Writers Books

If there was an exclusive country club for published writers, Shirley Jump would open the door and invite you in.

It is evident from the book that she has a real knack for teaching what she knows. And since she has sold over 3000 articles, two non-fiction books, and is an award-winning novelist, I think she's qualified to teach!

The highest praise anyone can give a how-to book is: "It worked for me." After I read this book, I "joined the country club" and got my first article published. That one opened the door for many others!

I have read and enjoyed other books about writing, but this is the book I actually use. The information presented in How to Publish Your Articles is very accessible and highly readable. It's great for beginners as well as experienced writers, because it cuts out the fluff and just tells you how to do it.

How To Publish Your Articles is a great resource for beginning freelancers who want to publish articles. The author, Shirley Jump, is an accomplished author of nine books, has contributed to various anthologies, and has countless numbers of articles under her belt.

In Part One, Shirley begins with the basics of writing. She first helps you define your goals for writing. Then she explains the article market and how it works.

In Part Two, you learn about article publishing. You have to know where your article fits in, which helps you to find the right publication for your piece. Shirley explains in detail every type of article there is for you to write, as well as every type of publication there is out there for you to submit to.

The thing I like about this book is that Shirley doesn't just tell you what you need. She explains in detail how to write your cover letter, for example. The section on writing your cover letter, literally takes you step-by-step through the salutation; introductory paragraph; second, third, and fourth paragraph; and the closing. Not only that, but she also tells you how you should format your letter and what type of paper should be used to create a business-like appearance. Taking it one step further, sample cover letters are also included, so you can actually see how it's done.

Part Three delves into building your career as a freelance writer. Shirley discusses how to find ideas for your articles, as well as how to recycle old ideas. Next, she takes you through composing the query letter. As in the cover letter, she walks you step-by-step, from beginning to end. Example query letters are included for both published and unpublished writers. She also includes samples that did and did not make the sale.

Shirley also talks about researching and writing your article, once the sale is made, as well as important facts about contracts and rights. The book is rounded out in the end with inspirational advice and thoughts from Shirley about building your career as a freelance writer.

I believe How To Publish Your Articles should be a staple for every writer who is starting a career as a freelancer, or who is thinking about starting. It is full of important information that is pertinent to every freelance writer.

When you purchase your copy, I suggest you read through it once entirely. Then, once you consume the information for the first time, go back and start from the beginning and use a highlighter. Don't be afraid to take notes in the side margin, too--there's lots of space there, so utilize it!

How To Publish Your Articles is the most comprehensive book on freelance writing that I have ever read. As a new writer it has been instrumental in helping me get published. With user friendly instructions Ms. Jump takes the anxiety out of formatting queries and proposals. Whether you want to crack the magazine market, write short stories or personal essays, all the infomation you need is here. Take the advice in this book and put it to work, you won't be sorry!

Shirley Jump has been freelancing for most of her life. Now she shares her secrets for success in this great book. Do you know someone whose New Year's Resolution was to start writing? Buy them this book as a show of support. It should be on every writer's desk, between the stamps and the coffee.

Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson,award-winning author of This is the Place and Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered

I asked for a copy of How to Publish Your Articles by Shirley Kawa-Jump because I'm writing a series of how-to books for retailers and wanted to recommend a tell-it-all book on a subject I would just be touching on. Having published many articles in the national and local media, I was afraid I wouldn't find a good one, that I would be too tough a critic.

Now I'll have to eat my fears. If that is similar to eating crow, so be it. Having published more than 2500 articles herself, Kawa-Jump's book is thorough and knowledgeable. It's also both basic enough for beginners and advanced enough to be a good review for accomplished writers. Seasoned article writers might even find a new tidbit or two that will help them with marketing, with their contracts or with building their careers.

What I liked best about HTPYA is that it gives a mini insider's view of how an article reaches a publication's desk and it does it for categories from large consumer magazines to e-outlets.

I was surprised that the chapter I found the most rewarding was all about goals. Obviously, my retailers who choose to pursue writing articles in their area of expertise are going to have to narrow their goals very drastically. If it will work for someone with such a strict objective, it's sure to do even more for writers with big dreams.
--------
(Carolyn Howard-Johnson's first novel, This is the Place, has won eight awards. Her newly released Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remember,has won three.)

this is a great phenomenal saga. an adventure that rarely successfully delivered with a pen. 'the last hero' is a modern classic that should be on your bookshelf with 'lonesome dove', 'brules', 'shantaram', 'the kite runner', stephen hunter's 'point of impact' swagger series, robert ludlum's genuine creations from 'the gemini contender' to 'the matarese circle', all of a. j. quinnelle's novels, all of louis la'mor's westerns....they are all good memories, touched your soul and made your life more vividly colorful.

This book is quite simply amazing. From the first page you are hooked and become an invisible member of the crew hacking your own way through the Ituri Forest. Stanley is brought to life along with many other real-life people, including Tipoo Tib, the slave dealer. Read this book and you will never forget it, the whole atmosphere of unexplored Africa and its hidden tribes will be with you always. The unknown beauty of the Congo River and its people take you into a new world with different standards, different morales and a very different slant on life. The actions of Emin Pasha will move you to tears and the whole experience of this book is one that every person should enjoy.

Compulsively readable, thrilling story, vivid evocation of darkest Africa and a potrait of Henry Morgan Stanley that leaps right of the page and grabs you by the throat, this story of the insane expedtion to rescue Emin Pasha's people from the conquering dervishes is everything you want a serious book of historical fiction to be. Especially recommended for those interested in the literature of exploration and discovery into land's unkown in the Western world in the 19th century. How many 700+ page books are you sorry to see come to an end? This is such a one. Enjoy.

This awesome novel of exploration into Central Africa during a time of civil unrest is by far one of the best books I have ever read. The characters are well developed and the tale gripping, based on actual historical events, the novel is a must read. Once you pick it up, you will not want to put it down. Since reading this novel, I have acquired all, of the late, Peter Forbath's novels. His vivid detail of the surroundings, the authority figure that demostrates both compassion and understanding as well as harsh punishments, and the intertwining of the characters' lives make this an amazing tale of Central Africa events in the late 1800's.

The story told in "The Last Hero" is that of Sir Henry Morton Stanley (of "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" fame, but that's another story) who, in 1885 organized and led a mission to rescue Emin Pasha, governor of Equatoria, the southernmost province of the Egyptian Sudan, which was surrounded by the Mahdist uprising. Amazingly, Stanley decided to approach Equatoria from the Atlantic side of Africa by going up the Congo river and overland through central African forest. The expedition crossed hundreds of miles of then-unknown Africa, encountering every obstacle and difficulty along the way. The eventual end of the mission is one of history's great ironies, but I don't want to give anything away.

"The Last Hero" is a very well-written adventure story, all the more interesting because it is true. My only complaint (a very minor one) concerns the absence of notes and bibliography which could have given some historical documentation and sources.

Another good book is "The River Congo: The Discovery, Exploration and Exploitation of the World's Most Dramatic River" (nonfiction) which is also by Peter Forbath (a journalist who reported on Africa). Henry Morton Stanley was also a bestselling author, he wrote: "How I Found Livingstone" (1872); "Through the Dark Continent" (1878); and "In Darkest Africa" (1890).

This book is easily the best book I've ever written... the only one, actually. Dan Dunn is great. Dan Dunn is me.

Dan Dunn has written a book that is not only freakin' funny, but is also a very informative tome about the history of booze. If you are unable to travel this year, pick up this book, pour yourself a drink and take a trip with Dunn as he traverses the world in search of free booze and food. You will not be disappointed.

"Nobody Likes a Quitter" rocks, which makes sense, because author Dan Dunn apparently likes his liquor on the rocks and, well, in just about any other form. Dunn, a professional booze writer for numerous magazines and newspapers, manages to bundle up his social life, professional life, and the life of the various skid-row bums he calls friends and roommates --- who may or may not be completely real but who are unfortunately at least 75% real --- into a tight roman à clef narrative of debauchery and merriment.

It's hard not to see the parallels to "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" by Dunn's mentor and one-time bothersome Colorado neighbor, Hunter S. Thompson. (The two used to hang together in the 1990s, and Dunn apparently has the crazed late-night voicemail message from Thompson on his machine to prove it.)

Admittedly, and Dunn would have to agree, Quitter isn't as literary as Fear and Loathing --- there's no stated quest to find the American dream, although Dunn seems to be living it; no stated agenda of capturing the essence of generations x, y or z --- but the rhythm and the fun and the spirit (and spirits) are there. Whereas Thompson was on assignment for Rolling Stone and his fuel was his narcotics, Dunn consumes nearly every known mainstream and indigenous intoxicant in North America and Europe while remaining ever so loyal to the Deadline, capital D, and his responsibility to his readers.

Dunn is proud and irreverent, with 12 chapters in Quitter based on AA's 12 steps. This is the stuff he obviously couldn't put into his newspaper columns. Aside from the sex, which is sloppy enough to believe, there's the feeling that any responsible newspaper editor, knowing the true background, would send Dunn to rehab instead of footing the bill for his drinking orgies.

I'd call this required reading for any serious educated drinker. There is a narrative, sort of, in a hazy drunk kind of way: The letters between him and a Fox TV executive about some ill-fated pilot are worth the price of admission, as is the high-as-a-kite Larry King story. Yet layered in here also is the history of booze, in sidebars, and lessons on cocktail making. Like a Long Island Ice Tea, the various poisons somehow mesh in an intoxicating read.

-cw

If you love fiction and comedy, you will love this book. Dan dunn is a unique writer and his book is worth reading. Just take a look at the endorsements and you will know that this book is for those with a sense of humor. Buy, read and enjoy. We did!!

The identity of the man who pens one of America's most widely circulated booze columns is illusive. From humble beginnings as a local newspaper columnist in Aspen, Colorado, to rubbing elbows with the rich and famous at swank L.A. mixers, the public truly knows little about this man of mystery, despite a career that threatens to bleed through three or four decades. His mystique remains uncompromised in the pages of Nobody Likes a Quitter. Dunn's episodic remembrances are seasoned with recipes for cocktails and shots, tips for selecting premium spirits and advice on who to drink them with. For the modern bathroom and subway reader, this format is ideal--this way you can pick up or leave off anywhere in the book without loosing your orientation. No matter when-- no matter where-- no matter if you're sipping straight Johnnie Walker Blue or chugging from a Dixie cup of Franzia boxed wine-- you're going to have a good time with this book.

I'm not really a Stones fan, but this book is an interesting examination of what we choose to make important in our lives, how we view our own obsessions (and behaviors) relative to those around us, and if/how we finally decide to back off from them. The uneasiness Mr. Baumeister's review attributes to the book is exactly what sets it apart - it makes us ask how much is too much, and whether we are sure our protagonist is on the right side of the line.
I really liked the central role Chuch (the guitar tech) took on in the narrative, and found his story quite a jarring dose of reality, casting into sharp relief the circus he was surrounded by.
Had to deduct a star for lack of props to the bass player - give Darryl some love!

The Konrad Baumeister review gives away the ending. Do not read the 4th paragraph if you intend to read the book -- which you should.

A writer and musician, Wendy Ellison Mullen brings a very special expertise to bear in Ronnie Wood's Smile And Where It Led. A rock 'n roll insider, Wendy combines her abilities as a scholar, a writer, and a fan to share with her readers an engaging and informative account of the world of rock music with its roadies, concerts, life on the road, and the recording studios in general, and Ron Woods of the Rolling Stones in particular. Ronnie Wood's Smile And Where It Led is a terrific read from first page to last -- and one that no true Stones fan will want to miss!

Ronnie Wood is one of the true rock greats. He has played with frankly everybody of any consequence, been a key figure in the greatest rock bands then extant (Jeff Beck, Faces, Rod Stewart, Rolling Stones), released quirky and touchingly charming solo albums, and guested onstage with talents large and small. While certainly no guitar virtuoso, his playing instead is honest and personal; he plays unlike anyone else I have heard. Throughout one gets the feeling of humor, great charm, and a love of performing. I love him.

Wendy Mullen loves him too; she loves him *a lot*. And this book is really her story, not Ronnie Wood's at all.

At a Stones concert in the mid-90s, Ronnie more or less randomly smiles one of his huge ear-to-ear grins into the crowd, Cupid's arrow strikes Wendy, and a tale of obsession begins. Intrigued and fascinated, she writes a fan letter and eventually a signed photo appears in her mail! Now she's a goner. Pursuing her fascination and new raison d'etre in any way she can, she comes across fan communities on the internet, and meets varied other monomaniancs in her travels. She and some new friends begin criss-crossing the country, and then other countries, following the Stones tours, and finding imaginative and sometimes successful ways of getting decent and even afforable tickets to sold-out shows, as close to the object of their affections as they can. They camp outside of the hotels the Stones are staying at, and make fun of the obviously stalking and dangerous, pathetic fanatics who are doing everything that Wendy et al are doing, but a few feet or inches closer to the hapless band members. They hurl objects like men's briefs or scarves onstage hoping for recognition from Wood for their loyalty and love. They dodge security to get closer to the stage, or even briefly backstage.

On rare occasion, Wendy gets a word or two from one of the Stones, even from Wood (mouthed to her in some huge concert venue from stage), more often from roadies and band employees, and gets backstage more than once. [...] Once home, having been face to face with her obsession and suddenly realized the gulf between them, she decides that there is no point in going on with this type of pursuit and 'releases' poor Woody, and herself, from her love. We are all relieved, including probably Wendy's husband.

The book, which has won actual literary prizes, is well written (Mullen reminds us time and again that she has a PhD in English lit), and the author has a keen eye for detail and there is an honest appreciation of irony (as when she and her friends look down on other stalkers). I did enjoy reading it, snideness above to the contrary. But I came away actually feeling pity for Wood and for all celebrities of his rank (and he doesn't even have to deal with the adulation Jagger gets). I have met Ron Wood at art shows, and must say that he is surprisingly approachable and charming. I have met other rock stars and can say that Wood is in that way quite an exception. But I have never had any illusions that somehow I can get Woody to pick up the phone on a Friday and invite me over for a Guiness or two.

Through the flowering of her obsession, Wendy has become hugely expert on Ron Wood's music and musical career, and her website, slideonron.com is strongly recommended for any Woody fan. But this book, well written and honest and in a way innocently and then not so innocently heartfelt, made me uneasy somehow.

This book was one of those that you pick up and you dont put it down until you've finished it. I thought it was very interesting, very personal, and I really liked the story, especially the ending. It was well written, and I would highly recommend it to any Stones fan, or any music fan who has had a "fan based" relationship with a musical artist or a band. Of course, the ending was great, and how appropriate that the lyric "You cant always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need", couldnt be more appropriate. Well Done!
John Lewis

Great plot, great story, great characters but many times Smith gets too tangential. It doesn't add to the book at all. The tagents are more distracting. Overall, he is a talented writer. I highly doubt anyone would not enjoy this book.

A fun adventure, definitely worth the ride. Bob Smith gives us a central character (Nelson) that grabs our hand and says, "Hey, come with me. I've got a story to tell." Smith (and Nelson) guides us along a well crafted and page-turning plot that is funny, thought-provoking and unpredictable.
Thanks for a great trip, Bob.

I've always enjoyed Mr. Smith's comedy plus his previous autobiographies. This book continues in mostly the same vein, quirky, irreverent, self-deprecating, totally enjoyable. I do wish it could have been edited down a little, as he does tend to go on a bit in some of the scenes (much like a Saturday Night Live skit that goes on beyond the laughter) but still, this book is worth a whirl.

I have not finished the book yet, but so far it is great. I have never laughed so hard from reading a book before.

Much of Bob Smith's novel SELFISH & PERVERSE is set in and around Anchorage, Alaska, where there is no IKEA store, enough to make me want to move there. The narrator is Nelson Kunker, from Los Angeles, who is stalled on a novel he has been writing for far too long. He meets Roy Briggs, a fisherman/archeology student from Alaska. They ride off into the Alaskan sunset but not quite. A recently-sprung-from-prison actor named Dylan Fabizak gets in the way of this romance, particularly on the side of the narrator who is a sucker for good abs and the rest of the perfect male body. Actually all three main characters are hotter than a stove in the cold of Alaska, but this is a requirement for a good beach novel. In short, these men look like no one many of us will ever know. Muscles ripple and temptation is never far from the surface.

Mr. Smith lets his narrator say some extremely funny things, the best thing about this novel, as well as giving pungent opinions. Nelson on older men, which for him is anyone over 40: "Their beauty was like the sunshine in winter: I could see the light but didn't feel the heat and my appreciation remained dispassionate." His take on reading: "My reading tended to proceed like a row of falling dominoes, one book leading me to the next." Bittersweet chocolate tastes like "an adults only confection sold in the no-one-under-21-admitted backroom of a candy store." Nelson believes that normal men think about sex all the time but sex addicts have sex all the time. He describes modern Scandinavian furniture as "mission furniture designed by agnostics." Then there's Roy's hierarchial catalogue of body odors (page 311), a little too risque to be quoted here.

After all these witty and often insightful observations, near the end of the novel Nelson contemplates writing a sketch about Lucille Ball and Ethel Rosenberg that is in such bad taste and so not funny that you have to wonder what Mr. Green was thinking. Had he done his homework, he would have known that the authorities in June of 1953 had difficulty carrying out her execution. It took her a long time to die (think cruel and unusual punishment), and the executioner kept giving her more electrial jolts. Additionally while the case of the Rosenbergs still remains controversial, many scholars contend that Mrs. Rosenberg was innocent of the charge of conspiracy to commit espionage for which she was executed. Be that as it may, to attempt to make something funny abut such a horrific event in our history is totally inappropriate, at least to me. I suspect the Rosenberg children, Robert and Michael Meeropol, who have written eloquently about their parents and whom no relative would adopt, would agree with me.

To pick up Isak Dinesen's Seven Gothic Tales is to pick up one of the world's greatest literary masterpieces. Here in these seven stories we are presented with a universe that's compelling, beautiful and strange in a way that no other author has (in my opinion) ever equalled. If I was ever on a desert island and had one book I would hope it was this one.

If you enjoy stories by J. Sheridan Lefanu, Ray Bradbury, Hans Christian Anderson or Susanna Clarke, here you'll find similar ethereal qualities, but brought to a level of artistic beauty that surpasses everything that has been written before or since.

It is a mystery to me why this author is as little-known as she is - these tales represent, for me, the quintessential short fiction of the 20th Century.

dinesen/blixen was a true, living Scheherazade. this is an astounding collection of stories within stories within stories within stories. beautifully, elegantly written and set in various european locales, starring wonderfully alive characters straight out of fairytales, dreams and myth. these are strange, magical narratives (novellas, to be a stickler) with a modern sensibility. brimming with metaphors that will make you pause. kind of a cross between e.t.a. hoffman and a.s. byatt. definitely going to read more of her stuff.

This is a demanding work of seven multilayered and esoteric stories in this, Dinesen's first book.

We know of Dinesen more commonly by way of Meryl Streep, who played Dinesen, or the Baroness Karen Blixen, in "Out of Africa." But the woman we find here as the author of these stories is no easily-understood, Hollywood character. Her stories within stories are rich in symbolism, imagination, and a "long ago and far away" feeling that is carefully, carefully, controlled by the author. Dinesen wrote some of these tales in Africa, and finished others along with ordering the book back home in Denmark, after her farm had failed. She wrote, interestingly, in English (and did her own translations back into Danish later on). Many books follow this one, including LAST TALES and, of course, OUT OF AFRICA. Dinesen, while the heroic, strong, individualist of Streep's portrayal, is also kind of strange, introspective, and fabulously bizarre. She uses her stories' plot lines as a means, one feels, to work out her life philosophies, reshape and recast ideas and symbolic imagery, and impart creative insights. After getting to about the fourth or fifth story, one can see that she uses the same imagery repeatedly and even the same turns of phrase.

I have read this volume at least once before, and wanted to go through it again knowing just that much more literature and biblical references. (It helps to be well read in the classics when reading Dinesen.) Anything is up for her use, and if you don't see it, something will be lost to you as you interpret the stories and what they meant, or even, what happened. She loves Shakespeare (OUT OF AFRICA was written in five sections, after the five-act structure of Shakespearian drama), and Don Giovanni, she has interesting ideas about femininity and independent women, and symbolizes these issues with women who are doll-like, women who seem as if they can fly, women who are witches in some way or another, etc. She likes to toy with the mind of God, as well, having characters pronounce his proclivities, likes and dislikes, etc., quite often. I found these to be some of the most interesting passages, after some of the gender-defining ones, that is. (She chose her pseudonym, "Isak," as it is Hebrew for "He who laughs" and she definitely plays with many ideas here, many humorously.)

Of the seven tales (The Old Chevalier, The Roads Round Pisa, The Monkey, The Supper at Elsinore, The Dreamers, The Poet, and The Deluge at Norderney), The Roads Round Pisa is my favorite, and I have studied it for a graduate class. In the book, a mistake is the central event, and we learn of it only at the end. Our main character, Count Augustus Von Schimmelmann, is writing a letter to a friend, when a carriage accident occurs in front of him. An old woman, who seemed at first to him to be a man, is injured and asks that he go and seek out her granddaughter so that she may forgive her for an estrangement before she dies, as she believes she will do shortly. Augustus sets out for Pisa and in an inn meets a young man, with whom he engages in an interesting conversation. Soon, however, he finds out that this man is a woman, and whereas before he had been asking "him" for help in finding his way into the city, now he offers her his assistance as a gentleman. Their subsequent conversation holds a particularly compelling passage I have never forgotten. In it, Dinesen explicates a concept of women's differences, physically, psychologically and societally, from men through the artful use of the host and guest metaphor.

This passage is a key to the story's mood when toward the end the mistake around which the characters swirl is revealed. But the passage is also an interesting philosophical and societal analogy that provokes thought and discussion. This is, then, quintessential Dinesen.

The other stories deal with identity and loss (The Dreamers), a ghost who is allowed to rise up from hell whenever the sound between Denmark and Sweden freezes over (Supper at Elsinore), the mirage of lost love (The Old Chevalier), poetry and power (The Poet), the societal roles of women (The Monkey), and identity (The Deluge at Norderney), but these are very brief and basic categorizations. One could safely say that all the stories deal with many of the others' main themes. The book as a whole is an excellent study of the power of fiction to suggest and manipulate, with beautiful, evocative writing and deep and stirring underlying meanings. I recommend it.

These are strangely compelling stories, all of which evoke a sense of mystery and poetry. Floods and monkeys, skulls and puppet shows, vie with each other and figure here in short works that are too realistic for fables but too bizarre to be mistaken for reality.

Gothic surrealism might be the best way to describe the tone achieved by the author, whose real name was Karen Blixen (made familiar to modern audiences by the film "Out of Africa"). This is a reissue of a volume that first appeared in 1934.

Borrowing the author's phrase, each story is "like an echo in the engulfing darkness." Atmospheric and brooding, these tales are part Poe and part Brothers Grimm. Exotic in characterization as well as setting, we are introduced to a polyglot collection of virgin nuns and wandering n'er do wells, who cling to rooftops and journey on rhino-horn laden dhows.

Escape from the ordinary world is promised and delivered, but somehow, the people in these stories also remind us of people we know and situations that might not be as straightforward as we have assumed. A scarf may not be a scarf. The wind may be more than the wind. A scarf blown in the wind recalls to one character the memory of a little white snake -- madness is hinted at, at every turn.

They are seven distinctive tales. Yet, the evocation of place, the depiction of eccentricity, the precariousness of life, suffuse them all. They are magnetic and memorable. Even so, some readers may find the tales a bit too weird for their tastes.

If you find this review helpful you might want to read some of my other reviews, including those on subjects ranging from biography to architecture, as well as religion and fiction.

Why isn't I. Dinesen's work more widely known and accepted in the modernist pantheon? Her reputation seems to have settled into that of oddball literary personality and vehicle for Meryl Streep, however the work itself would have eluded me, despite a decent education in high school and university (for example, I was given Hesse and Camus to read in 10th grade, why not Isak?)had I not been attracted to this title in a dusty library. The work is about as anti-Hollywood as I could possibly imagine. Perhaps the answer is, she is not really a modernist but some sort of high baroque romanticist belonging more in the 19th century world of German prose; the "layering of stories" effect, especially in "Roads to Pisa", reads like she is channeling the world of Jan Potocki, enigmatic author of "The Saragossa Manuscript," who like Casanova moved in that incredible world of the international bohemian intellectual elite that Rexroth describes so well somewhere in one of his essays; that world of post-chaises and midnight rendezvous and military officers with seemingly endless resources of money, brains, education and cunning ... in fact "Saragossa" and Casanova's "Memoirs" were the books that came to my mind as I read her...reading this stuff is like eating a chocolate eclair with a brain more powerful than yours will ever be...why aren't there writers like this anymore? Was it all only a dream?

When I picked up my copy of Sexography, the store clerk said to me that she had read it and had met the author, and was "proud of her"... I thought that was a funny thing to say so I asked her what she meant -- did she know Carly? She said no, but "I just think she's so brave." I wasn't sure what to make of that, until I read the book for myself.

Time for some full disclosure: I've known Carly for several years and have always known her to take a more or less "open book" approach in her writing. So I wasn't surprised to find the same quality in Sexography. But I do think it's a brave book, for a couple of reasons.

For one thing, I think it takes courage to talk about sexual abuse and rape when one has had the experience (as Carly did) of being disbelieved by your parents. But the other place her courage really shines through is in her remarkable resilience. This book tells the story of a woman who comes through some pretty intense emotional stuff, and who isn't content to just stop feeling bad -- she pushes well beyond that to a place of real wholeness and health. It's inspiring, and a story well worth telling.

Before reading this book, I knew Carly well enough to know that she had some battle scars from her past; but I didn't know quite what a survivor she is. Actually, survivor is the wrong word -- she's a thriver.

Carly's book left a strong and lasting impression on me. I found it to be a journey that every woman should travel, as I felt myself grow in strength and resolve as she does, overcoming the odds to find her voice--and one with an amazingly discerning eye and superior sense of humor.

It's an inch, by inch description of how one young girl, then woman searched and earned her own sense of self, and self esteem. There are no short cuts or platitudes that can erase an abusive past--the secret to healing really lies in hard work and perseverance. Struggling to create your own anchor, (one's sense of self, and a grid of values of your own making) is a universal, coming-of-age-and-beyond struggle. What makes this book so intriguing is that the subject matter, a "Sexography" throws in sharp relief many of the issues women face, from wanting and needing a man who is not good for them, to how to fathom and take advantage of the great experience sex can be. But basically, this book is about LIFE, how to make peace with the one you've got, and embrace all the possibilities it has to offer in the midst of sacrifice, pain and disappointments...this should be required reading for every young woman.

With a title like SEXOGRAPHY and a cover image so enticing, if one is to judge this book by its cover, one might guess that this book is filled with lurid, shocking, and downright naughty stories about sex, sex, sex!

And while there are some very naughty stories indeed, notice line underneath the title of the book: One Woman's Journey from Ignorance to Bliss!

This is not just a book about sex; it's an honest account of Carly's sexual journey through her first three decades of life... the good, the bad, and the ugly... set in the context of how her sexuality affected her life in the larger picture. Instead of a one-sided analysis of her sex life, Carly delves deep into the various aspects of all the emotions, behaviors, life-changing decisions, and other ways that sex gets wrapped in our lives.

I hope that in another 30 years, Carly will consider a follow-up sex memoir book to tell all about her next 3 decades!

Carly Milne has penned an unflinching portrait of molestation by her father, an honest look at dealing with herpes and surviving sexual assault, homelessness and alcoholism all before turning 18, and the comedy that ensued from working as a sex toy tester.
In her first book, "Sexography: One woman's journey from ignorance to bliss," Milne has recorded both the hilarious and harrowing visions of her sexual self, with a frank tone and unpitying wit.
No excuses.
Milne dove into memories starting with the childhood comfort in her own naked form, and the long years spent trying to reclaim that feeling.
The scene of the first time Milne was raped, after taking a ride home with a stranger during her early teen years, is a disturbing portrait of the assault, made all the more horrifying by Milne's internal dialogue. It's hard to remain distant from the rape while reading the victim's thoughts. And that's just as it should be.
Although it may leave readers with a taste of the nauseated feeling of being violated, or at the very least squirming in their seats, the rawness of even the most painful memories is what makes the book work, from those heavy moments, to the lighter side.
Early explorations, including discovering the difference between boys and Ken dolls and practice make-out sessions with Milne acting as a stand-in for Rick Schroder, are written in a playful tone.
And a scene where Milne tries to Create A Mate, casting her then-husband's penis in "buddy batter" goop for a personalized dildo, is laugh-out-loud funny.

Sexography by Carly Milne was a book I read every spare moment I had. I get it now! The mind of an abused woman is something I and many others never understood. I always thought it was about me. What did I do? Only now do I understand what an abused woman in an otherwise healthy relationship is going through. Carly has made it possible for me to have open and wonderful conversations with former girlfriends about what happened when we were together.

Her courageous, open book, see it all, writing style is gripping! You know this is the truth, the whole truth. It's wonderful how she shares her inner dialogue, her thoughts, her struggles with coming to grips with "there's something wrong here". You are there with her as she heals step by step, level by level.

Read this book! You cannot get this insight anywhere else. I guarantee you will not be disappointed!

The Story of Me is a book like you have never read before. I really liked this book. It was a fun and easy read. Advocate (a.k.a Blayne Cooper) takes two lives and turns them completely upside down! Randi, a driving instructor, leads a pretty normal if not very boring life. One night that simple life she knew and trusted disappeared with a knock at the door. Enter Mac! Mac changes everything for Randi. Mac has been stalking Randi to see if she will fit nicely into her ideas for revenge against her ex-girlfriend. What Randi chooses to do will change their lives forever...will it be for the good or bad? This book has great characters,a good plot, LOTS of wicked humor,jealousy, sweet revenge, and a blossoming friendship. Did I mention two squirrels that happen to be really good listners? This is a funny book about finding out who you really are and what can be found on the inside. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did! It will stay in my collection to read again!

Tall, beautiful, straight (not to mention rather antisocial) Randi, a driver's education instructor, can't quite believe all that's happened to her in the last four weeks. First she was stalked by an unknown stranger. The "stalker" turned out to be Mac, an attractive, petite woman from one of her classes. Mac needs Randi's help. Mac was dumped by her girlfriend, Sandra. The gold digging Sandra used Mac has a stepping stone on the way to her brother, the doctor. Mac knows that Randi also has reason to hate Sandra and Mac has devised the perfect revenge for both of them. Mac wants to attend the next family gathering in Nevada and present Randi as her girlfriend. . . .

Despite thinking Mac might be crazy and not too bright (she failed Randi's class, although it turns out to have been the same week Sandra left her. ), Randi has agreed to help extract revenge from Sandra. When the date for the reunion is changed the two must begin a cross country trek by car that turns into a strange, wild romp. These two women are like oil and vinegar as they engage in a range of miscommunications as well as intentionally irritating behaviors. Indeed Randi even subtitles a portion of the trip "Thema & Louise had it easy." In the midst of ridiculous events, Randi and Mac draw closer to their destination and to one another. After all, add a few spices to oil & vinegar and shake and you have a lovely salad dressing . . .

Nothing is safe from Advocate (AKA Blayne Cooper)'s observations and most of them will bring a smile, if not an out right laugh. As she states in her disclaimer "No squirrels were harmed during the production of this story. Although priests, morticians, sluts, proctologists, Big Gulps, Debby Boone, Scottish names, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Volkswagens, `that ugly chic,' gym teachers, eating disorders, Dr. Pepper, and stalkers are all seriously maligned." p122 Indeed all these running jokes and more flicker (or stomp) through the story.

The same vein that pokes fun at these issues, turns others on their ear. For example, Mac's parents and extended family are totally accepting of Mac's sexuality and even more supportive of Randi as her new girlfriend. Neither parent thought the bulimic gym teacher, Sandra was good enough for their daughter. On the other hand, any living (as opposed to inflatable) girlfriend is the best they expect for their son, the proctologist. By the end of the journey Randi and Mac have developed a great deal of affection, companionship and (gasp) attraction. This situation embarrasses Mac and frightens Randi. The growing love between Mac and Randi as well as Mac's family's love balance some of the hard edged sarcasm and cynicism. The overall effect is a delightful if strange, little novel that brought many smiles and several laughs out loud. Occasionally the shifting narrative perspective between Randi, Mac and the squirrels is confusing. --Yes, squirrels. It's too hard to explain, just read the story yourself.-- However, there is fuel for lots of good endorphins here.

I've never written a review before but once I guit laughing I had to write one for this book. I have also never laughed so hard, out loud while reading a book. It was pure fun, the only down side being, it was way too short. It should have been another 300 pages, but then again, I don't know if I could have take that much laughing at one time. My face still hurts. I think I'm in love with Advocate, weelll her humor anyway. She has one warped mind. Thanks for the good time, and merry heart Advocate, and yes please, a sequal.

Time in jail, a car crash, a broken-down bus, and a mortician's mansion, all lead to the sweetest revenge a jilted lover and her traveling companion could hope for in this clever romantic comedy by Advocate. Throw in a pair of anthropomorphic squirrels who listen to The Story of Me, as told by one confused, but lovable woman named Randi, and you have the perfect formula for, well... one surprise after another. This was a delightful read from beginning to end, and just like those movies where you find out what happened to each of the characters after the credits have begun to role, you will find out where the humans and squirrels end up after the story ends. You do want to know what happens to the perverted proctologist, don't you? -Ronald L. Donaghe, author of Uncle Sean

Before you go on, please know that I'm a HUGE fan of Advocate/Blayne Cooper. My review is strongly biased in her favor!

Randi, a driving instructor, begins to sense she is being followed. Although she cannot see anyone there, the sensation doesn't go away. Late one night, there is a knock at Randi's door and she answers, much to her neighbor's chagrin, it in her birthday suit. Little does she know it's her stalker... a short, cute, blonde named Mac.

Leery of this stranger (who was once a student in Randi's driving class), Randi listens to Mac's proposition. Mac convinces straighter-than-straight Randi to play the role of her girlfriend at a family reunion to get revenge on Sandra, Mac's ex-lover and Randi's ex-best friend from high school. Sandra is currently dating Mac's brother. Many years prior, in high school, she cheated Randi out of a medal and a chance to go to college. They get their revenge and learn a lot about each other in the doing. By the end of the book, Randi does some serious soul-searching.

The author does a masterful job, using one antic or sticky situation after another to relay this hilarious story with a somber undertone. I laughed so hard while reading it, my belly actually hurt. It's a good thing it's a short book! The story is told by Randi - she's telling it to squirrels in the park during a rainstorm. The same squirrels also show up in 'The Road to Glory' and are a great tool for telling the story.

Very creative, very funny, very well-written... I highly recommend this book.

Bev Walton-Porter's Sun Signs for writers is an amazing resource for writers, both new to the craft, and more established, giving both perspective on our own 'sun sign' based writing talents and quirks, and giving a solid base to refer to for characterization.
Though generalized and possibly 'generic' in places, this only served to reinforce and highlight where writers are both the same, and dissimilar - which, again feeds back into producing believable characters and authentic voice.
And its the voice that's most important - with an authoritative voice, this book teaches you to embrace, and find your own style, and verve. A highly enjoyable read and a must have reference for any writer.

The ancient forms of astrology have more to offer than a guide for every day living. Astrology can help you or hinder you as a writer.

Sun Signs For Writers promises to do just that: make the best of your astrological sign to be a better and more productive writer. Fulfilling that promise proves to be harder than it looks.

Bev Walton-Porter combines her in-depth knowledge of astrology and her success as a published writer in Sun Signs, taking the basics of each astrological sun sign and offering tips and exercises to make the most of strengths and bolster weaknesses. The mix of writing how-to and astrology is a natural in theory. In practice, there are far too many gaps.

Sun Signs repeats the same information in several places, as though the author ran out of material and needed to fill the space to be consistent. The overall execution is inconsistent. Walton-Porter is methodical and steady in everything but the details, mixing metaphors and failing to link Dos and Don'ts with several of the signs, opting instead to recycle generic writing tips that apply to every writer regardless of astrological sign. In some areas the focus is too narrow, as if writing about a specific person, but opts for a scatter gun pattern in other areas, filling up space with repetitious information and tips.

In one section, Geminis are characterized as having difficulty with concentration and focus. Walton-Porter suggests moving from one subject to another to get through writer's block, which would add fuel to the fire when it comes to lack of focus. Brainstorming is a good idea for signs that tend to be more rigid, like Virgo, but not quixotic and changeable Gemini. In the same chapter, Geminis are urged to focus on one task at a time and not allow their minds to wander, the opposite of brainstorming.

The graphics and art work are beautiful. The chapters are set up in logical and easy to read order, everything a reference book should be. Sun Signs for Writers has the ingredients of a solid resource but needs work to tighten up the gaps and broaden the viewpoint.

Personal asides offer a friendly bridge between author and reader but in some areas dull the point of a book meant as a general reference and change the focus from writing and being a better writer to the author. Treasure Sun Signs for Writers for its art work and recycle it when a less flawed resource comes along, or when a revised edition of this one comes along.

When I got this book, I immediately flipped thru to read my own sun sign. It was accurate and informative and there were some good ideas that relate specifically to me. Then I thought, okay, now what do I do with it? Well, then I looked up my rising sign and found the same good information there. Even though the book is titled Sun Signs, I identified with my rising sign as well. Then, I found 2 additional chapters at the end that I liked a lot. So, there is more to this book than appears at first.


Attractive book, and nicely color coded, each chapter is about 10 pages in length and contains the same subject headings for each sign. For example: Dealing with rejection, 10 paths to publication, excercises etc. Then at the end of each chapter/sign, the last page is a list of other famous writers and their birth dates. After you get past the signs, there is a "Writers on the Cusp" area that I found very interesting in that it gives you a cusp chart and then a little paragraph about each type of writer that falls into each cusp. Finally, the cherry on top is the last section that tells you how to create your characters according to and fitting with the signs. This gives you good information on things like professions, and tells you which signs are best paired together and the primary motivation and flaw. I think this is really good in making your characters true to life and believable.

Makes for a nice gift for anyone who writes!

This book was helpful and well organized. The only suggestion I would have is that while this book is for writers only, I believe the advice and tips in the book should be expanded to include all creatives. Ms. Walton-Porter's application of characteristics of astrological signs to creativity/writing is on-target and accurate.

If you are looking for sure-fire ways to beat writer's block, deal with rejection, and maximize your unique gifts, look no further. Bev Walton-Porter's first book is a personal guide to your stars and the stars of others (editors, agents and writers) you'll interact with throughout your career. This book belongs on the shelf of every writer interested in expanding his or her internal horizons. Bev-Walton Porter is a skillful astrologer as well as an amiable guide to the writer's universe.

very good,worth reading,written by various people.....
enjoyable,gets you thinking,nice photographs too.
As you may or may not know African coyly hair is quite unique in vision, texture, behaviour and probably in chemical make up too. Coily haired women around the world, go to the most extremes in terms of spending.
(Spending time, spending pain and the spending price to have African coily hair styled)
A hairstyle that we believe looks good or will help us to become socially and economically advanced.
Or maybe for our own self-esteem and maybe to attract the charms of a love interest. Either way your hair is a reflection of the state of your consciousness, your internal beliefs and your relationship with the world.

This book is like having group therapy or interviewing other women,but it is not all black women's views.I am reviewng it because I think it is worth a read.

As you may or may not know African coily hair is quite unique in vision, texture, behaviour and probably in chemical make up too. Coily haired women around the world, go to the most extremes in terms of spending.
(Spending time, spending pain and the spending price to have African coily hair styled)
A hairstyle that we believe looks good or will help us to become socially and economically advanced.
Or maybe for our own self-esteem and maybe to attract the charms of a love interest.
Either way, psychologically and philosophically I believe that your hair is a reflection of the state of your consciousness, your internal beliefs and your relationship with the world.
What about exploring physics through african hair?
For example how much pressure, gravity and tension and tearing do we put our hair through by combing it?
let alone excessive harsh combing.
Mathematically speaking how many of you readers can tell me how many curls/coils per inch your hair has, and does it vary in coil and moisture?
Next question:When does the nature of the hair change and why?
(i know it does!)
It seems to me all these books on afro hair are good and I welcome it, but we still need to be more informed and they all seem to need better editing, just like Black American beauty magazines.I must campaign for better grammar and less air brushed photos!!!
It is as if we like to see ourselves falsely rather than the reality of what we are...
Black women need to demand more scientific reasoning from our books and be less competitive over black men which only fuels their egos and as a result probably creates more baby-mothers!!!
Sorry but I had to vent out my opinions.

I give this book four stars for the effort and time invested as a writer I know it takes time...
I maintain that it is still worth reading,more than any carcinogenic chemical so called hair treatment that you pay for.

Anyway what do I know I am a black african british woman!!!!
Most of you Americans think we in Britain have no trains or any kind of progressive development!!!
Anyway if I wrote my book answering my questions that I put to you how many of you would buy it?

This is a wonderful book for anyone who would like to explore the issues that Black women face vis a vis our hair from a variety of viewpoints; not just the "politicaly correct" ones.

The book was all that, very positive, and at times emotional (I'm thinking of the passage where a father is trying to figure out how to braid his daughter's hair since her mother is across the country. His trying, and eventually getting it right, turned into bonding sessions for them. It was beautiful.) Of course the book had my favorite culture critic, bell hooks, and as usual she gave me a new persepective: to look at the whole "perm" phenomena as initiation into womanhood. Just about any Black woman who was on the brink of adolescence and was dying to get a perm should relate to that. I did. That's what this book does, it helps Black women to see just how similar our trials have been with our hair; and it's not just a generational thing. Black women from 50 to 80 years ago had the same issues and thoughts Black teenagers have today. Everyone remembers hot combs and Goody pink rollers and Royal Crown grease. Looking back many women had feelings of remembered pain, and not just from the burns on the tips of their ears and on their scalps, but inside their hearts for our collective struggle with an unattainable beauty standard.
What I also admired about this book was that it touched on the subject of hair and erotic intimacy. There was a whole section devoted to hearing the responses of Black women and men when confronted with the bedroom question: Can I run my fingers through your hair? It showed a depraved relation to our hair. In order to get and keep that salon fresh look, sleek and shiny, it must not be touched (by you and most especially your lover). Hair does not bring pleasure in the sense of us luxuriating in how it feels. How can you when it's not even yours? Weave. A woman tells the story of a young man with whom she was getting intimate with, and he wanted to run his fingers through her seemingly long shiny tresses. The moment was interrupted when he felt the hard tracks on her scalp before she could effectively slap his touch away. "You have to train these men early," another woman admonishes, "not to touch the hair." A man married for over 20 years complains of his wife's hair roller pins always poking him when she's "going down on him." He also hates, but has gotten used to, her wearing a head scarf anytime they make love. It is described in the book as Black folks having perpetual menege trios, he, she, and the head scarf. Another man wakes up to his girlfriend's "100% Korean Hair" all over the bed and floor after an especially heated night; he later ends up paying $200 dollars to have it all put back in again. The women speak of not even wanting to touch their own hair, refering to it being "hard as a rock" from gels and hair sprays. It's all in the name of a certain look, the processed one. (It's this look that lured their mates in the first place right?) It's sad that Black women talk about orchestrating certain sex positions around not messing up their fresh 'do. "You don't even think about it after while." They compensate not allowing their men to touch their hair with confidence and boldness in their performance, "It's so good he won't even be thinking about touching my hair."

I love this book. It isn't just politics or just us behind closed doors. Every possible reference to what is done to our hair is mentioned, even going bald. A Muslim woman opened my eyes to how not showing her hair takes away from having to compete for attentions based on beauty standards of hair, by being above them. It reminds us that as women, we shouldn't let physical beauty define us, even though most times it does, and we let it. "Ms. Strand" tells her tale with humor, cultural criticism, African storytelling, and 'round tha way truthfulness, barring nothing from the conversation. Truly, Tenderheaded should not be passed over.

I expected to really enjoy this book, but was disappointed. Some of the stories/essays were very good, but some of them were poorly written and/or could have done with some serious editing. It might have been better if some of them had been omitted: the book would probably have been half as long, but the overall quality would have been significantly improved.

I was also disappointed by the way the book was laid out. It seemed jumbled and poorly conceived. Photos, illustrations and cartoons/comics were seemingly thrown in randomly, with little context or relation to the surrounding content. The graphic content of the book was good, but the layout just did not display it to full advantage.

The idea behind this book was a good one, but the execution could have been a little bit better.

This is a very unique book. I have to say I LOVED IT! My being a young black woman, all the stories hit close to home. This book gave a non-bias look at black women's hair, and black culture all around the world including here in America. It gave many view points, from men women, blacks and even whites. I recommed this book to anyone who is confused about their hair and themselves. Nappy is defiantly Happy!!!! Peace.