Coming Next Week!

Expanding my catalog of books at Tule Fog Press this year. Starting off by adding two new genres for my indie publishing platform - Christian Fiction and Western. Mentioned our latest release yesterday (Ruth: A Journey to Faith by Revathi Selwyn). 

But today, I want to announce the release of D. M. Karder's rip-roaring, gunslinging Wild West adventure, Rising from the Ashes. (Note: Affiliate links to Amazon throughout.) It's currently up for pre-order and has a page at Goodreads now, so mark it "Want To Read!" :)

Here's the blurb...

Chicago, 1871. The city burns unrestrained. In a sea of people, a boy stands alone: young David Murphy. Witness through his mind’s eye his transformation from a desperate youth to one of the fiercest gunmen of the Wild West.

To capture Murphy’s story, an ambitious writer of Western lore is needed. Enter Vernon Shields who wants to publish an account that will define his career. When Shields meets a man now known simply as Longhair, he procures permission to write the gunman’s life story.

Rising from the Ashes is a tale of blazing guns that stretched from the Civil War to the turn of the twentieth century. The guns and the people who mastered them made their own destiny. Most men died as fast as they drew the steel. However, a few like Longhair walked the walk and lived to tell of their adventures of quick draws, ambush killings, and the excruciating challenges of life itself.

~*~

“Storytelling with no shortage of action, delivers a fresh spin on the turn of the century.” – Don G. Porter, Author of Yukon Murders

“Many events molded and transformed this country at the end of the nineteenth century. My goal is to put the reader in the boots of the main character, David Murphy. To provide an experience of what it was like to live life in the 1860s to 1890s, from Chicago’s great boom to the end of the Wild West.” – Author D. M. Karder

New Release from Tule Fog Press

Excited about this announcement - I just edited and published Revathi Selwyn's Biblical novel, Ruth: A Journey to Faith. With this novel, I'm launching a new line of books at Tule Fog Press - Christian fiction. I hope to add two more titles to this category this year.

Amazon Link (affiliate)

From the Back Cover...

Ruth is a Princess of Moab. Naomi, her mother-in-law from Israel, shares with her the love of Yahweh. Naomi’s God and people become Ruth’s God and people. As Ruth learns to trust in the God of Creation, the Lord honors her faithfulness. Her journey to faith in Yahweh is rewarded, and she becomes an ancestor to kings!

About the Book

This creative imagining of Ruth’s story is based on Biblical history and the truth of Scripture (especially as found in the Book of Ruth). Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons move to Moab due to severe famine in Israel. Ruth meets Mahlon and marries into the Israelite family. Naomi loses her sons and, in bitterness, decides to return to Israel. Ruth is determined to cross the Jordan and follow her mother-in-law to a new life.

In the city of Bethlehem, Ruth meets Boaz in the barley fields. He becomes her kinsman redeemer. She marries him and becomes the ancestor to the kings of Israel. Ruth has come a long way from being a little princess of Moab. She enjoys her final days spending time with her great-grandson, David, teaching him to play the tambourine and to worship the God of Israel.

About the Author

Revathi Selwyn is a family practitioner, poet, and author. She loves writing and her books are fun to read. She’s written a series of short stories that encourage children to be kind to one another, to animals, and to nature. In Created for a Purpose, her stories emphasize that God has a purpose for everything He has created.

Titles within this children’s series include Josh-Posh, Little Hug-Me and the Avocado; Josh-Posh, Little Hug-Me and Izzy Busy; and Josh-Posh, Little Hug-Me and the Spotted Dove. Her first children’s book was published in 2014, Tsip the Little Sparrow.

Revathi lives in Hyderabad, India, with her husband; they have two grown children. She loves nature, birds, and animals. Her favorite pets are her two labs, Amy and Teddy. She also enjoys writing poetry and has posted several of her poems online. You can find all her books here on Amazon.

Book Review Thursday - The Dressmaker's Gift

My Review of: The Dressmaker's Gift by Fiona Valpy

A few months back, I organized a Book Club at our condo community. I thought it would be a good way to meet new people here in Puerto Rico. First two meetings, there were only two of us! But we persisted and had five last month to discuss John Grisham's legal thriller, The Judge's List. Most people liked it, I thought it was meh (check out my review). Our next meeting is next Saturday and we'll be talking about The Dressmaker's Gift (affiliate link to Amazon).

I liked this novel fairly well, but with some caveats. To start, it was a narrative- and reflection-heavy story (a lot of tell, not show). And it was slow. I know this isn't supposed to be a thriller, but the bulk of the story is set in occupied Paris during WW2. I thought there'd be a lot more tension.

Then, there's the structure of the novel. It's a modern trend, I guess, but the time jumps! Please. Can't we just have a regular historical novel set in the past? There are three main plot threads. The first is about Harriet (the modern day character from 2017). She's piecing together the story of her grandmother Claire who was a seamstress in 1940s Paris. The flashback chapters involve three friends - Claire, Vivienne, and Mirieille - and their roles in the French resistance.

Another "meh" for me was the modern day premise. I guess you need a rationale to start a story, but the set up was a bit too convenient - Harriet goes to Paris in 2017 on a kind of inner journey of discovery and ends up working in the same dress shop as her grandmother Claire and meeting Mirielle's granddaughter (Simone) in the same couture shop. They board in the same upstairs bedrooms as their grandmothers.

Okay. All well and good. So how do we flashback? Harriet wants to find out about Claire, and Simone writes her grandmother Mirielle (who's still alive at 100!) for details. The backstory is slowly revealed. Fortunately, this is told in good old-fashioned third person past (not via letters, thank goodness). It involves the other two plots - sometimes it's about Mirielle, sometimes it's about Claire. I'd have preferred one POV, but heh.

But even this portion of the novel was slow until about 60% when the tension mounted. I just was not interested in the modern day character's angst and commentary. I think you could skip the Harriet passages altogether and still enjoy the novel. But evidently this is the trend today. Plus, Harriet (and the author herself, from what she said in the afterword) got stuck on the idea of inherited trauma (as a motivating driver behind the MC's search for meaning) which I thought distracted from the story.

I'd recently read another flashback/three-character plotted WW2 novel called Across the Winding River by Aimie K. Runyan which I really enjoyed (4.5 stars) despite its structure, so I'm probably comparing the two books. This one gets 2.5 stars. The narrative time jump device got a bit tiresome and, while the writing was good enough, The Dressmaker's Gift just wasn't that compelling for me. Your mileage may vary - it has over 90,000 ratings (!) and 61% are 5 stars.

Question: Do you enjoy historical novels? And are you into this modern trend of a contemporary chracter discovering some post card or photograph about the past and launching into a journey of discovery?

~*~

This is Book #20 in my race to read/review 52 books this year.

Click here for a list of all my 52 Week Challenge reviews.

My Review of Across the Winding River by Aimie K. Runyan

Across the Winding River

by Aimie K. Runyan

(Aug, 2020, about 300 pages, over 13,000 ratings)

I enjoyed this historical novel set for the most part in Germany during WW2. It starts out, however, in Southern California, 2007, when Max, now in a nursing home with failing health, begins sharing with his daughter Beth a bit of his heretofore unknown past. She brings him a box of his memorabilia and asks him about a war picture of him as a medic holding a beautiful, young woman who is obviously pregnant. This would not be her mother, of course, as Beth's parents met after Max got home from Europe.

It's a good premise and teaser. The author then takes us back in time to two other storylines that eventually come together - Max's days as a medic on the front lines in France, and a woman named Johanna, who is a pilot and engineer working in the Luftwaffe developing war planes for Nazi Germany. She is a reluctant participant in the war and her family story, with their uncertainties and reservations, is well told.

How Johanna's and Max's stories come together is part of the developing plot, so no spoilers here. Jewish ancestry plays a role, so there's a hint. Suffice it to say that the author did a good job interweaving these three stories (one modern and two historical) into an effective and interesting narrative. Once you get used to the time jumps and point-of-view changes, it's easy and enjoyable reading. In addition, the historical elements were well placed and referenced.

Now, for action lovers, this book begins without much fanfare - no 'in medias res' thrills and suspense here. But the slow and gentle pacing served the rest of the novel well. This is a drama slash love story, but not necessarily of the heart-thumping kind; the telling here is not rushed. Overall, a good technique. However, I felt that some of the intense and urgent scenes could have had a bit more punch to them. Plus, there were a few 'hmm, not sure about that' coinkydink moments. Still, the story was compelling overall and refreshing. Sad at times, but with a satisfying ending, which I was hoping for.

If you enjoy women's fiction and historical novels set against the backdrop of war, this is a good one. It's feminist in perspective, but not annoyingly so. (In other words, I didn't sense an ax to grind or a chip on the author's shoulder.) A good choice for a book club discussion, I think. For me, 4.5 stars and a nice break from my usual fare of action thriller and suspense. (FYI, here's my review on Goodreads.)

Amazon Affiliate Link to Across the Winding River.

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My 52 Week Challenge: Read and Review 52 Books in 2023 (Week 13)
(Books listed in reading order, not review order. And I'm behind, lol.)

1. Razored Land by Charles Gramlich - post-apocalypse (review TBD)
2. The Stroke of Winter by Wendy Webb - mystery (reviewed Jan 11)
3. Feast of Fools and Other Tales - S&S anthology (reviewed Jan 19)
4. Clovel Sword Saga (Vol 1&2) by Gordon Brewer - S&S (review TBD)
5. The Hike by Susi Holliday - mystery/thriller (reviewed March 7)
6. Valengetrix: Ghost of Aratania by J.R. Cason - sword & sorcery (reviewed Feb 25)
7. Swords & Heroes - Sword & Sorcery Anthology (edited by me! review TBD)
8. The Viking Gael Saga by J.T.T. Ryder - historical fiction (reviewed March 15)
9. Blackfoot Dawn by John Legg - a mountain man western (reviewed March 10)

10. Across the Winding River by Aimie K. Runyan - historical drama (reviewed above)

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Currently Reading...

+ Laws and Prophecies (Sword's Edge Book 3) by L.S. King (sword and planet)

+ The Troubleshooters by William W. Johnstone (western vigilenta justice)

+ Boy Battles Bot (Space Invaders #1) by A.K. Meek (MG sci-fi adventure)

On My TBR List...

+ XLZABK001 by Jon Zaremba (fantasy and sword & sorcery collection)

+ The Song of Sangr by Gustavo Bondoni (sword and sorcery)

+ Skallagrim - In the Vales Of Pagarna by Stephen R. Babb (sword and sorcery)

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In Real Life...

+ Going to try a different church tomorrow, more liturgical, near San Juan.

+ Then wer're going to check out the ferry that runs from Cataño to Viejo San Juan.

+ Getting the condo ready for both daughters and their husbands when they visit in May.

(Already bought a grill, some rooftop patio furniture, and items for the guest rooms. Still need to buy that stackable washer and dryer, but am hesitating since stores don't deliver to third floor apartments here! Yikes! So may just hire a guy off the street to help me carry them up three flights of stairs! lol)

~*~

Weekend Blog Hops

+ Sunday Post from Caffeinated Reviewer

+ Sunday Salon from Readerbuzz

+ Stacking the Shelves from Reading Reality

+ It's Monday, What Are You Reading? from The Book Date

Drop a comment and a link to your blog and tell me what you're reading! Have a great weekend.

(This is Sunday Roundup #11)

Random Writing Tips from Grade School

I was reading a friend's story the other week and, I can't help it, my eye sees typos. (When it comes to my own writing my eye refuses to see typos! lol).

So I emailed him with some suggested corrections. I don't do this with everyone. But he appreciated the heads up. I think most of us want a clean copy going out into the world, right?

Anyway, one suggested change was the use of a number at the beginning of a sentence. His started out with: 25 years ago... (Or something like that, the point being, this sentence started with a numeral.)

Now my mind went back to grade school to something one of my teachers taught me. (Yes, I remember a lot of things my teachers said back then - teachers make big impressions on kids!) And what I recalled was that if a sentence started with a number, it should be spelled out. 

Twenty-five years ago...

Did you learn this rule? I guess it's a matter of style, but it seems right to me. Threre's another rule of thumb regarding numbers and that is somewhere around 100 (maybe?) you can start using the actual number, but until then it's ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, not 99. This ring any bells?

This got me thinking about what else I learned in grade school. Like how I'm not supposed to use the words stuff and things when I write. It's lazy, my teacher said. But what if I'm actually referring to stuff? Pick another word, she said. So to this day I try to avoid using those words. Weird, eh?

Or, the advice to change up the words one uses to begin sentences with. (BTW, I end sentences with prepositions. It's okay, trust me. We're writing in English, not Latin. Plus, I like to start sentences with the words And or But on occassion. It's a matter of voice, people. Voice!)

What I mean by the above bit of advice is if you look at the first word of each of my paragraphs in all of my blog posts, you won't typically see a beginning word repeated more than once or twice. (Unless for stylistic effect.) My teacher hated it when I started each paragraph with the word The. Now I hate it, too!

(Oh, and there's another one. I have to put a comma before the word too at the end of a sentence. Heh.)

Visually, I have to make the reading experience pleasant. :-) Another way to do this is to use short paragraphs. Especially in fiction. Long paragraphs literally kill the reading experience. Literally. (Okay, not literally.)

During seminary, I would read these theological tomes translated from German and either the author or the translater did not believe in paragraphs. Some went on for 2 or 3 pages (or is it two or three pages? I'm confused now). Anyway, what a joy killer.

The opening paragraph in a novel almost requires something eye-grabbing to hook the reader, and shorter paragraphs can do that. I know it's going to be a slog when the first paragraph of some new book I picked up takes the first half of the page.

All this I picked up in grade school. Or maybe high school. Along with many others, of course. Now there are some rules I've abandoned, like starting a sentence with And or But. (I'm also looking at you, double space after a period. Though I can't let go of that second space between state and zip code.) 

But generally, the style "rules" I learned growing up have stuck with me and shaped the way I write today. What writing advice have you learned over the years that you've incorporated into your own particular writing style? 

Comment or message me, I really enjoy hearing about different approaches to writing.

~*~

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