What Book(s) Are You Currently Reading?

Books are a central part of my life: reading them, enjoying them, teaching them, and also writing them! 

I am currently reading The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield, The Bookseller of Florence by Ross King, Shadow Voices: 300 Years of Irish Genre Fiction edited by John Connolly, and Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella.  I also have many more in my To-Be-Read list!

So, I am asking all of you: what are you currently reading?

Beginning of 2022 Self-Promotion Party!

I thought it would be interesting to do a book promotion party by giving not only the name of your book and what it is about but also the opening paragraph.

I offer the following from Maledicus: The Investigative Paranormal Society Book 1 by Charles F. French:

“Lucius Antony Caius exalted in his good fortune. He was in complete control of his destiny, of his place in the world. Not for him was the belief in the three sisters of fate–they would not measure and cut his string of life. Caius, also known as Maledicus, as he was called because of his odd lisping voice coupled with the grating sound of sandpaper grinding on coarse wood and with his personality, believed he controlled the world. And his evil persona caused others to fear him. He didn’t look like the image of a strong Roman–he was short and fat, with little hair, but he was as dangerous as the most powerful general.”

So, if you would like to join the party and promote your book, please offer a quotation!

Have fun, promote your book, and please share this post.

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

What Are Your Writing Goals For 2022?

I am not a huge fan of declaring resolutions for the New Year, because they often set people up for failure. Too often, large changes are declared, and they may or may not be possible immediately.

I prefer to think in terms of goals, both long-term and short term and to set up situations in which, with discipline, you can achieve these ends. 

My immediate goal is to finish a revision of my YA horror novel; additionally, I want to do two more first drafts this years–one of a novel, and one of a nonfiction book on revision, and I want to revise at least one more novel. My first goal should be done by the end of January, but we will see. The important thing is to keep working and to keep writing.

My question for all of you is this: what are your writing goals for this year?

 

(Photo by Markus Winkler from Pexels)

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!

(www.pixabay.com)

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

Some Quotations From A Christmas Carol

 

“Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”(62)

“This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.” (108)

“There are some upon this earth of yours,” returned the Spirit, “who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us.” (92)

“‘God bless us every one!’ said Tiny Tim, the last of all.” (97)

 

Works Cited

Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol. Charles Dickens: The Christmas Books Volume I.

Penguin Classics. New York. 1985.

R. I. P. Anne Rice

The world lost an excellent writer and a wonderful person on December 11, 2021. Anne Rice died at the age of 80 from complications of a stroke, and I grieve her passing.

Anne Rice was most well known for her vampire series beginning with Interview With The Vampire in 1976; this novel revolutionized the image of the vampire and set the tone for many other writers who followed her.

Anne Rice was also a cross-genre writer, and she never shied away from writing about a variety of subjects, including religion, gothic, and erotica. She was an inspiration to many who felt like outsiders and to those who wished to be writers themselves.

She was a best-selling author, and a brilliant writer who should be considered among the best of our time. She will be missed.

R. I. P. Anne Rice

Grief Songs by Elizabeth Gauffreau–A Review

Grief Songs by Elizabeth Gauffreau is a beautiful and compelling collection of poetry and photographs.

Gauffreau is a skilled story-teller, and her poetry and pictures create moving portraits of her family that draw the reader into her lovingly created images and remembrances.

Gauffreau uses the traditional Tanka form for her poetry, and she shows great skill in weaving her stories and memories together. For those who love poetry and family, this book will engage them and make them want to find their own family photos.

Grief Songs is an excellent book of poetry, it is lyrical and lovely, and I give it my complete recommendation. It will capture you and move you.

Beautifully done!

Grief Songs is available at Amazon

Please visit her wonderful website: lizgauffreau.com

A New Poem by Robert Fillman

I am very honored and pleased to announce that my friend and extraordinary poet, Robert Fillman has a new poem out. He will also have a new book of poetry, House Bird, out in 2022.

The poem appears in Sheila-Na-Gig online.

CONFIDENCE MAN

I am very honored and pleased to announce that my friend and extraordinary poet, Robert Fillman has a new poem out.

After tossing my duffel bag

on the bench, I cinch the drawstring

to my sweatpants. And that is when

I remember the locker room

at the college: the sting of bleach,

the rhythm of slamming metal

doors, guys stepping out of showers

in towels, that long wall of white

urinals, each man evenly

spaced, holding himself, head down, not

saying a word, the loud whooshing

spray from a flush, my big brother

stretching beside me in his loose

tank-top and knee-length tennis shorts.

I hear him snickering as he

elbows me in the ribs while I

bend at the hips, Hey, here he comes,

‘Naked Guy,’ and I look to see

his thick head of white hair, still wet,

that seemed to brag to us younger

guys, his whole body glistening

as he strides out from the shower

like some minor god. How I’d kill

to have such courage, every inch

exposed, my eyes trying not to

linger on his shape, the brown age-

spots, trying not to think about

how those wrinkles and slack skin lines

are more vivid, more distinctive

with every tense step, every slap

of foot against ceramic tile—

Robert Fillman

Robert Fillman is the author of the chapbook November Weather Spell (Main Street Rag, 2019). His poems have appeared in The Hollins Critic, Paterson Literary Review, Poet Lore, Salamander, Spoon River Poetry Review, Tar River Poetry, Valparaiso Poetry Review,and others. His criticism has appeared in ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and the Environment, The College Language Association Journal, and The Explicator. He currently teaches at Kutztown University, where he is a member of the English and Professional Writing departments. His debut full-length collection, House Bird, will be published by Terrapin Books in 2022. www.robertfillman.com

Here is the cover of his upcoming book:

A Reminder For Help on #PitMad

Hello to everyone! This is a quick reminder that I am asking for help on my #PitMad pitch today.

If you have Twitter, please RT my pinned pitch, and this is extremely important — DO NOT LIKE THE PITCH. Liking is for agents to show they are interested in the book.

Thank you in advance for your help.

My pitch follows:

THE FIFTH SEASON X PARABLE OF THE SOWER In a world decimated by climate change, now like the dark ages, 16-yr-old Lignne wants to be the first female graduate in the only school in the kingdom, but treachery from a psychopath threaten her success and life. #A #PitMad #SF

Again, thank you!

Please Help Me at #PitMad on 12/2/2021

Please!

Hello everyone! This may sound like an odd request, but tomorrow, December 2, 2021, I am participating in #PitMad 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.

My pitch will look something like this:

THE FIFTH SEASON X PARABLE OF THE SOWER In a world decimated by climate change, now like the dark ages, 16-yr-old Lignne wants to be the first female graduate in the only school in the kingdom, but treachery from a psychopath threaten her success and life. #A #PitMad #F

Thank you!!!