Quotations On Libraries

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“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”

                                                                              Jose Luis Borges

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“The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.”

                                                                                  Albert Einstein

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“A library is a place where you can live a thousand lives. So why are you waiting when you could be living? Visit your library today.”

                                                                                 Stephen King

“Libraries are the democratization of knowledge. With only the need for a library card, anyone can access the information of the world.”

                                                                         Charles F. French

A Thank You To All Writers and Creative People!

I simply wanted to offer a thank you to all the writers and creative people out there for your work! Your creations speak to the hopes, dreams, fears, lives, experiences, and imagination of humanity. You make the world a much better place, and I, for one, appreciate what you do.

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Libraries Of The Lehigh Valley, PA

I began this series several years ago, but I must have forgotten about it.  Now, however, I intend to continue and share the wonderful libraries that exist with this section of Eastern Pennsylvania.

The Easton Public Library, located in the small city of Easton, PA, is a place that I loved as a youngster. I have been an avid reader since I was a small child, and this wonderful place gave me much solace and pleasure. When I was very small, we went to a branch library on South Side, Easton, and when I hit young teen years, I would walk the couple of miles to go to the library. It was worth every step.

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Easton has about 25,000-27,000 people and is located on the banks of both the Delaware and the Lehigh Rivers, and it is the smallest of the cities that make up the majority of the Lehigh Valley, PA. It is in this small urban area that the Easton Public Library sits and serves a wide group of readers.

After many years, I recently visited this library with a friend who was doing research, and I was filled with both nostalgia and joy upon entering. It was hard to believe that I had not been into this place, where I had visited almost weekly for several years. I loved the visit, and while I do not know if You Can’t Go Home Again as suggested in the book by Thomas Wolfe, but I do know that you can return to libraries that you have loved!

I want to thank Sharon Gothard, a wonderful librarian, for her help with these images of the library, including pictures from both the present and the past.

Thank you for joining me in this journey to a place that was deeply important to me as a young person. I will continue the series soon with another library from this area.

 

 

The Beginning of 2023 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 a quotation from your book, from anywhere in the text.

I offer the following from Maledicus: The Investigative Paranormal Society Book 1 by Charles F. French, which is as much a love story as it is a horror novel:

“As he did every morning, Roosevelt woke up and reached for Sarah, only to be dismayed when he realized she wasn’t there, that she was, indeed, gone, and he would have to make it through another day without her. That was the worst part of every day, having to face another waking period without Sarah” (18).

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!

The book trailer:

Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I

My radio interview:

interview

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon

Happy New Year–2023!

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As this year is approaching its end, I have been thinking about what I am thankful for. I am deeply grateful for my family, including the extended one, and my friends. Additionally, I am extremely grateful for are my readers on this blog. You are a disparate group, but you are also unfailingly intelligent, kind, and civil. I have also made several friendships here with people who live far away, and I value those connections.

To all my blog followers:

Thank you!

Charles F. French

(Photo by Giftpundits.com on Pexels.com)

And I wish everyone a healthy and happy 2023!

Happy New Year!

(Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com)

A Few Thoughts

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As the year comes to its conclusion, I was considering what I thought might be among the most important daily habits to have, not including work and writing! So, I want to present three suggestions to everyone, and their order is not important:

1) Find a bit of joy every day.

2) Learn something new each day.

3) Show some kindness so that you can make the world a better place.

I don’t think these ideas are either revolutionary or new, but I hope they are useful.

To everyone–be well!

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A Few Quotations on Kindness

“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”

                                                           Dalai Lama XIV

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”                                                                      Aesop

“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”                                                                  Jean-Jacques Rousseau

“Let us spread kindness this time and every time of year.”                                                                   Charles F. French

December Self-Promotion Party

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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

My Favorite Holiday Movies: 3: The Man Who Invented Christmas

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

I have several Christmas movies that carry great meaning to me and that I have loved over many years. I have written about them before in this blog, and I will continue to do so. Now, however, I want to make a new entry into my list of favorite Christmas movies.

The Man Who Invented Christmas is an extraordinary film that was released several years ago. It is a wonderful movie  that explores the creative process of Charles Dickens as he wrote the classic novel, A Christmas Carol. The director is Bharat Nalluri, and this work is marvelous! We get a direct entrance into Dickens’ mind as he struggles with his writing. His characters appear and talk to him, which is an excellent touch.

The film is based on the book by Les Standiford, and the stars are Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer, and Jonathan Pryce. The entire cast, without exception, give extraordinary performances. Christopher Plummer as Scrooge is especially brilliant. Dan Stevens should be recognized as one of the finest actors today.

This film delivers the message of Dickens’ masterpiece, that humanity should be the business of everyone, that money should not be the focus of our lives, and that we should all try to help each other. It will capture your heart and soul, and it is a film I recommend completely! On a system of 5 stars, I give it five!

Please, do yourself a favor, and watch this movie!

My Favorite Holiday Movies: 2: Scrooge

https://en.wikipedia.org

There are so many aspects of this holiday season that are wonderful to me: getting together with loved ones, friends and family alike (although this year on a very limited basis); the spirit of giving that I hope continues to grow; celebrations; the holiday music; and the memories of happy times.  Among the favorite memories I have are a few specific Christmas movies.

The movie I will talk about today is Scrooge with Albert Finney as the star; he does a magnificent job in his performance as the miserly and misanthropic loan-shark. This musical version of A Christmas Carol is one of the finest filmic adaptations of the classic Christmas Eve ghost story and morality tale.  This film follows  the story closely with Scrooge being visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, of Christmas Present, and of Christmas Future. Among the movies best songs are Scrooge singing “I Hate People” which clearly shows his despicable and greedy nature,  “Thank You Very Much” in which a tap dance is done on Scrooge’s coffin in the future, and “I Like Life” in which the ghost of Christmas Present teaches Scrooge about experiencing life as well as having empathy for others.

https://christmascarolindoha.wikispaces.com

This movie does an excellent job of showing Dickens’ critique of a greed based society and one that did little or nothing to help alleviate the enormous difficulties of the poor.  When first confronted by the ghost of his dead partner Marley, Scrooge tells him that he was always a good man of business.  Marley’s ghost responds, “Mankind should be our business.”  This is a sentiment that stands today.  We should be putting the good of humanity above the pursuit of greed.

https://commons.wikimedia.org

 

I was a teenager when this movie was first released in 1970, and I loved seeing it with two of my closest friends.  We were captivated by the music and the story, and it remains as powerful to me as when I first saw it. If you have never had the opportunity to see this particular film, I give it my highest recommendation.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/

I also remind all of us, in paraphrasing the Master Charles Dickens, that we must always remember to make the good of others our business.