Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe in fairy tales? If you don't, you might after reading Imprisoned: Svetlana Garetova's Memoir by Ann Carbine Best.
"Imprisoned" resonates with Best's well-sculptured prose that says more between the lines than many books say within their lines. But this story is not about Best, it's about Svetlana.
Svetlana's memoir engrosses you with the story of the brutality that strikes her unexpectedly, and how hope and promise turn into despair and futility. But it is Svetlana's response that turns despair and futility back into hope and promise. It's the story of a Russian immigrant escaping the Russian mafia and searching for a new home, but who finds a prison instead, and once again must escape from someone who might kill her. It is through her courage, and perhaps a few miracles as well, that she finds her freedom a second time.
While this is a story that disturbs, with it's honesty, it is also a story that shows that you can survive and find freedom and happiness after all.
Imprisoned: Svetlana Garetova's Memoir is available at both Smashwords and Amazon at the links below.
http://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=Imprisoned
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00689ORVK/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_ask_syFlC.0TKCAA6
Monday, December 12, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
"The Fourth Wish" by Elizabeth Varadan
The Fourth Wish, by Elizabeth Varandan, is a novel for teens that almost defies description. The theme of “real” magic versus “fake” magic takes the reader on a journey she doesn’t want to quit.
The main characters, Melanie and Arthur, spar throughout the story. One feels sure that they are made for each other despite their verbal jabs. But each grows in his or her own way.
Children, especially, believe in magic. The illusion of the tricks being real is hard to refute. But older kids know there’s a trick involved, if they can only figure it out. Melanie and Arthur each come up with their own conclusions. Melanie discovers that “magic” can be deceptive when she falls for a boy who turns out to be other than what Melanie thought. Arthur discovers that “magic” has a reality of its own when he realizes there is something about magic that is real.
At the center of the struggle is the mysterious Mrs. Seraphina. It is her magic that turns the children’s world upside down and leads them to discover that there is magic after all, and it’s in the most obvious place of all, if you only look.
The Fourth Wish is available in paperback and as an e-book through Amazon.com and Smashwords.com. While it’s a book for teens, adults can enjoy it, too.
Friday, December 9, 2011
"The Foreign Language of Friends" by Nadine Galinsky Feldman
What do you get when you put four very different women together in a conversational Spanish class? In The Foreign Language of Friends, by Nadine Galinsky Feldman, you get a journey into friendship and growth.
Each of the women are so different from each other as to be opposites, yet it is in their oppositeness that they're able to help each other in their times of need. Each woman faces a crisis and is only able to pull through it with the help of her new friends. Each person's crisis is like notes in a musical score--each contrasting with the other, yet working together as a beautiful piece of art.
The themes of the novel are varied, but also weave together nicely. They involve divorce, death, work, and loneliness. The one constant in all of the women's lives is loneliness--each in her own way is isolated and friendless. Finding themselves in their new, unlikely, friendship speaks volumes about who they are, about who we can all become.
The Foreign Language of Friends is told in a language that is polished and clear, leaving no doubt about the meaning of friendship.
The book is available at Amazon.com.
Each of the women are so different from each other as to be opposites, yet it is in their oppositeness that they're able to help each other in their times of need. Each woman faces a crisis and is only able to pull through it with the help of her new friends. Each person's crisis is like notes in a musical score--each contrasting with the other, yet working together as a beautiful piece of art.
The themes of the novel are varied, but also weave together nicely. They involve divorce, death, work, and loneliness. The one constant in all of the women's lives is loneliness--each in her own way is isolated and friendless. Finding themselves in their new, unlikely, friendship speaks volumes about who they are, about who we can all become.
The Foreign Language of Friends is told in a language that is polished and clear, leaving no doubt about the meaning of friendship.
The book is available at Amazon.com.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
On Friends Passing Away
Last month, I turned 65. When you're this old, a lot of people you've known have died, and it only gets worse the longer you live. Every time I get an email from my high school's website stating that another person has passed on, I stop and reflect, especially about people I knew well who are no longer living. Unfortunately, there are quite a few of my high school classmates who are gone. As far as I know, none of my graduating class died in Vietnam, though some of my other classmates did. Cancer seems to be the number one cause of death.
The first person who ever died that I knew was a neighborhood boy named Lamar. He died of Leukemia while we were quite young. I was perhaps eight or nine years old at the time. The next person was a boy named Arthur Hyatt, a classmate of mine in the 9th grade. He was killed riding a motorcycle. His locker was next to mine and he had given me rides on his motorcycle. One time he lost control of it, throwing us both into the middle of the street. Fortunately, there were no cars passing by at the time. The next person was named Billy Priest, a classmate who died in a car wreck the year after we graduated from high school. That one hit pretty hard, because I'd known him since grade school, and it just didn't seem possible. He was one of the smartest people I'd ever known. It made me realize that there are no special people in the world. We're all susceptible to death.
Many other classmates of mine have died, but the two deaths that seem to give me the greatest pause are a couple of buddies of mine that I went to college with. I didn't meet Victor Hood or Frank Martin until my senior year in high school. We got to be friends, particularly when we decided to go to college together. We rented a house together during our freshmen year in college, but went our separate ways after that. Victor died perhaps twenty years ago. From what, I don't know. Frank died just within the past few days due to a complication from surgery. I ran into Frank perhaps a year or two after our freshman year in college. He was working in a tobacco shop and said he was very happy doing that. We never met again.
Why am I writing about this? Of what interest is it to you? Perhaps none. But dying is just as real as being born. I've often wondered what difference it has made that I've lived as long as I have. Has my life been any more valuable, have I gained any greater understanding than I had at a younger age. In other words, if I had died at fifteen or twenty or twenty-five, would I have lived just as full a life as I have now? Or would it have been less of a life?
I guess it gets down to quality of life. Is it possible to have a high quality of life and die young, and be just as fulfilled as someone who has lived longer, had more experiences, and died in old age? This is something I struggle with. This is a question I've asked myself many times. I really don't have an answer. But maybe you do. I'd like to hear what you have to say about it.
The first person who ever died that I knew was a neighborhood boy named Lamar. He died of Leukemia while we were quite young. I was perhaps eight or nine years old at the time. The next person was a boy named Arthur Hyatt, a classmate of mine in the 9th grade. He was killed riding a motorcycle. His locker was next to mine and he had given me rides on his motorcycle. One time he lost control of it, throwing us both into the middle of the street. Fortunately, there were no cars passing by at the time. The next person was named Billy Priest, a classmate who died in a car wreck the year after we graduated from high school. That one hit pretty hard, because I'd known him since grade school, and it just didn't seem possible. He was one of the smartest people I'd ever known. It made me realize that there are no special people in the world. We're all susceptible to death.
Many other classmates of mine have died, but the two deaths that seem to give me the greatest pause are a couple of buddies of mine that I went to college with. I didn't meet Victor Hood or Frank Martin until my senior year in high school. We got to be friends, particularly when we decided to go to college together. We rented a house together during our freshmen year in college, but went our separate ways after that. Victor died perhaps twenty years ago. From what, I don't know. Frank died just within the past few days due to a complication from surgery. I ran into Frank perhaps a year or two after our freshman year in college. He was working in a tobacco shop and said he was very happy doing that. We never met again.
Why am I writing about this? Of what interest is it to you? Perhaps none. But dying is just as real as being born. I've often wondered what difference it has made that I've lived as long as I have. Has my life been any more valuable, have I gained any greater understanding than I had at a younger age. In other words, if I had died at fifteen or twenty or twenty-five, would I have lived just as full a life as I have now? Or would it have been less of a life?
I guess it gets down to quality of life. Is it possible to have a high quality of life and die young, and be just as fulfilled as someone who has lived longer, had more experiences, and died in old age? This is something I struggle with. This is a question I've asked myself many times. I really don't have an answer. But maybe you do. I'd like to hear what you have to say about it.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Great Comments Award
http://jennaquentin.blogspot.com/
I've been honored with the "Great Comments Award" by Jenna Quentin at Meandering in the Fields of Words. A condition of accepting the award is to pass it on to twenty top commenters at my blog. Like Jenna, I appreciate all the comments I get, and I try to comment as often as I can on other people's blogs.
Here are the last twenty commenters on my blog.
1. http://silversolara.blogspot.com/
2. http://elizabethvaradansfourthwish.blogspot.com/2011/12/do-you-believe-in-magic.html
3. http://talliroland.blogspot.com/
4. http://peggyeddleman.blogspot.com/
5. http://nancysthompson.blogspot.com/
6. http://jolenesbeenwriting.blogspot.com/
7. http://rolandyeomans.blogspot.com/
8. http://lettersfromvalentinahepburn.blogspot.com/
9. http://rachaelharrie.blogspot.com/
10. http://tanyareimer.blogspot.com/
11. http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/
12. http://clarissadraper.blogspot.com/
13. https://annbestblog.wordpress.com/
14. http://sylmion.blogspot.com/
15. http://rebeccakielpages.blogspot.com/
16. http://julianalbrandt.com/
17. http://catbirdscout.blogspot.com/
18. http://pk-hrezo.blogspot.com/
19.http://donnahole.blogspot.com/
20. http://thegoldeneaglesblog.blogspot.com/
Friday, November 25, 2011
Word Count, Three Months Later
This is a continuation of posts concerning the progress on my WIP.
http://richard-writingandliving.blogspot.com/2011/10/word-count-two-months-later.html
http://richard-writingandliving.blogspot.com/2011/09/word-count-one-month-later.html
http://richard-writingandliving.blogspot.com/2011/08/word-count.html
Week Oct 19-22 7,950 words
Week Oct 24-29 5,417 words
Week Oct 31 4,213 words Draft Completed.
I finished the complete draft on Oct. 31. Total word count was a little over 116,000 words. I ended up eliminating two or three chapters that I decided did not move the story forward in the main plot line. So, I finished earlier than expected.
Tanya Reimer agreed to read the ms, and the feedback she's giving me is phenomenal. She could easily be a professional editor if that was what she wanted to be. I honestly believe her advice will take the book to a new level. So I will not be publishing the book at this time, but will be working on it a while longer--possibly two or three more months.
Am I disappointed, because I wanted to self-publish the book this year? Absolutely not. I'm tickled pink to have the opportunity to make the book much better. Tanya's advice is so exhaustive as to leave no leaf unturned. I'm truly amazed.
Thank you, Tanya.
http://tanyareimer.blogspot.com/
http://richard-writingandliving.blogspot.com/2011/10/word-count-two-months-later.html
http://richard-writingandliving.blogspot.com/2011/09/word-count-one-month-later.html
http://richard-writingandliving.blogspot.com/2011/08/word-count.html
Week Oct 19-22 7,950 words
Week Oct 24-29 5,417 words
Week Oct 31 4,213 words Draft Completed.
I finished the complete draft on Oct. 31. Total word count was a little over 116,000 words. I ended up eliminating two or three chapters that I decided did not move the story forward in the main plot line. So, I finished earlier than expected.
Tanya Reimer agreed to read the ms, and the feedback she's giving me is phenomenal. She could easily be a professional editor if that was what she wanted to be. I honestly believe her advice will take the book to a new level. So I will not be publishing the book at this time, but will be working on it a while longer--possibly two or three more months.
Am I disappointed, because I wanted to self-publish the book this year? Absolutely not. I'm tickled pink to have the opportunity to make the book much better. Tanya's advice is so exhaustive as to leave no leaf unturned. I'm truly amazed.
Thank you, Tanya.
http://tanyareimer.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
One Year Old
That's right. My blog is now one year old.
What a fast-paced year it was. How have I done? I know it's been all over the place as far as subject matter. It started off in one direction, then moved in other directions depending on my mood or whatever I was involved in. I like writing in that way, but I think it's probably better to have clear themes that you work with, that recur. At least, that's the way I feel at the moment. But I don't seem to have any themes that I'm attached to except the theme of writing. Yet, what can I say that so many other blogs haven't already said about writing? I'm not sure I have anything to add, although I know that each person's way of expressing the same ideas can be quite different. There's always variety. It's something I'll think about for the second year of my blog.
What have I enjoyed most about blogging? No doubt, expressing my ideas is important. That's what a lot of blogs are about--expressing one's ideas. I've certainly done that on occassions.
But, just as importantly, I've enjoyed the many bloggers I've met through blogging. There are so many talented people out there. I wish we could all get together and have a big convention, or maybe just a party would do. But it would be a big party. Now there's an idea. How can I have a big blog party on my blog?
What a fast-paced year it was. How have I done? I know it's been all over the place as far as subject matter. It started off in one direction, then moved in other directions depending on my mood or whatever I was involved in. I like writing in that way, but I think it's probably better to have clear themes that you work with, that recur. At least, that's the way I feel at the moment. But I don't seem to have any themes that I'm attached to except the theme of writing. Yet, what can I say that so many other blogs haven't already said about writing? I'm not sure I have anything to add, although I know that each person's way of expressing the same ideas can be quite different. There's always variety. It's something I'll think about for the second year of my blog.
What have I enjoyed most about blogging? No doubt, expressing my ideas is important. That's what a lot of blogs are about--expressing one's ideas. I've certainly done that on occassions.
But, just as importantly, I've enjoyed the many bloggers I've met through blogging. There are so many talented people out there. I wish we could all get together and have a big convention, or maybe just a party would do. But it would be a big party. Now there's an idea. How can I have a big blog party on my blog?
Come to my party--everyone's invited.
Tanya, you bring the wit and wisdom.
PK, you bring the party favors.
Valentina, you bring the champaign. Oh yeah, Suzie Campioni sounds like fun too.
Scott, you bring the time-machine.
I'll let Michelle and Elizabeth bring us back to reality.
Dave, bring your zombie friends.
Oh, everyone, just bring yourselves.
Who knows, maybe we'll have fun.
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