Writers Books

i am so glad that i purchased this book. i just got it today and already it has been invaluable to me as a writer.
there is lots of info in this book that i didn't know and am being surprised as i read.
thanks, Lee.
mary speranza author (POOKIE)

Today's readers are savvy and quick to pick up on inaccuracies, so it's important for a writer to be up-to-date on terminology and procedures. Police procedure, murder investigations, the straight dope on DNA, autopsies, prison terminology, and a whole lot of other areas in the crime and mystery genre, Lofland's book is one-stop shopping. Highly recommended.

Lee's book is brilliant--filled with every piece of information a mystery writer could ask for. Mystery Readers International agrees--they just gave the book one of their 2008 awards for Best Mystery Non-Fiction!

Congratulations, Lee. You deserve it.

Lee Lofland brings his experience as a veteran police investigator, who worked his way from an officer in Virginia's prison system, then a sheriff's deputy, a patrol officer, and a detective to Police Procedure & Investigation. According to his web site, Lee solved cases dealing with narcotics, homicide, rape, murder-for-hire, robbery, and ritualistic and occult crimes. He was an undercover officer and even a narcotics K-9 handler. He's certified in the U.S. Department of Justice, Virginia State Police Academy, and the DEA, as well as continuing to be certified in Crime Scene Management and Crime Scene Investigations.

One major thing Lee lets readers know is not everything shown on TV and in the movies is correct or accurate. Much is completely wrong. The material in this book, including photographs and illustrations and detailed information, gives a firm basis for mystery/suspense/detective writers to incorporate reality in their stories and books.

Chapters include "Law Enforcement in America," with a breakdown of local, county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies; "The Police Academy," with information about the training and courses found in different jurisdictions; "Police Officers: Their Duties and Equipment," including job descriptions and equipment used.

Personally, I found the chapters "Detectives" and "Tell it to the Judge: Courts and the Legal Process" to the most helpful for me in my writing career at this point, but most of the information is useful and enlightening. An index at the back of the book and appendixes helps readers find itemized material.

Lee presents information in such a way that almost everyone can easily understand what he writes. He shares his mass experiences and research so that readers can know reality and authors can make their writing more interesting, believable, and realistic.

The material on the back of the book states, "Police Procedure & Investigation is the next best thing to having a police detective personally assigned to your book," and I wholeheartedly agree.

I advise that anyone interested in procedure and investigations find, and keep on hand, a copy of this book. Police Procedure & Investigation by Lee Lofland is one of the best written and most usable reference books for readers and writers interested in crime, mystery, police, and law enforcement.

Reviewed by Vivian Zabel

I had the pleasure of being in one of Lee's writer's conference lectures. I found his classes to be the most helpful of all the one's I'd attended (no small feat).
On the basis of what I saw in the lectures I later picked up a copy of his book. The ones at the conference sold out before I could get any.
Lee's information is the most thorough of any police procedural book I have come across, and he portrays the information in easy to read format that keeps the readers engaged.
Any failings are small enough to be overlooked (IMHO), though he should probably stay away from writing fictional scenes as samples. ;o) They tended to be a bit overwritten. Luckily, they are few and far between, and do NOTHING to diminish the value of this work.
You won't go wrong if you pick up a copy.

Volume IV of "In Search of Lost Time" begins in the afternoon of the day of Princess of Guermantes's party, the one that Marcel had looked forward for so long as his definitive entrance into the world of high society. That afternoon, by spying on them, Marcel discovers with his own eyes, for the first time, homosexuality, in the form of an encounter between the depraved Baron de Charlus and the tailor Jupien, Marcel's neighbor in the property of the Guermantes. Later that evening, Marcel attends the party, attended also by a cast of characters like very few in literature: Charlus himself, a Swann close to his death, and others. The Dreyfuss cause keeps winning adepts, among them the very Prince and Princess of Guermantes, as the injustice of the sentence is revealed. In the party, Marcel continues on his way to disappointment about noblesse: they are people just like everyone else, only with grand names and big egos, but not much more.

Days later, with his mother, Marcel returns to Balbec, where, alone in his room he finally feels all the weight and sorrow of his grandmother's death, which had happened a year and a half before or so. It is a profound passage about the perception of death, everyday indifference to it, and the memories left to us by our beloved's passing away. In Balbec, Marcel reencounters with Albertine, in that perverted play of seduction and deceit, of attraction and rejection, which foreshadows a sick relationship. Disturbed by the graphic discovery of homosexuality, Marcel broods a lot about it. Two women who stay at the same hotel, and who openly show their lesbianism, awaken in Marcel a deep suspicion about Albertine's mysterious life, and so begins a torment of permanent jealousy, of anxiety and anguish which reminds the reader of the similar episode, in times gone by, of the beginning of the relationship between Swann and Odette. Meanwhile, Marcel has simultaneous relationships with a couple of maids of the hotel (literally simultaneous).

Marcel rents a car to go around with Albertine through the countryside and the coast, deepening his relationship with the capricious, naughty, annoying and elusive Albertine. In her company, he begins to frequent the little band of the social-climbing Verdurins (where Swann had met Odette years before), in the country estate they have rented from the Marquises of Cambremer. The central part of the book narrates that summer in Balbec and its surroundings, above all the wide mosaic of characters surrounding the Verdurins: insecure but arrogant Doctor Cottard and his simple wife; musician Vinteuil; the rustic and silent sculptor Ski; Professor Saniette, pathetic and constantly humiliated; and Madame Verdurin herself, presumptuous and increasingly successful in society. Over this fresco is shown the repulsive couple of Charlus and musician Morel, son of a former servant of the Prousts. Morel is the worst kind of climber and representative of sexual and moral corruption. In contrast with what happens in the first three volumes, here it seems that it is the nobles who yearn to be accepted in bourgeois society, and not the other way around. It is the bourgeois who attract interesting people: intellectuals, scientists, artists. Charlus makes a fool of himself big time, pretending everybody ignores his homosexuality, when in fact he is the target of cruel jokes and gossip. So continues the great saga of memory, sex, love, longing, and social observation of the XX Century.

Like in no one of the previous volumes, in this one the subject of homosexuality is analyzed in all its complexity. Marcel and Albertine's relationship forebodes hell. Charlus begins to sink. The bourgeois approach triumph. Like in all the previous volumes, what astounds the reader is Proust's immense power of microscopic vision to analyze individuals and dissect societies. It includes a magical reflection on dreams, as well as precious depictions of landscapes, sexual assaults, personalities and emotions.

Sodom and Gomorrah makes it difficult for those who speak of Proust and attempt to reduce his grand work to mere flowery social observation. This is a bold and often disturbing installment of la recherché, as Marcel recalls brutal homosexual sadomasochism among two of the principle characters, and has to deal with great loss and self-loathing.

The narrator also returns us to the superficial world of the Verdurins, where Swann and Odette first made their interactions in Swann in Love.

Marcel falls deeply in love with Albertine, but later discovers that she has been involved in homosexual relationships with two women, mirroring Swann's problems with Odette. There are remarkable passages on the nature of love in here: "But if something brings about a violent change in the position of that soul in relation to us, shows us that it is love with others and not with us, then by beating of our shattered heart we feel that it is not a few feet away from us but within us that the beloved creature was. Within us, in regions more or less superficial" (pg. 720)

Sodom and Gomorrah is a deeply felt and complex development in Proust's extraordinarily full and beautiful search.

I am writing here of the "Penguin Proust" translation by John Sturrock. (Much of what appears on this page is misleading, with the editorial matter referring to an audiobook and many reader reviews to an earlier translation. Even first-sentence quote is not from Sturrock's translation!)

Of the four Penguin Proust volumes I've read so far, this is my favorite--a wonderfully funny study of society (if not of sex). Proust specializes in transformations. We'll be introduced to a character and led to believe that we know everything of importance about him, only to have him turn up in a later volume as entirely different. In this volume, the remote and terrible Baron de Charlus is tranformed a pathetic tubby, besotted by the pianist Morel (himself a bit of a transformation, since he first appeared in the novel as the son of a valet).

Marcel (the narrator) meanwhile finds himself more deeply involved with Albertine, herself probably a stand-in for a male secretary of Proust's, Alfred Agostinelli. To complicate matters, I see elements of this relationship not only in the Marcel-Albertine affair, but also in the Charlus-Morel romance. It's as if Proust divided his experience into two parts, giving the romantic elements to Marcel and the comic part to Charlus.

The two romances come together at the seaside salon of the awful Madame Verdurin, who is inexorably rising in the world. In one of Proust's hundred-page setpieces, the aristocratic baron has his first clash with the social-climbing Verdurins. I found myself cheering for Charlus, whom I'd earlier learned to dislike, because he is so genuine and she is such a fraud. And I know in my heart (and through my earlier readings of this great novel) that things are not going to turn out well for Charlus. Against all logic, Proust in one of his hundred-page dissections of French society is able to keep me on tenterhooks.

The less said about Albertine, the better. I am not one of those who find her/him a convincing character. So it is with a bit of apprehension that I now turn to volume five of the Proust Penguin, containing the two books of the "Albertine cycle."

But back to Sodom (as it were): this is a wonderful translation of a riveting story. If you stick with "In Search of Lost Time" thus far, you will know that you are in the middle of one of the great experiences of your life.

"Sodom and Gomorrah," the fourth volume of Proust's masterwork "In Search of Lost Time," contains two very long set pieces that strike me as amazing achievements in the entire canon of literature. The first is an evening party at the mansion of the Prince and Princess de Guermantes attended by Proust's young narrator despite his doubt about having been properly invited, and the second is a dinner at the seaside clifftop house of the Verdurins filled with absurd but fascinating conversation. These episodes combined cover hundreds of pages of narration yet never give the impression of being stretched because Proust evokes the natural importance in every detail and human gesture, as though the course of the world depended on every little thing that transpires.

These details unify under the banner of the entire novel into a series of fictionalized memories of Proust's social life as a young man making his way through Parisian aristocratic circles and observing the events which develop his artistic conscience. These memories tend to be romanticized visions of the past, wistful dreams of what he might have really wanted his life to be: "We dream much of paradise, or rather of a number of successive paradises, but each of them is, long before we die, a paradise lost, in which we should feel ourselves lost too."

The title of the volume implies love between men and women, and men and men, and women and women. Here, the young Marcel chronicles the torrid romances of the Baron de Charlus, brother of the Duke de Guermantes, whose salon was the focal arena of the previous volume. Upon his spying--innocently, not judgmentally--on de Charlus and Jupien the tailor in an act of sodomy, he expounds on the societal attitudes confronting male homosexuality and on the ways de Charlus must go about procuring younger men for himself, such as he does with a conceited young violinist named Morel.

Meanwhile, Marcel's love affair with Albertine, the pretty girl whom he met at the seaside resort of Balbec in Volume II, is progressing slowly but not smoothly. He notices that she, as Odette used to do with Charles Swann, is beginning to play games with his propensity for jealousy, flirting first with a girl named Andree and then with Marcel's friend, the soldier Saint-Loup. As the volume wraps up, Marcel resolves to marry her, hoping to draw her away from her Sapphic inclinations.

Proust portrays a wide range of colorful supporting characters, who I have no doubt are based on people he knew in real life. While staying at Balbec, Marcel meets an eccentric family named Cambremer whom the lift-boy at the hotel mistakenly but amusingly calls Camembert and whose acquaintance provides a springboard for the dinner at the Verdurin estate. Here we experience the personalities of the physician Cottard, whose preoccupation with his Verdurin invitations affects his professional ethics; the shy, socially graceless Saniette, who is continuously bullied by Verdurin; and a pedantic bore named Brichot, who talks almost exclusively about the etymology of place names.

The motifs recurring in this volume include the society-enveloping controversy over the Dreyfus affair, the snobbery involved in invitations to certain salons, and Marcel's association with the aging and ill Swann and his wife Odette, who now have some hard-earned esteem in the Faubourg Saint-Germain. In his deeply contemplative approach to narration, Proust functions as an essayist as much as he does a novelist, but his genius is that he merges both forms seamlessly. His sentences, at least as translated into English by Moncrieff and Kilmartin, are consistently worthy of applause and inspire me to write with more sensitivity to my surroundings.

The fourth volume of "In search of lost time" (Sodom and Gomorrah) begins with the sickness of Marcel's grandmother's sickness, which will lead her to the grave. During the dissease she will be treated by doctor Huxley, whose behavior surrounding the woman's unavoidable death awakens Marcel's digressions. Once she dies, the story resumes his contact with the high spheres of society. Marcel travels once again to Balbec, where he finds Albertine again. Their relationship grows as they assist to Mme. Verdurin's gatherings. Her "wednesdays", as she calls them, now that she attends in Balbec to her group of friends. Marcel's mind games surrounding Albertine are comparable to those utilized by Charlus to manipulate his young lover, the son of an old servant of his (Marcel's) grandfather... who plays the violin. Marcel is involved in this relationship as an comunicating vessel between Charlus and his "Adonis". It is rather curious how telephones, automobiles and trains are more and more involved in the telling of the events. The encounters in the stations, the dangers of traveling in an automobile, the unpersonalized feel to talking to someone through a telephone, etc... All these entail not only technological changes, but social ones as well: how people relate to one another begins to be considered outside the reduced space of fixed spheres... now, they move all over the space, they can even be broken into pieces... their voices, their bodies, the possibility of an effective transport that also allows privacy and secrecy (such as Marcel and Albertine's travels in the car, and all the implied events surrounding this machine -involving Charlus and his young "friend").
Marcel's doubts about Albertine's likes, are more overwhelming everyday... and he finally decides to marry Albertine, to take her to Paris with him.
In this volume, Marcel Proust submerges deeper in the waters of human affections and desires. If in the second volume he began to experience love for the first time, in this one, he is experiencing love outside the protection of young idelism and romanticism... instead, he realizes the conection between love, desire, snobism and pain: the truth of love is far from being an eternal, selfless and happy feeling: it is the constant haunting of a question, the everlasting wonder about evil within and without.
It is most memorable when Marcel assists to a party and describes the unfixed nature of gender differentiation: how much can a woman look like a man, how much can a woman desire another woman... and how much like a woman can one man desire another man.

Hey Jay Kraxton, I am just beginning "The Traveler" Chapter of your first released book "A Legend Untold." I have to say (minus the two gory chapters that I made the mistake of reading at midnight when I was home alone so I was too scared to sleep) I can't stop reading it! I Love this book and can't wait to buy your next!

After I bought this book at the Hastings branch in Manhattan, I started reading it in the parking lot. After about 30 minutes, I was still there and already on page 30. I'm was very impressed at the description of Santa Claus and his counterpart Krampus! I especially loved the modernization of Santa (finally, an up-to-date version of Santa exists!). Thanks, Jay Kraxton, for subconsciously reverting my decision to buy your book than buying a computer game. Believe me, doing this will help me study more!

I work with Jay, and he's been after me to buy a copy of his book for several months now. I finally bought one from him and started reading it, thinking it would probably just be a mediocre to decent novel at best. Well, I read the entire thing in only a day and a half. Like these other folks, I couldn't put it down! The way he blends fantasy with realism is simply incredible, and I have now ranked him as one of my top three authors. My list of favorite authors goes: 1.) Terry Brooks, 2.) Louis LaMour, 3.) Jay Kraxton. I've already reserved my copy of RED THUNDER BOOK II: SAVAGE DAWN, and I'm looking forward to reading it.

Jay is one of the top writers i have read. His book moves with swift fluidity and has a great climax. A must read for all fantasy fans.

On wings of silent leather, the demon Krampus slips into children's bedrooms, stealing them from the safety of their beds for his evil purposes. Meanwhile, Kris Kringle and his three magi, Raja, Thaddeus and Ishmael (part of a group called Red Thunder) fulfill their night of miracles when the call comes about Krampus' movement through Seattle.

Thaddeus goes to the scene of a disappearance, quickly recognizing the increase in the number of stolen children. While the demon ordinarily only takes six or seven children a year, this year he has taken dozens. The implications are terrifying. Krampus visits Jeremiah and Louis Maxwell's room as well, stealing the children and leaving their father Ken Maxwell bereft. A widower, Ken lives for his sons, and will do anything to get them back. He did not know anything would include an alternate world and demonic forces beyond his imagination.

From the most exquisite to the most gruesome landscapes of author Jay Kraxton's fertile imagination, readers will be drawn into a surreal landscape of horrifying dimensions in A LEGEND UNTOLD. The unique plot is both clever and gripping as portrays Santa's time off and the battle for peace on earth. Thematically, Jay Kraxton will remind fans of Stephen King or Dean Koontz with its dark overtones and deathly ghouls, but this author's style, which uniquely blends fantasy and realism, remains uniquely his own. Vividly realized characterizations bring to life the various Clauses, including Kris Kringle, Father Christmas and Senior Santa, and the three magi with exceptional powers. A dark fantasy of epic proportions, readers will find A LEGEND UNTOLD impossible to put down. Very highly recommended.

I enjoyed this book and was very informed by it. I doubt you can find more detailed background data about Lucille Ball's work (from the beginning of her career to the end, from stage to the big and small screens) and her (lesser known) co-stars and co-workers anywhere else. The problem is, I'm a new fan to Lucy and I wanted to read about her life in a more conventional way (where she was born, raised, her influences, her marriage, children, etc). Those types of books got such mixed reviews from fans that I thought I'd start with this one, which had only positive reviews. There is some basic bio in this book, but it assumes you know that type of information about Lucy. So I would just say: make sure you don't start with this book if you're a new fan. It's like getting to know her backwards (everyone around her instead of the star herself). This is definitely a book for seasoned fans who want to know "more."

Great format, easy to read. Every coffee table must have one!!

A thoroughly enjoyable read on Lucy. Learned some things I never knew - and loved that way you could navigate from one section to another.

This new paperback biography of Lucille Ball is something different, an "A to Z" run through her life, sprinkled with the author's opinions. I actually agreed with most of them, and the breezy style and content is the perfect antidote for a depressing day. Read it and love Lucy all over again.

This book was recommended to me by a friend and I couldn't put it down. I loved the format, the authors perspective and views were interesting and unique and you could tell he was a real Lucy fan (who isn't). Add this book to your cart and you won't be disappointed. You can read it again and again because of the unique way it is written. A must for Lucy fans. Enjoy!

I love this book. I teach high school and I was never able to find creative and concrete ways to teach grammar concepts. Anderson takes the best of what we know about how to teach grammar (that is should be taught in the context of a student's own writing, that it should be active, that is should be scaffolded, etc.) and really focuses on how to make that happen. Look at his "sentence smack-down" and the "express lane editing" to really change how you look at teaching grammar. My kids loved it and I really felt like they were getting it and would use it again. The book is teacher-friendly and activity-based and includes copies of handouts.

This was a great read packed with real classroom experiences, creative learning activities, and terrific, easy-to-understand explanations of grammar and how to teach it.

Jeff Anderson presents a dynamic workshop on how to liven up a Language Arts classroom, and his book further describes how LA teachers can make learning fun, enjoyable, and effective.

I first came across this book at the library and found that I was constently writing down ideas from the book. I returned the book and decided to buy my own copy! Great resource book for Language Arts teachers! I highly recommend it.

In MECHANICALLY INCLINED, Jeff Anderson tackles the issue of grammarphobia and edit-phobia head on. You know the diseases. They are endemic in English classrooms everywhere.

Anderson advocates using "mentor" sentences and paragraphs taken from books that interest students. He also details how to set up a writer's notebook where kids can write freely without fear of the Red Pen (which, to them, is like an invader from the Red Planet, as narrated by Orson Welles). The notebook includes sections for creativity, exploration, modeling, and copying well-written sentences and paragraphs.

I especially like Anderson's idea for the Editing Checkout, where students "scan" work looking for specific skills, then create a "receipt" of their findings. NATIONAL ENQUIRERS are not necessary for this activity. The kids will get a kick out of it and (not too loud, now) will learn something about editing (with one pen, two pens, red pens, or blue pens) while they're at it. What more could a teacher ask for? (OK, don't answer that...)

Wonderfully edited collection of letters by the famous sisters. Fascinating to read, in that they all seem to have had considerable writing talent & lived through dramatic periods of the 20th century. Snap it up!

A fascinating collection but too long -- also I feel likely of limited interest unless one is British, and was alive and aware of this family at the time these letters were writtten, otherwise too many explanatory footnotes would be necessary. Nevertheless, a rare glimpse into a period that was unique, and likely a surprising portrait of a family who lived, considering their place in upper-class English society, "outside the box".

3/31/08 The page on nicknames,The index, The footnotes, The profiles of the sisters and The photos make this extra weighty book become the fascination that most books of so many pages often fail to do..;of help, thanks to the book's editorial genius is : the ability of readers to note what the sisters had in common vs where they disagreed and when and to whom they wrote lengthy and/ or more confidential letter ..., whom they implored for help (even to wanting a health care provider in the hospital to be threatened to be less spartan)..also " continuous scanning of index cross referencing due to footnotes or in specific letters plus being informed from "the profiles" who was the "nazi",or "fascist",or "communist",or " quiet /country girl' or "wit /writer" or "elitess/socialite" ...The surviving sister , the socialite ,who was "apolitical" ,has made their saving of their letters to share with others not in vain;: a glimpse into the world in which the privileged often choose to travel . Their "bios" will probably benefit the "privileged readers "the most, as this book reminds them via "one(s) of their own" that right decisions guarantee more than the values of family status,money and/or power.

Once several years ago, I cancelled plans to attend a New Year's Eve party because I was enthralled by an early edition of Mitford letters edited by Charlotte Moseley, "With Love From Nancy" which collected the letters of the eldest Mitford sister.
Now Ms Mosely has given us the letters written between all 6 sisters: Nancy, the author of a number of witty novels and biographies; Diana-who married Oswold Mosley, the head of the British Union of Fascists and spent time in prison during WWII; Unity who was enamored of Hitler and shot herself in the head when Britain went to war with Germany; Pam, the family farmer; Jessica, Communist and muckraker and Deborah, the Duchess of Devonshire Prepare to become addicted to reading these letters.
The Mitfords are interesting all on their own and the tensions and divisions created by their individual political views is worth a read. In addition they knew everyone and were not afraid to voice opinions.
For a special chill, read the letters written by Unity and Diana during WWII. "Poor, sweet Hitler" indeed!

I had never heard of the Mitfords until a few years ago an Englishman (now American citizen) hired me to write his memoirs of WWII. His sister visited from England and told me about how Unity Mitford went to her boarding school. When asked who Unity Mitford was, she said, "You don't know the Mitford girls?

Well, I do now! This collection of letters between the six Mitford girls is an outstanding record of their history spanning 80 years from 1925.

In 1935 Unity met and became enamored with Hitler. The letters never indicated any romance, but she went to many major events with him. On September 3, 1939 when Britain and France declare war on Germany, Unity tried to take her life. She failed, causing brain damage. She died in 1948 at age 33.

Nancy, the oldest, was born in 1904, Deborah the youngest in 1920. The book has photos, a short bio and family tree. The other sisters are Pamela, Unity and Jessica. Their brother Tom, who was sent to boarding school at age 8, died in WWII.

These six English women were from an aristocratic family-but some became Nazi sympathizers, one an avowed Communist, others a novelist, poultry farmer and duchess. You follow them through their naïve youth to their adult involvements-as daughters, wives, widows, mothers (happy and grieving) and aging women.

The letters (edited by Diane's daughter-in-law Charlotte) were printed using all the pet names and code words they used, but once you get reading it becomes easy. The many footnotes were invaluable and historical.

Diana (1910-2003) married Sir Oswald Mosley, with Hitler present at the reception at Goebbel's home. They had had a long affair, and kept this marriage secret, too. Mosley formed the British Union of Fascists. In 1941, the British imprisoned Mosley and Diana for their activities-holding them over three years. By this time, they had four sons (two from Diana's earlier marriage) who were taken care of by the other the Mitford sisters.

In 1941, Unity wrote Diana at prison that sums up the Mitfords: "When I first came back, I thought all this was a play, and I was looking on. Now I know I have a part to play, and I can't bear acting it."

Armchair Interviews says: A superb collection of letters that take you as an observer before, during and beyond WWII. You'll never ask: "Who are the Mitford girls?"

Lorrieann Russell researched her personal family tree all the way back to 1600 Scotland and discovered a character with nothing more than a footnote by his name. With this little spark of inspiration, she wove a fascinating tale of fiction laced with reality surrounding William Fylbrigge, the adopted son of Edward, Duke of Stonehaven. Most of the action of the story takes place in the village of Stonehaven, near the city of Aberdeen, in the early 1600's. The book opens with William about to marry the duke's daughter. The grisly witch trials of Europe are still ruining lives in isolated towns such as Stonehaven. As an up and coming young lord, William seeks to lead the town's rulers out of the madness and into the light. The plot thickens....

My Brother's Keeper is not just your average first novel. It is a true spellbinder of exquisite dialog and fascinating characters. The author takes the reader down the halls and through the kitchen of Drumoak Castle, while speaking personally with the castle staff along the way. You root for the intelligent kitchen staff who have been enlightened by their associations with William. You will never forget the character called the little mouse by the residents of Drumoak. The villains are somewhat predictable, but threatening nonetheless. The black-hooded, arrogant, self-righteous witch hunters will get under your skin as you realize their similarity to our current neocon theocracy.

Try to ignore the typos: they are the single bit of negativity you will find in this review. The proofreader is no longer working on Ms. Russell's books, so don't let this issue stop you from buying In the Wake of Ashes. The reviews of the sequel seem to be at least as glowing as the ones for this first book by a new author.

My Brother's Keeper deserves whatever accolades you wish to throw at it. This is an outstanding first novel by a new author. Yes, I know the book is six years old, but this is a good time to start reading. You don't have very long to get through the 1100 pages of My Brother's Keeper and In the Wake of Ashes before the third book comes out!

The characters in this book are so well drawn, you almost feel as if you know Will and Ian and Laurel and Mehlyndia as well as you know your family. Very few books have the distinction of drawing me so far into the plot and causing me to so love the characters that I actually cried while reading it. This book has such a distinction. It provides a chilling picture of the times, but it is not without William's hope for an improved world. Highly recommended!

"When I open a book, I am no longer of this time. I want to read a book into which I can become totally absorbed. This process was immediate with My Brother's Keeper. Historical writings (fiction or research) are my passion, and Miss Russell did an outstanding job, allowing me to experience the depth of her complex characters, the brutality of "Churchianity" in this historical period, and to appreciate the power of the human struggle against such adverse conditions. Her descriptive talents allowed me to envision the torments, suffering, fears, and reality of William Fylbrigge without the graphic horror of it all. One's imagination is always more powerful. I must believe that, in the long run, right will always prevail. I could not put this one down!!! Have the sequel, In the Wake of Ashes, readily available.

I have closed my eyes and relieved this story many times. Her words stimulate you to feel, to hear, to smell, to see, and to taste. Put the time aside and experience historical fiction at its finest.

Lorrieann Russell wrote a compassionate and exciting book about medieval England. She captured not only the history of the period but the flavor as well! Russell's words take you to the castles and the events as if you are there watching it as it unfolds.

Her grasp of these people is wonderfully rich and true. You picture each and every person she writes about. Russell uses not only the rich history, but also the color of that period. Her book is rich in pathoes and humor, terror and joy. She brings the reader along with her on her roller coaster ride through the pages, and like the roller coaster, the ride is much too short.

The book leaves the reader begging for more! The last chapter with its diary-like entries make you wanting more. This book is a must for those that love this period in time. It makes for a wonderful summer's reading and I recommend it to anyone! Like all great books and fine meals, it leaves you begging for more...

Take a trip to early 1600's Scotland via the mind of Lorrieann Russell. Meet William Fylbrigge, heir to the Duke of Stonehaven. Remember the difficult past that he has experienced through his flashbacks; and adventure along with the strong, capable man that he has become. While reading this novel, you will get to know each character intimately, as they are completely "fleshed out." Ms. Russell does not hesitate to describe each character's strong and weak points so that the reader feels that they are dealing with true flesh and blood people. No one is too good to be true, yet there are certain characters that will win your heart and stay in your mind forever. The descriptions in this novel will employ all of your senses. You will see the beauty of Drumoak, smell the horrors of a prison, taste Elinor's delicious recipes, hear the horses in hot pursuit of their masters' prey, feel the joy as William and Mehlyndia are reunited and prepare for their wedding; and truly experience pain, both emotional and physical, as you delve further into William's life. Be sure to set aside some time to take this journey with Ms. Russell because once you begin, you won't want it to end - even when you've reached the last page!

I loved this little book so much. Of course having a golden retriever is what made me purchase the book and it shows what a great love and bond that can form between a Golden Retriever and it's human family. My retriever "Einstein" is a blessing in a beautiful gold fur coat that I just love with all my heart. His precious nose is always at my finger tips when I'm walking around at home and his big beautiful brown eyes are filled with so much love it makes my heart swell. A golden gives so much unconditional love and all they want in return is as much love as the give. This books tells that story over and over again. I never get tired of hearing it.

I felt so honored when asked to provide my Golden story for this book, and when it arrived I let it sit for a few days. I was worried that some of the stories would be sad and open old wounds for me. One day I sat down and read it cover to cover and am a better person for doing so. Author Margo gently nudged each and every one of her authors to speak from their hearts in their own voices and each tale is utterly unique and beautiful. This book pays a fitting homage to the most loving and companionable breed of all time, the Golden Retriever. It is a wonderful testimony to what adopting a rescued Golden can do to enrich the lives of the adopter and adoptee.

My Golden Frosty's story in in Margo's book. I read it first when I bought it, I was so proud. Then I started reading each of the other wonderful stories and was feeling every emotion, from tears to happiness and whatever lies in between. Each and every story brought such emotion to me. There are so many out there who love Goldens so much they devote their lives to them. I am very proud to be included in this wonderful book and to have been owned by such a wonderful dog.

In her book, Margo McHann proves that whatever you put into a dog, you get back with interest! The forward to this book couldn't encapsulate it any better: rescued dogs are not second-hand throw aways! Hopefully this book will convince many people why they should adopt from breed rescue groups.

Kudos to Margo McHann for putting together such a wonderful book, that will tug at the hearts of all Golden Retriever lovers everywhere! This is a must for anyone who loves or has been loved by one of these wonderful dogs. My own little girl is featured in this book and it will forever be a very special book to me! Thanks Margo, for opening the eyes of the world to "Rescue" and what it is all about!

Victoria Nelson's "On Writer's Block" covers the entire territory of writing process, not just the silences inherent in that process.

It's filled with marvelous quotations and wonderful tips. One I loved was: write your own review before the critics to so you'll have something solid to lean against.

This book belongs in every writer's bedside library.

Janet Riehl, author Sightlines: A Poet's Diary

If you are SERIOUS about becoming unblocked as
a writer, then this is the only book you will
ever need. What I most enjoyed about the book is
Nelson's simple methods for helping the writers.
She does not try to belittle the writer and she
writes in a fluid, flowing manner that makes the
book enjoyable and an easy read. Have a
highlighter read because you will mark up this book!


I wish I could give this book six stars!

I have never looked at Writer's Block the same way again after reading this book. She shares wonderful stories of other creative artists, defines a number of common blocks, and best of all, ways out.

It has a very psychological approach to the creative spirit.

The title really doesn't do the scope of this book justice. I picked up this book because I was having some problems with a novel in progress. Then I read it and just sighed....clear insight into the writing process, the good, and useless, habits we form and their impact on our productivity. The book addresses a wide spectrum, such as: "Beginner's Block", Procrastination, Perfectionism, Obsessive Rewriting, and Success. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned professional, this book should be part of your toolbox. It will get you writing....happily.

When I am completely stymied as to why I can't write creatively, I reach for the books at my bedside - The Holy Bible and this treasured paperback - to place me squarely back on track. Ms. Nelson has the uncanny ability to get me to cast away my inner slave driver who ruthlessly tries to force fame and fortune out of every sentence I write. She reminds me that I am a human being in need of TLC and a change in expectations without using cloying, "self-help" speak. I am forever indebted to her for writing such a wise book that comes across like loving advice from a trusted, experienced mentor every time I read a few chapters. My wish is that other frustrated writers come to know her intelligent solace so they can face the blank page truthfully, in peace and with joy. Thank you, Ms. Nelson, for being such a cherished lifesaver.

I found this book by accident while looking at publishers for my own novel, and I was very pleasantly surprised. The plot is very well developed as are the characters, and they are very interesting and captivating. I read the first three books all in a row, and was very impressed. I can't wait to read the fourth one, and I definitely recommend these books to anyone who is looking for something new and original and interesting.

In the land of Madryn, the four races are forced to work together to defeat the evil Darklord Lorthas. The elves, the humans and the Garan'ah fought courageously at the final battle when the mages erected the Barrier to contain Lorthas. The Barrier is a magical mountain range with only one entrance, a portal guarded by a garrison of troops.

A millennium later, the segregated races keep totally to themselves distrusting one another. Young orphan Jeran lives on a farm near the Boundary; he befriends a runaway slave Dahr. The twosome share many happy times together before two outlaws thought to have been exiled inside the barrier attack their homestead. Jeran's uncle sends him to warn King Mathis that the Barrier is weakening. Accompanied by Dahr, Jeran meets allies and enemies in their quest to see the king; even after their message is delivered, the adventures of Jeran and Dahr are just beginning as the monarch has plans for his youthful messengers.

PATH OF GLORY is epic fantasy in the tradition of THE LORD OF THE RINGS and the SHANNARA series. The protagonists are two young people who must learn about their different heritages if they hope to understand what is happening and being able to help when the seemingly inevitable war begins. No one will be in a funk after reading this fine coming of age novel except those who fail to read the next tale, SWORD OF HONOR, in the Boundary Fall series.

Harriet Klausner

Book One of Bret M. Funk's "Boundary's Fall" series, Path Of Glory is a high fantasy about Jeran (an orphan raised by his uncle on a farm near the Boundary) and Dahr (an outcast hiding from his past), two men who find that they must brave a perilous and uncertain journey in order to warn their king of an impending darkness, as the boundary that has sealed the imprisoned Darklord gradually weakens. The four major races of the world, once in alliance, are now squabbling, and new enemies seek to exacerbate the chaos to their own ends and benefits. Path Of Glory is an entertaining epic and a deftly written saga of hope, determination, and courage.

I enjoyed Path of Glory very much. It was little slow getting started as the author had to set up the world, characters and story, but a few chapters into the book it got very interesting. I found the characters so believable I feel as if I know them. The description was so well written, that I could have actually visited the places. The story gets a hold on you and you can't put it down. I can't wait for the next book. I think that is book is a definite must read. If you like books like the Wheel of time by Robert Jordan, you will love Path of Glory.

Path of Glory, by Bret M. Funk, has all the clichés: reclusive Elves, powerful magicians, and
long-forgotten evil in a pre-industrial society. But if you thought the classic fantasy novel had
nothing left to offer, think again. Told mainly from the intimate perspective of two intriguing,
three-dimensional characters, Funk puts a realistic and thought-provoking spin on the typical
sword-and-sorcery tale. This first book in the Boundary's Fall series combines modern prose and

sensibilities with the epic storylines of Tolkienesque fantasy.

The story follows Jeran, a farm boy living with his uncle, and Dahr, an escaped slave whom
Jeran's family befriends and unofficially adopts. When two former warlords escape from a
magical prison, Jeran and Dahr find themselves saddled with the duty of reporting the news to
the king. They are aided by two Magi, who help Jeran discover his illustrious family roots and
his own magical abilities.

Jeran's ambivalence regarding his magical "gift" is one of many double-edged topics in Path of
Glory, and it adds a degree of thought and relevance that few fantasy writers even consider.
Magi are responsible for most of the civilization's greatest accomplishments, yet they are
resented for their power and have been hunted nearly to extinction. The mysterious Elves, while
revered as wise and nearly immortal, have both helped humanity and enslaved them at various
times in their history. The king of Jeran's land must cope with bickering politicians before he
can worry about the decay of a millennia-old magical Boundary. Not many fantasy novels
discuss the economic disadvantages of tariffs, but Funk avoids Star Trek preachiness by
introducing questions, not answers, and leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions.

In fact, just as with real bureaucracy, years pass before the various countries and races gear up
for the impending war reported by Jeran and Dahr. The story rejoins the boys, now young men,
as they embark on a diplomatic mission to the Elves-the first Elf-Human encounter in over a
century. The friendship is shared by a third, the young prince Martyn, who hasn't quite figured
out the balance between authority and responsibility. The journey along the title Path serves as a
test of strength and loyalty, especially when Dahr is forced to choose between his sworn duty
and his lifelong hatred of slavery. The book ends just as the party enters the Elves' domain,
leaving the rest of the story maddeningly untold until the next installment is published.

This novel is a character-centered work; events unfold in an episodic fashion, but the main
storyline barely gets beyond setup in this first entry of the series. Instead, we experience the
characters' everyday life. Dahr's knack with animals and Martyn's addiction to flirtation are
demonstrated in numerous character-building scenes. The writing is not nearly as concise as one
expects; scenes can exist simply for atmosphere and entertainment, but the witty dialogue among
Jeran, Martyn, and Dahr keeps boredom from setting in. The writing style wavers somewhat
between archaic formalism and modern slang, but taken as a whole it's a fast read and doesn't get
bogged down in purple prose. The whole novel has a warmth to it that is atypical of story-driven
fantasy and Sci-Fi; characters don't just exist to fill a plot point, they have their good and bad
points that grow on you over time. The strength of Funk's writing is his ability to evoke
sympathy for the characters; you are drawn in to their struggles without really noticing, and
putting the book down becomes more difficult each time.

However, there's more to Path of Glory than guilty pleasure. The author has taken great pains to
weave a history of his world; the tales of warriors and noble sacrifices will satiate even the most
hard-core fantasy reader. The descriptions of controlling and using magic are creative and
evocative on their own, but the passages truly come alive in the context of Jeran's experiences.
The bond between the reader and the characters heightens the drama of every situation, holding
the reader's interest throughout every extraordinary revelation.

Path of Glory makes the classic fantasy approachable for every reader, even those turned off by
fantasy series in the past. I'd recommend it for anyone interested in seeing down-to-earth
characters coping with larger-than-life events.