saying no, and who is saying go. Censorship’s bottom line is this: if the novel Christine offends me, I don’t want just to make sure it’s kept from my kid; I want to make sure it’s kept from your kid, as well, and all the kids. This bit of intellectual arrogance, undemocratic and as old as time, is best expressed this way: “If it’s bad for me and my family, it’s bad for everyone’s family.”

Yet when books are run out of school classrooms and even out of school libraries as a result of this idea, I’m never much disturbed not as a citizen, not as a writer, not even as a schoolteacher . . . which I used to be. What I tell kids is, Don’t get mad, get even. Don’t spend time waving signs or carrying petitions around the neighborhood. Instead, run, don’t walk, to the nearest nonschool library or to the local bookstore and get whatever it was that they banned. Read whatever they’re trying to keep out of your eyes and your brain, because that’s exactly what you need to know.”

                                                                                 Stephen King

 

“Reading what you wish and maintaining the right to choose what to read is a fundamental requirement for democracy and freedom. Censorship must always be opposed, and books need to be read by those who wish to read them.”                                                                                                                  Charles F French

A December Self-Promotion Party!

(http://hdcoolwallpapers.com)

It is now almost Winter, and it is time once again for a book promotion party!

I want to offer an opportunity for all writers who follow this blog to share information on their books. It can be very difficult to generate publicity for our writing, so I thought this little effort might help. All books may be mentioned, and there is no restriction on genre. This encompasses fiction, poetry, plays, and non-fiction. If I have neglected to mention a genre, please consider it to be included.

To participate, simply give your name, your book, information about it, and where to purchase it in the comments section. Then please be willing to reblog and/or tweet this post. The more people that see it, the more publicity we can generate for everyone’s books. I will continue to do these parties every few weeks.

Thank you for participating!

Promote your books!

Spread the word!

Keep on writing!

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Available on Amazon

Get The Draft Done! is available here: Amazon.com

Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.

Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.

An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

My radio interview:

interview

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon

Favorite Horror Films: 11: The Curse of Frankenstein

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

Terence Fisher directed The Curse of Frankenstein for Hammer Studios in England, and Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Hazel Court starred. This 1957 movie was the first in the Hammer Studio’s emergence as a major producer of horror films and it was the beginning of a new horror movie cycle. The result was an innovative, fast paced, and  vividly colored film. Hammer Studios completely changed the approach to horror movies of the Universal Studios that had dominated the horror movie cycle from 1931-1945. Color, explicit violence, and sexuality were introduced as central filmic components.

The Curse of Frankenstein was, like so many other movies, loosely based on the great work of Gothic English Literature by Mary Shelley: Frankenstein: Or The Modern Prometheus (1818). Yes, that is the accurate subtitle, although it is usually omitted in most printings of the book.

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

This movie was highly successful, both financially and critically.  And like Horror of Dracula would, as Hammer Studios expanded their treatments of classic Gothic novels, it spawned a long series of sequels. A major difference between the direction of the following films was the focus: the monster Dracula was the recurring character in the vampire movies, while Dr. Frankenstein, and not his creature was the repeating protagonist/antagonist of the Frankenstein movies. This is also an  important distinction between the Hammer and the earlier Universal movies in which the Creature was the primary recurring character.

The Creature was also a mindless killing machine in this film, and none of the Creature’s humanity was kept from the novel, which is the film’s major flaw. It is, nevertheless, an important film from this era, and if you enjoy or are interested in horror films, then I recommend it.

Get The Draft Done! is available here: Amazon.com

Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.

Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.

An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

The book trailer:

Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I

My radio interview:

interview

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon

Please Help on CamCatPitMad

Please!

Hello everyone! This may sound like an odd request, but today, October 8, 2021, I am participating in #CamCatPitMad on Twitter, a day long event in which authors tweet a pitch for a book to agents.

If any of you have Twitter, please consider retweeting my pinned tweet, which I will put up tomorrow morning around 8 a.m. EST.

My Twitter handle is @French_C1955

This is also important– DO NOT LIKE THE PITCH–that is for agents to let writers know they are interested in your work.

The tweet will be for my novel The Ameriad: The Monastery of Knowledge. 

It will look something like this:

The Maze Runner X Edge of Collapse #CamCatPitMad #YA #F After ecological disaster sends the world to the dark ages, Lignne wants to be the first female graduate in the Monastery. But murderous competition and treachery threaten her academic success and her life.

Again, thank you to all!

Quotations on Justice

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“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”

                                                                      Elie Wiesel

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“No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency.”

                                                                      Theodore Roosevelt

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“When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?”

                                                                       Eleanor Roosevelt

“An injustice to one person is a crime against everyone, and we must always try to achieve true justice in the world.”

                                                                     Charles F. French

A Few Quotations On The Environment

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“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.”

                                                                Theodore Roosevelt

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“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.”

                                                                Mahatma Gandhi

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“Climate change is happening, humans are causing it, and I think this is perhaps the most serious environmental issue facing us.”

                                                                               Bill Nye

“Global warming is real, and the environment is in danger. Those who deny the overwhelming evidence about climate change are embracing ignorance. In order to bequeath a livable world to our children and grandchildren, we must do all we can to fight climate change now.”

                                                                                Charles F. French

A Writing Workshop: Get The Draft Done! Helping Writers Finish Their First Draft With Charles F. French

I am very pleased to announce that I will be giving a 3 hour writing event, focusing on my book Get The Draft Done! Helping Writers Finish Their First Draft on June 13th from 1:30-4:30 p.m. This event will be an interactive workshop specifically designed to give assistance to writers who have difficulties finishing their first drafts of their WIP.

It is sponsored by The Writers’ Community of York Region, and a link can be found here: Get The Draft Done! Workshop with Charles F. French

If you are a writer who has difficulty with drafting, then consider attending this event, so I can help you with applicable and actionable ideas and exercises.

Remember, the most important draft of a work is the first draft; without that one, no revision can occur.

Available on Amazon

Get The Draft Done! is available here: Amazon.com

Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.

Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.

An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

The book trailer:

Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I

My radio interview:

interview

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon