Review of Janitorial Service by Robert Collins

Alban Lake Publishing holds a "drabble" (100-word micro-flash) writing contest from time to time.  I recently placed second in one the contests.  In addition to being awarded one Hauran dollar, I was given a free copy of the novella Janitorial Service by Robert Collins (Alban Lake Publishing, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 2013).  The novella is available in perfect-bound trade paperback from the publisher for $7.50 http://store.albanlake.com/product/janitorial-service/.

The list price of $7.50 is outrageously high for a trade paperback novella of only eighty-four pages by an unknown author published by an unknown small press.  Afterall, best-selling novels by well-known authors published by well-known houses are available for less.

Another issue is the quality of the editing.  The novella contains so many typos and errors in basic grammar (conservatively about one every other page) that at some point I stopped reading so much for the plot as for spotting the next mistake.  If a small press cannot provide marketing, it should at least provide impeccable editing.  Otherwise, an author might as well self-publish for vanity.

The sci-fi/western/hired assassin plot is predictable, contrived, and more than a bit pretentious.  The protagonist, Jake Bonner, is a one-dimensional cliche, but no more so than the other characters, from Jake's own boss to the unbelievably naive mob bosses he is assigned to sweep away as part of his "janitorial service."  The story barely held my interest--just enough to keep me from performing my own janitorial service on the book.  Knowing the novella's short length in advance also helped me find the stamina to read the entire masterpiece.

My hopes were briefly raised when, on page 66 of 84, the hero says, "...this is about to get interesting."  Jake winds up captured and at the mercy of one of the crime bosses--the first event that did not fall exactly Jake's way and as he predicted--but the suspense was severely dampened by knowing that Jake had the ability to teleport out of the situation if it became too dangerous, which is just what he ends up doing.

In conclusion, if someone lends you a copy or you otherwise come across one for free (say by winning a drabble contest), and you have nothing much better to do or just want a break from reading headier stuff, Janitorial Services might be worth the read--emphasis on "might."

Reporta de Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal por J. K. Rowling

Fue muy interesante y más de un poco difícil para leer a Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal por J. K. Rowling en español.  Ayuda mucho que yo estoy muy familiar con la historia.  Cuándo no reconcería a una palabra, usualamente podería usar el contexto para descubrir lo que significa.  Fue muy divertido para aprender palabras nuevas en esta manera.  Por ejemplo, antes de leer el libro en español, yo no sabía cómo se dice “owl” en español, pero de contexto yo descubré que la palabra es “lechuza”.  Hay muchas otras palabras que me he aprendido por contexto, por ejemplo “amistad” que significa “friendship”--yo realizé que yo lo sabe porque yo lo sabe “amigo”.  También, por que sabe lo que significa “amigo”, sabe lo que significa “enemigo”.

He leído todo el libro sin usar un diccionario (y estoy escribiendo esta reporta sin usar uno también) porque no quería interrumpió la historia constantemente y sufrir el menos de placer que podería siguiente.  Tal vez esto no era muy estudioso, pero he descubrido que podería leer más y más rápido como un resulto.

Creo que no sería un metodo más mejor para practicar una lengua extraña tanto como leer un libro que ya sabe la historia en su lengua de su nacemiento.  Yo voy a leer otros libros en español de vez en cuando para practicar--tal vez ultimamente por fin los libros famosos de Cervantes--esto podería divertirme mucho.

A Dabble in Drabble

I am pleased to announce that “Sisters Strained by Shared Robot Lover”, a micro-flash piece of mine of exactly 100 words (known as a “drabble”), has been published in Drabbleharvest #8 (June 2017, edited by Terrie Leigh Relf, published by Alban Lake Publishing).  The theme of the issue is “Dear Ashley in the 24^th Century.”  Copies may be had for six dollars from www.albanlake.com.  Songs of Eretz Frequent Contributors Lauren McBride and the Johns Mannone & Reinhart also have stories in the issue.

Review of The Duke Diet by Eisenson & Binks

The Duke Diet by Howard J. Eisenson, MD & Martin “Jar Jar” Binks, PhD (Ballantine Books 2007) is a book that details the weight loss and lifestyle change program of the famous Duke Diet and Fitness Center.  I have read many diet books over the years and found all of them to be not only a big waste but also a big waist.  Duke is the third diet book that I have read that was written by a physician, the other two being those by Drs. Atkins and Ornish.  I gained five pounds after a month of peeing ketones on Atkin’s questionable all meat diet, and lost no weight and became angry and despondent on Ornish’s clinically and scientifically proven complete vegan monstrosity diet.  So far, I have lost about ten pounds on Duke.

Atkins, Ornish, and Eisenson all have science to support their claims, particularly Ornish who conclusively demonstrated that his diet reverses atherosclerosis with elegant before and after photos of living arteries.  Eisenson’s science is mostly statistical and based upon his residential, Biggest Loser style diet program, where every fat individual is supported by a team of slim individuals.  It costs about seven million dollars to do the program in house; the book costs about one millionth of that, or about seven dollars.

Eisenson’s diet and lifestyle program may be summarized thus:

-  Track what you eat

-  Lower your caloric intake into a weight loss range

-  Engage in regular and increasingly escalating exercise

Never thought of doing that!  Thanks for the news flash, doc!  It also contains a litany of recipes that I will never use.

Eisenson’s “revelations” notwithstanding, it is the PhD “Jar Jar” Binks, not the MD Howard “Johnson” Eisenson, who brings something to the fight that I actually find useful.

One of the top three life changing and influential books that I have ever read is The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey (the other two being the Torah by God and Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott).  Binks must have read Covey because his behavioral approach to weight loss follows the seven habits almost to the letter.  Binks’ “seven habits of highly effective lifestyle changes” may be summarized as follows:

   1)    Be proactive.  Do not reactively eat the wrong food or the wrong quantity of food.  Stop and think.  Then don’t.  Plan ahead.  Be prepared.

   2)     Begin with the end in mind.  Visualize the results that your loss of weight and change in lifestyle will bring.  Picture the slim, fit, strong, handsome, well coifed future you walking toward the present you and shaking your hand and thanking you for your hard work.

   3)    Do first things first.  Stay in “quadrant two” where important but not urgent tasks are done.  Binks lifted this, chart and all, directly from Covey (and without credit).

The first three habits complete the “personal victory” over weight loss.  The next three constitute the “public victory.”

   4)    Think win-win.  For example, perhaps you get your boss to agree to allow you to take a 30-minute walk during the duty day in return for showing up 30 minutes early or staying 30-minutes later.  You actually become more productive as a result.  Win-win.  Or, perhaps you agree with your spouse to refrain from going out to eat for a few weeks and instead put the money you would have spent aside.  Then you buy something you both want with the saved money.

   5)    Seek first to understand, then to be understood.  If you are part of a family, going on a diet affects them all.  First, listen to your family’s concerns.  Understand why they may be uncertain and why they may appear to be unsupportive.  Then do your best to have them understand what you have to do in a win-win way.

   6)    Synergize.  If your family were willing to join you on an exercise jaunt, how nice would that be!

   7)    Sharpen the saw.  This one surrounds all the habits, and involves such often ignored things as stress control, relaxation, sleep hygiene, and rest between strength training sessions.

    So, is the book worth reading?  If you have read this review and are familiar with Stephen Covey’s work, it is probably not.  Otherwise, as diet books go, this one is legit, safe, backed by science, and might even help you lose weight and permanently change your lifestyle with its Covey based psychological insights.

Review of Death Note Volumes 6 - 12 by Tsugumi Ohba

After my disappointment with Volume 5 http://stevesofgrass.blogspot.com/2017/05/review-of-death-note-volumes-2-5-by.html, it was with some reluctance that I picked up Volume 6.  The 6^th volume turned out to be such a page-turner that I rapidly finished it and the remaining volumes in the series.  Books 11 and 12 kept me particularly on the edge of my seat, hugging my knees.

It is difficult to review this series without spoilers, so I will confine my comments to the major philosophical questions posed by it.  The first and most obvious is:  Is Kira a ruthless mass murderer or a righteous savior?  The majority of the people in the fictional world of Tsugumi Ohba believe the latter.  After all, crime drops by 70%, violent crime drops by an even greater percentage, and war is completely nonexistent.  People are kinder and more considerate--whether it be out of fear or genuine goodness is another question--but the change in general human behavior is clear.  It is as though God Himself has personally, intimately, and, most importantly, unmistakably intervened in human affairs.  World peace and utopian living are only a few years away.

I might have gone along with the belief of the fictional masses had not Kira used Machiavellian tactics to achieve his aims.  Almost from the beginning, Kira justified not only killing violent criminals but also killing anyone who actually or could possibly stand in his way.  This included slaying FBI agents, policemen, and their families.  He was not beyond killing members of his own immediate family, nor was he beyond employing his natural good looks and charm to use and discard innocent women in the most thoughtless manner.

To his credit, Kira did not feel that it was justified to kill ex-cons who had already paid their debts to society, nor did he feel it justified to kill people whose only shortcoming was laziness or not living up to their full potentials.  Kira also did not use his power for personal wealth or gain, other than world domination.  He was content to remain in the shadows until he was acknowledged and accepted by the entire world--meaning all of those who did not accept him were dead or in hiding.

In the absence of Kira, how fast would the world go back to being full of fear, violence, injustice, and war?  The book poses and answers this question--again, I will not reveal how lest I spoil.  Would the world continue on the path of lovingkindness that Kira showed was possible, or would the world revert or even regress further than before Kira existed?  If the latter, would it be justified to allow a mass murderer to continue to impose his vision upon the world for the supposed greater good?

The series asks and answers these questions.  I agree with the answers, but whether or not a reader agrees or disagrees, it is most enjoyable to wrestle with the questions.  Few books provide that kind of pleasure.

Review of Death Note Volumes 2 - 5 by Tsugumi Ohba

After reading Volume 1 of Tsugumi Ohba’s manga Death Note, I was eager to continue reading the story and so far have completed reading volumes 2 through 5 of the twelve volume series (VIZ Media 2003, illustrated by Takeshi Obata, available for $9.99 per volume at https://www.viz.com/read/manga/death-note-vol-1/5360).  At this point, I thought a review was in order.

In addition to being an interesting cat-and-mouse detective story, the first volume presented many fascinating ethical dilemmas (see my review http://stevesofgrass.blogspot.com/2017/04/review-of-death-note-by-tsugumi-ohba.html).  In volumes 2 through 4, the detective games intensify, and I found my allegiance shifting away from the anti-hero Light and toward the now less mysterious but eccentric detective “L.”  The introduction of a “second Kira” in the 4^th volume complicates the plot even further, providing another perspective on what could happen if a human were to be granted god-like powers.

The plot also reveals an unexpected weakness of the Shinigami or death gods.  The gods can be killed!  A series of stars must align for it to be possible.  I will not spoil the read by revealing what those circumstances are here but I will comment that said circumstances are surprising.

The battle of wits between the two Kiras and L is resolved in a most spectacular and satisfying stalemate, opening a new plot line where Kira and Misa voluntarily assist L with the hunt for a “third Kira” who does not share the first two’s motivation for killing.  This third Kira, an executive of a major Japanese corporation, uses his death note for his own personal and his company’s financial gain by killing off executives in rival companies.  The shift of the story to this rather mundane, non-idealistic reason for murder was a bit of a letdown for me, transforming a philosophically and ethically challenging plot into more pedestrian fare.  For that reason, I admit I was a bit disappointed with volume 5 but not disappointed enough to stop reading the series.

Review of Death Note 1 by Tsugumi Ohba

The fascinating, mind-blowing, and thought-provoking plot of Death Note 1 by Tsugumi Ohba (VIZ Media 2003, paperback, 200 pages with black-and-white art by Takeshi Obata) is centered on Light aka Kira, a seventeen-year-old Japanese student who is one of the top high school students in the world.  He finds the Death Note, a notebook of the Shinigami (Japanese gods of death), deliberately left on earth by rogue Shinigami Ryuk. 

The Note comes with instructions explaining how to use it:  write down a person’s name, picture that person in one’s mind, write down that person’s manner and time of death, and the death will happen as written.  If one does not specify the details of the death (I simplify here), the person will die of a heart attack in six minutes.

Kira uses the Note to kill evil people in massive numbers mysteriously and from afar. He reasons correctly that this will provide a strong incentive for criminals to curtail their bad behavior.  As Kira anticipates, a utopian society begins to emerge where the truly evil will all be dead and the potentially evil too scared to act. Kira, the god-like possessor of the Note, is pleased to be secretly in control of this new, peaceful, safe, and law-abiding society.

This had me thinking:  What if I found such a magical item when I was seventeen?  I would like to think that I would do what Kira decided to do, do nothing at all, or destroy the book.  However, to put it mildly, I was not awfully popular in high school.  I know what I probably would have done....

Fortunately for the fictional world of Death Note, an idealistic if Machiavellian teenaged intellectual finds the Note and uses it as a righteous angel might.  The police are simultaneously happy about the drop in crime and appalled by the circumstances.  The lawmen turn to the mysterious world-renowned detective known only as “L” to find and stop Kira.

The world’s greatest detective pitted against one of the world’s smartest teenagers possessed of god-like power--what a match-up!  Mystery lovers such as I will really enjoy the L vs. Kira plot, as it makes for an interesting game of cat and mouse; and it is never clear who is the cat and who the mouse.  Kira is willing to kill L for standing in his way--the only thing stopping him is that he does not know L’s true name or what he looks like.  

L believes he is righteous and that Kira is evil.  Kira believes he, Kira, is righteous and that L, while well intentioned, must be eliminated to ensure the coming of utopia.  As for who is truly righteous and who evil, the reader must decide.  I am not sure.  Death Note 1 is available from Shonen Jump https://www.viz.com/read/manga/death-note-vol-1/5360 for $9.99. 

Review of The Missouri Review, Winter 2016 Edition

The College of Arts & Sciences of the University of Missouri publishes The Missouri Review once a quarter.  The magazine may be purchased for ten dollars an issue, or thirty dollars for a year’s subscription, or a subscription may be obtained by entering one of the magazine’s literary contests (a subscription is included with the contest fee).  The magazine is 200 pages in length and printed on high quality paper in trade paperback format.  The magazine offers mainstream short stories, interviews, essays, art reviews, book reviews, and poetry. 

The theme of the Winter 2016 Edition is “upstarts.”  Editor Speer Morgan provides an interesting and illuminating forward to the issue that explains what an “upstart” is in the context of the various and sundry individual pieces and does a good job of pulling the theme and the disparate literary pieces together. 

In K. C. Fredericks’ short story “The Tongues of Angel”, a Polish priest in 1940s Detroit must deal with an “upstart” African American from Louisiana who--with hat in one hand and baptismal certificate and money in the other--wants to join his all-white Catholic congregation.  In Alix Ohlin’s short story “Money, Geography, Youth”, an eighteen-year-old girl has to come to terms with her father and her “upstart” former best friend who has become her father’s live-in lover.

My favorite essay is Brandon R. Schrand’s “Through the Glass Clearly”.  Here we learn that that ordering a martini in the wrong place--such as a backwoods cowboy roadhouse--can brand you as an “upstart”, as in “who the @#$% do you think you are ordering THAT in HERE?”  The theme aside, the essay is a fascinating account of the history of this iconic cocktail as well as a primer on the various and hotly debated terms that accompany its history and that of its cousins the Gibson (substitute a cocktail onion for the olive or twist), the Charles Dickens (no olive or twist), or the ultra dry Winston Churchill (made by glancing at the vermouth bottle or turning towards France and then filling the glass entirely with Gordon’s gin).  As for me, I am dying to visit one of Kansas City’s upscale watering holes to try the author’s recommendation for the perfect martini:  Gordon’s gin and Noilly Prat vermouth in a four to one ratio, a (lemon) twist, and three drops of orange bitters, vigorously shaken James Bond style (not stirred).  BTW, James insists on putting Vodka as well as gin in his martinis--a real faux pas among true aficionados according to Schrand.

Three lucky and talented poets enjoy their own separate sections in the magazine.  I particularly and surprisingly enjoyed Heather Derr-Smith’s work, poems that deal with “upstart” girl speakers struggling with issues of sex, gender, gender roles, and transitioning from adolescence to adulthood.  Her poems are raw, honest, shocking, violent, tender, and thought provoking--head spinning stuff yet not difficult to identify with and to understand.

The art reviews cover several “outside” or “upstart” artists whose works have only a small following or are on the cusp of being discovered.  These artists are/were untrained and in many cases uneducated, and some are/were even mentally ill.  None of them belongs/belonged to any movement or school of art; all of them have their own individual and unique forms of artistic expression.  I found it inspiring and uplifting that even people from such unfortunate circumstances are/were capable of creating beautiful and starkly original works of art.

Any aspiring writers out there should not overlook the book reviews.  Amy Day Wilkinson reviews several “upstart” books that make “art of the quotidian” with fascinating results.  I have heard of epistolary novels, but had never heard of a novel constructed from homeowners’ association committee meeting notes, nor had I ever heard of a novel made up of letters of recommendation.  With the apparent success of the books reviewed, we may be seeing more like them soon.

Review of The Art of Neil Gaiman by Hayley Campbell

The Art of Neil Gaiman (Harper Design, 2014, hardcover, $39.99) could have many uses. Depending upon whom one is and what one wants to get out of it, owning the book could be a worthy investment in many different ways. 

The volume could certainly be used as a coffee table book in the household of a Gaiman fan or science fiction aficionado.  The illustrations are plentiful and colorful, and there are numerous little side vignettes that make the book ideal for this purpose.  The price is in line with that of other such books, and the eclectic science fiction and superhero art within as well as the dark cover picturing Gaiman without would make for a good conversation piece or starter--say with the Goth girl one had invited over with the hopes of becoming more acquainted.

The book could also be placed on the shelf for use as a reference for hardcore Gaiman fans.  One would have to be a hardcore fan to justify the price as well as the modest space the book would occupy in this capacity.  The book is well indexed and has a useful table of contents and an extensive bibliography.

Fine artists, particularly those who are employed in or enjoy sci-fi/fantasy illustration, painting, drawing, and digital art would find this book quite valuable, both from an ideas standpoint and from a marketing standpoint.  There are no doubt better resources for those topics, but I do believe this is worth mentioning.

Writers, poets, playwrights, and screenwriters would definitely benefit from reading the text in the book, plus or minus looking at the pictures.  Hayley Campbell does a good job of chronicling the life from birth to the present of one of the world’s most successful living authors, and there is much to be learned by learning what worked for him and what did not.  It is probably safe to say that for every successful author such as Gaiman there are thousands of failure wannabes--this book, if carefully read, reveals what made Gaiman a success.  The path and principles Gaiman followed (and continues to follow) made his triumph almost inevitable.  One must read the book in detail to really understand this, but in summary here are what I shall call...

Gaiman’s Rules:

Read.  Gaiman was an avid reader from an early age.  Anything from comics to classics is fair game.  But read.  Read like crazy.

Write.  Take any opportunity possible to write.  One of Gaiman’s first gigs was as a journalist.  Not exactly illustrated novels, but still writing.  Have a good idea for a story?  Write it down, flesh it out a little, then maybe finish it or not, but write it down.  Gaiman sometimes came back to little ideas he had written down years prior and turned them into best-selling novels.

Collaborate.  Gaiman certainly would not have succeeded as he did in illustrated novels, radio plays, and screenplays had he not developed excellent collaborative relationships with many different artists.

Market.  Gaiman is a relentless marketer from attending humble book signings to full out promotional tours.

Write for love not for money.  This may seem to go against the “Write” principle.  Perhaps it does to some degree.  But Gaiman emphasizes that somehow projects accepted just for big money always turn out badly, and even the money somehow never materializes.  This is a lesson that Gaiman admits he has had to learn more than once and a lesson he must guard against having to learn again.

Escape.  Sometimes it is best to drop off the grid for months if need be in order to devote full attention to a project.

Finally, fans of Gaiman such as I who do not just love him but who are kind of in love with him will want to read every little part of this book and study every illustration--with a magnifying glass when necessary (as it often is for some of the text that appears on some of the illustrations).  For within this grimoire lie the secret magicks and thaumaturgy of all that is Gaiman, not to mention a comprehensive list and description of all of Gaiman’s creative work, published, unpublished, and as yet to be published.  Once thoroughly digested, remember the tome still makes for an attractive coffee table book slash useful reference.

Review of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

At my (then) teenaged son’s urging, I put Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (First Harper Perennial Modern Classics edition, 2006, first published by Harper & Brothers, 1932) on my reading list.  He had been required to read it for a high school English class and was deeply moved and disturbed by it.  The book finally rose to the top of my reading queue, and I can see why, as my son is a fine artist (painting and illustration), he felt the way he did about the novel.

As a poet, I share my son’s revulsion at the dystopian world depicted in the novel, but as a scientist and physician I am impressed by Huxley’s prescience.  In the world of the novel, war, disease, famine, poverty, and even the effects of aging and the fear of death have been eradicated by an all-powerful world order ruled by a loyal elite.  Through a disturbingly accurate prediction of the direction of biology, eugenics, and psychology for someone writing in 1932, the inhabitants of Huxley’s world also are devoid of jealousy, romantic love, appreciation of high art and literature, personal ambition, and loneliness.  Taking a psychedelic wonder drug called soma solves any rare breakthrough dysphoria.  There is also no room in this world for God as we understand Him.  His role has been replaced by the reverence of Henry Ford; the cross of Christ replaced by the T (a reference to Ford’s model T).

There are no family ties or obligations in this “brave new world,” as all its human inhabitants are bred in laboratories.  Acceptance of one’s assigned lot in life (there is a strict caste system) is bred into each individual.  This acceptance is hypnotically reinforced, and any residual rebelliousness is quashed by soma.  Happiness (of a sort) is therefore universal, and since “everybody belongs to everybody,” meaningless sex with anyone one desires is easily sought and freely given.

The novel really gets interesting when the bastard son of a high-ranking official is discovered in one of the uncivilized reservations of humanity, who basically live as the American Indians did long ago.  “John Savage,” or simply “The Savage,” an eighteen-year-old who has read all of the works of Shakespeare (one of many forbidden authors), is brought to civilization as an experiment.  He becomes an immediate curiosity and sensation and is given immediate and unwanted celebrity.  He is at once fascinated and filled with revulsion by the civilized world, and his inability to adjust eventually leads to a self-imposed exile.

The edition of Brave New World that I read is fortunate to have a “PS” containing a transcription of a letter from Huxley to George Orwell from 1949, the year 1984 was published.  In it, Huxley predicts that humanity is headed toward something Orwellian in the not-too-distant future, but that such a world will be temporary, a stepping-stone.  Huxley predicts that rule by the threat and application of pain depicted by Orwell will eventually evolve into rule by the elimination of pain.  This “utopia” will come at the terrible price described--a world without passion, poetry, painting, politics, personality, and preference--a cowardly new world.  Ford forbid!

Review of Elfslayer by Nathan Long

I had the guilty pleasure of reading a rare, autographed copy of Elfslayer by Nathan Long (Black Library Publications, 2008).  The book is currently out of print but may be found on ebay or in used bookstores for various prices (some quite high). 

Nathan Long took over the helm of writing the Felix and Gotrek novels from William King, the original creator of the grim dwarf Slayer Gotrek Gurnisson and his hapless human companion poet warrior Felix Jaeger, somewhere in the middle of the Third Omnibus edition containing Giantslayer, Orcslayer, and Manslayer.  I was skeptical that Long could be true to King’s legacy but must admit that the transition was all but seamless.

Another thing that worried me (needlessly as it turned out) is the whole idea of slaying elves.  Having grown up with Tolkien’s version of the elder race, the thought of slaying an elf was anathema.  However, in the world of Felix and Gotrek, there are two distinct kinds of elves--light and dark.  The dark elves of Long’s world are akin to the anti-paladins of Dungeons & Dragons--unspeakably beautiful and unspeakably cruel and decadent.  These elves could use a bit o’ slayin’!

The duo forays into the dark world of the dark elves in order to recover a stolen magic harp, which in the wrong hands could be used to destroy the world.  Dogging (or ratting) their every move is their secret nemesis, the rat man Grey Seer Thanquol of the skaven and his mutant companion Boneripper.

Elfslayer is formulaic, derivative, and melodramatic, but somehow original and just a plain old great read at the same time.  I wish I knew how King and now Long accomplished this, but their Felix and Gotrek stories have always sung to me, and Elfslayer was no exception.

Review of Writers & Their Reading by the Editors of Glimmer Train

I write mostly poetry but when I do compose a short story I send it to Glimmer Train if at all possible. I admire and respect the co-editors of Glimmer Train, Susan Burmeister-Brown and Linda Swanson-Davies.  As I do with all submissions to Songs of Eretz (regular and contest), these sisters read and personally respond to every submission to the many submissions that their magazine receives every year.  Glimmer Train pays seven hundred dollars for every story it accepts for publication; contest winners are awarded between two and three thousand dollars.  Glimmer Trains’ fee for a non-contest submission is only two dollars and its fee for contests is only eighteen dollars.  Find out more about the offerings of Glimmer Train here:  www.GlimmerTrain.com.

As a thank you bonus for entering a Glimmer Train contest, the entrant may choose from several scholarly works from its sister publication, Writers Ask.  After entering a contest myself, I chose to receive and had the pleasure to enjoy the forty-page educational collection of interviews Writers & Their Reading.  The collection compiles the responses of several dozen writers as to what books influenced their writing and how important reading is for them and for writers in general.  The universal answer was that not just reading but voracious reading of quality literature is essential if one is ever to succeed as a writer.  Every writer stressed this, even the few that curtailed their reading while they themselves were engaged in writing so as not to have another author’s voice influence their own voices.

Sadly, reading and the concentration and focus it requires to do properly may have become a lost art.  Interviewee Steve Almond laments that if people from our era were to be transported 150 years back in time they would all be considered to have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD or hyperactivity).  He postulates that members of our screen worshiping generation would certainly become restless and fidgety if forced to sit in the parlor to listen to the latest stories being read aloud or to read to themselves the recent works of some of the great authors of that time.  That is a wake up call if I have ever heard one!

Review of Neil Gaiman's 'Make Good Art' speech

I had the distinct pleasure of reading Neil Gaiman’s ‘Make Good Art’ speech illustrated by graphic artist Chip Kidd (William Morrow 2013, small hardcover, $12.99), a word-for-word copy of the speech keynote speaker Neil Gaiman gave to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia graduating class of 2012. 

The speech took

nineteen minutes

for Gaiman

to deliver

and took me

about ten minutes

to read. 

I would estimate that the speech contains about 2,500 words

--an essay more than a book--

s p r e a d  o u t  o v e r  a b o u t  f o r t y  p a p e r b a c k - s i z e d  p a g e s . 

Kidd uses his graphic design skills to make the spread out words look artsy, poetic, and colorful (literally and figuratively).

The advice imparted is nothing really new and may be summarized thus: 

Pursue Your Dreams! 

Gaiman states this advice in various different ways, such as:

believe in yourself,

think outside the box,

don’t be afraid to fail,

learn from your mistakes,

and other old chestnuts and clichés.  

I found myself at once inspired and annoyed that $12.99 was spent on this book.  

The real take home message is this: 

Once you make a name for yourself,

you can get away with cleverly packaging a bit of autobiography or trite wisdom,

and you will still make a mint just because

you have made a name for yourself.

Review of Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs

My family and I are big fans of the television series Bones (although my daughter recently abandoned watching).  Accordingly, I jumped at the opportunity to meet the inspiration behind the show, authoress and real life forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, at a lecture and book-signing event sponsored by Rainy Day Books in Kansas City.  I purchased an autographed copy of the 10^th Anniversary Edition of Deja Dead for fifteen dollar and immediately noted that in real life Reichs looks more like the mother of the sexy young lady pictured on the back of her 411-page book.  The irony of this observation will become apparent at the conclusion of this review.

If you watch Bones because you enjoy the interplay between the savant, Spock-like Temperance Brennan and the manly yet emotional Sealy Booth, as well as the side stories about the unique and interesting supporting characters, you may be disappointed with Deja Dead.  The story takes place in Montreal where forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, here a recovering alcoholic and single mother of an adult daughter, works alone out of a small, smelly post mortem laboratory room located in a large government building.  There are no vast, open spaces of a Jeffersonian Institute, nor are there any interesting major characters who assist Brennan in her scientific sleuthing, although there are two minor characters who assist a little bit.

The first one hundred pages or so are pretty boring--I almost stopped reading at that point.  After that, the plot slowly but relentlessly accelerates to a nail biting wow climax.  The plot centers around Brennan who is convinced that there are links between several gruesome murders and must resort to investigating on her own and out of her depth in the bad parts of Montreal in order to convince the skeptical all-male police that there is a serial killer on the loose in the city.

The book is as much about a woman trying to hold her own and to be recognized as competent in a world dominated by men as it is a murder mystery--and boy does the authoress of the book make sure the reader knows it!  The policemen are either depicted as macho stereotypes, sex objects, or both.  There are frequent scenes of Brennan having to assert herself among the men to the point of being melodramatically and annoyingly aggressive.  And in case that is not enough cliche feminist claptrap for you, at one point Brennan laments that she needs a certain thing “about as much as a yeast infection” as if we needed reminding that the lead character, and presumably the authoress, have vaginas.  Blech!

I will be so bold as to speak on behalf of the average red-blooded American male and say that the overt, in your face feminism in Deja Dead is enough to ruin an otherwise enjoyable reading experience for you; probably the same would be true of most female readers, who probably would not mind a little more femininity and a lot less feminism.  So, if you are an annoying feminist, you will enjoy Deja Dead.  If you can get through the first one hundred pages and hold your nose through the feminist parts, you may still enjoy Deja Dead.  However, for the general readership, I will recommend watching Bones and giving the book a miss.