Writers Books

This is the HOT Fantasy novel of the year! If you like adventure, you will love Dark Lord. This tale of war and romance takes you through the struggles of not just one, but many of the characters as they cope with facing a seemingly unstoppable foe. The insights into the characters is in depth and revealing in very direct as well as subliminal ways. The dialogue is believable, and entertaining. It is a book that will pull every emotional response from you, with each paragraph you read. A truely magnificent work! Hats off to Greywolf and Diana!

Have you heard of this author? Chances are you probably have not. However, if you are will to take a chance and read a few chapters of this epic fantasy, then I am positive you'll be swept up in the dramatic storline and dynamic characters. Tolkienesque in scope, it nonetheless manages to wrap things up in the space of one novel, something I greatly appreciated.

Having read quite a few fantasy novels/sagas over my lifetime, I can honestly say you've never read a tale quite like this. If you want a page turner that will keep you reading into the wee hours of the morning, then I heartily recommend Dark Lord.

General Greywolf leads a cast of "a thousand" intriguing and endearing creatures (mostly elves) in a war against the Evil Dark Lord who is set on invading the idyllic land of Tir-na-nog. When the charming Goddess Diana enters the scene, Greywolf looses his heart even as he wins battles. If you loved Flash Gordon, the movie, and enjoy mythology as much as romance, then let Dark Lord enchant you. I was highly entertained and found myself charmed by a certain Pegasus.

Dark Lord is wonderfully written! It kept me up way past my bedtime, and its been awhile since a book has done that to me! I'm definatly adding this book to my list of favorites! I can't wait until the next book comes out!

Readers of quality fantasy take note: Dark Lord, the new epic fantasy from iUniverse.com, is a sweeping adventure that contains in equal measures tragedy and triumph, treachery and justice, death and rebirth, villainy and heroism, magic and brute force, war and peace. Readers of Dark Lord will find themselves firmly engaged in a war between two worlds - between humans and the fey - but as in all such things the lines separating one from the other is often blurred. A sweeping back-story lifts this novel above others in its class, and treats the reader to a rich universe containing elves, dwarves, fearies, dragons, winged horses, gods and goddesses, and more.

David M. Roundtree (Greywolf the Wanderer) and Diana Sinclair (The Goddess Diana) write with an engaging and fast-paced style that grips you from the first paragraph and puts you inside the skin of the characters themselves. While kings and kingdoms fall you will experience the pain of death and the bitter-sweet uncertainty of budding love, the heat of hand-to-hand combat and the wonder of powerful magic, th pain of burying loved-ones and the joy of celebrating victory hard-won.

I recommend Dark Lord without reservation.

John Berkowitz, Publications Director and graphic designer and fantasy writer

After writing and drawing several projects at DC in the early-mid 70's, Jack Kirby returned to Marvel. This period is controversial with fans as some feel Jack never got back his old magic and was showing his age, while others defend his work from this period. Here is one title written and drawn by Kirby, as were the DC projects he left behind, so fans can judge for themselves. Included are four essays from the original four issues by Jack explaining the concepts behind these stories. 2 letter pages from later issues are also reprinted, showing the fans of the time praising the work. See for your self and make up your own mind, at a nicely discounted price.

Jack Kirby is undoubtedly one of the most revered creators of all time in the realm of comic book history, and while his Devil Dinosaur series may not have been as impacting or influential as a majority of his other creations, it is a nevertheless wild and fun trip. Starring Moon-Boy and his red-skinned companion of which the comic gets it's name, Devil Dinosaur lasted only nine issues, but stands as one of Kirby's most enjoyable endeavors. Thrill to the adventures that Moon-Boy and Devil embark on as they trek across the dangerous prehistoric landscape getting into all sorts of adventures, culminating in a ride into the sunset. The storytelling may be deceptively simple, but Kirby's artwork remains a spectacular portrait of an artist and creator at his absolute finest. All in all, the Devil Dinosaur Omnibus may not feature the King's most influential and important work, but it is a fun and often thrilling ride while it lasts that readers old and new will enjoy.

I bought the full run of "Devil Dinosaur" on eBay as a gag gift for a friend's birthday. The joke was on me though, because I thoroughly enjoyed each and every issue and was bummed when it ended. I hope this collection has the original ads, and especially the little essays Jack Kirby wrote in each issue; those are half the fun! I also love his "Machine Man" series; I hope they reprint those someday!

Jack Kirby's return to Marvel Comics in the mid-Seventies is generally regarded as an embarrassment for "The King". His art was still superb, but his need for autonomy in his writing led to some absolutely abysmal storylines. This was especially true of his higher-profile series like Captain America and Black Panther; however, when it came to the lower-profile, more personal works, his creativity really shone through. Such was the case with Devil Dinosaur, which is collected in its 9-issue entirety in the DEVIL DINOSAUR OMNIBUS.

Let's face it: a "buddy story" centering on a proto-human and a tyrannosaur may not seem like the best concept (much less even be possible), but the affinity Kirby had for stories involving prehistory, mythology, sorcery, and ancient astronauts is used to great effect here. Where Kirby's other titles incorporating these elements were cosmic in scope (New Gods, Eternals), his Devil Dinosaur series used them as the backdrop for a simple tale of a struggle for survival. DD and Moon-Boy are two outsiders who have a limited understanding of the greater forces acting around them, just looking for a place to live happily ever after - how could they know that their adventures would lay the foundations for the myth of Hercules, the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, and the reports of cryptids in the 20th Century?

It's easy to see that Kirby was wholly into this comic, as evidenced by the "Dinosaur Dispatches" included in the book. These pages contain The King's musings on the topics he covered in this title, and they are a true joy to read. They provide insight into what drove Kirby's creative juices, and I am thankful that the publisher saw fit to include them.

I bought this book. Now honestly their are other characters much more worthy of this hardcover treatment, but Devil Dinosaur has made a big impression on a lot of fans, so there you have it.

Reading them all together you come to a Jack Kirby story that is more straight forward, less melodramatic, than his New Gods saga, and yet he hits you with cosmic concept after cosmic concept.

Rumor was this was a try out for selling a cartoon series, that never came up, but the characters still endure with Devil Dinosaur most recently making an out of character appearance in Nextwave Agents of Hate.

My only regret is that they did not include Devil Dinosaur's cross over with Godzilla, though you could catch it in the Essential Godzilla.

While I loved the story (bought it off the rack as a kid) I'd say this volume is more for the hardcore Kirby fan; though I think if you are willing to gamble the price you will find it worth while.

In this short sharp shock of a novel, Muriel Spark converts cliché into reality. How often has one heard, after news of a reported rape, or murder, or both, the facile comment "She asked for it"? From the outset of "The Driver's Seat" we know the fate that awaits the strange, driven, calculating Lise; and it is a signal indication of Spark's unsparing skill that the reader is trapped in suspense nonetheless. To read this tale takes little more than an hour because, once you start it, it will not leave you alone till it is done. Spark demonstrates what "asking for it" would in fact entail; and permits us to judge for ourselves the distance between that, and being the genuine victim of such a crime---through the sheer power of storytelling alone.

Il faut avoir vu le film de Patroni Griffi tiré de cette "novella" avant de la lire. Ainsi, le lecteur aura en permanence à l'esprit le visage de Liz Taylor , un peu moins hystérique que la Liz de Muriel Spark, mais parfaite.
Le film est disponible en dvd.

There is no writer more despicable than the reviewer who spoils a book by revealing significant plot points.

[Okay, no writer who opines about the arts. Some political commentators come to mind who are surely destined for a special hell.]

But what do you call a novelist who begins the third chapter --- the third chapter --- of her book with this about Lise, the main character:

"She will be found tomorrow morning dead from multiple stab wounds, her wrists bound with a silk scarf and her ankles bound with a man's necktie, in the grounds of an empty villa, in a park of the foreign city to which she is traveling on the flight now boarding at Gate 14."

Try this: genius.

The Driver's Seat is just l00 pages. It will take most of you about an hour. But in that hour, you are in for an experience even more head-splitting than you'll get from Jim Thompson's aptly named The Killer Inside Me.

Because --- obviously --- this book is about something considerably trickier than who-gets-killed.

So the first brilliance of Muriel Spark's writing is its stunning originality; this is a book that really makes sense only backwards, when you finally have all the information to understand what happened. A close second is the writing. "Surgical" is often used to describe Spark's prose, and in this, her most unsettling novel, you can see why.

In a line here, a line there, we learn that Lise is 34 years old. She lives in the north of Europe, perhaps Sweden. She has worked in an accounting office since she was 18, with the exception of "the months of illness" --- and from the clothes she buys in the opening chapters and her strained, off-balance encounters with other people in the first few pages, we clearly get she's had a breakdown and is now having another. She lives alone. She's no oil painting:

"Her lips, when she does not speak or eat, are normally pressed together like the ruled line of a balance sheet, marked straight with her old-fashioned lipstick, a final and a judging mouth, a precision instrument, a detail-warden of a mouth; she has five girls under her and two men."

A dull woman? That's just the point. You'd never notice her, but on the last day of her life, you'd certainly feel her --- and you'd find her really creepy. The customers in a clothes store feel her; she makes them "gasp and gape". Her co-workers sit, silently, as she tells them, through hysterical laughter and tears, that her vacation will be "the time of her life." And on the plane that takes her south, presumably to Italy, she so terrifies the man next to her that he bolts out of his seat.

On and on it goes, a nightmare of inappropriate conversation, off-putting behavior, fevered action. She's supposed to have a date with her dream man --- where is he? "The torment of it," Lise says. "Not knowing exactly where and when he's going to turn up."

What's going on here? Is this a thriller? A search for the dream man that suddenly veers from romance to violence? There are cops jumping in from time to time --- is this a detective novel?

All of the above. And more. With a resolution you don't see coming and then can't see how it could have ended any other way.

"The Driver's Seat" was published --- as "a metaphysical thriller" --- in 1970. Spark was already a literary powerhouse, thanks to "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", her 1962 novel about a spinster schoolteacher in Edinburgh, Scotland. It had been published --- in its entirety --- in The New Yorker. On stage, it starred Vanessa Redgrave. Completing the triumph was the 1969 film, starring Maggie Smith, who won an Oscar for best actress in the title role.

"The Driver's Seat" was immediately recognized as a new kind of book: a traditional, last-day-of-life narrative, told with uncommon brevity and objectivity. Spark wrote more than twenty novels; this was one of her favorites. And her most prescient: you can see the accuracy of this close study of alienation and dislocation on the faces of untold people walking on any street. Or just watch the quirky, disturbing movie version of "The Driver's Seat" --- with Elizabeth Taylor in the leading role and Andy Warhol in the cast.

Muriel Spark wrote her novels in composition books, using one side of the page. No typewriters or computers for her --- she preferred pens that were not just new, but never touched by others. Rewriting? To her, that was the pastime of hacks; she rarely revised.

"The Driver's Seat" is proof she didn't need to.

The bleakest of Muriel Spark's twenty one novels, 1971's The Driver's Seat provides its audience with a short, harrowing ride, one often without apparent course or destination. Written in uncomfortable second person present tense, the reader becomes an immediate and hesitating witness to the last days in the life of Lise, the book's erratic, exacting, and strangely confrontational anti - heroine. The Driver's Seat is, among other things, a piercing indictment of both the Apollonian and Dionysian aspects of Western sixties culture and the radical break with traditional that the decade represented. Spark pulls off a clever literary coup in the opening paragraph of the third chapter, when she casually reveals the novel's catastrophic ending. By defusing the book's forward motion and the reader's expectations of reaching a climax in the routine manner, Spark forces the reader to look away from the narrative to understand the book's theme and meaning.

Lise, 34, is a product of scrubbed clean and prepackaged modern society, and is or has become a kind of tight - lipped clockwork cog blandly caught in the dull hierarchical social and economic machinery of life. Emotionally sterile and spiritually vacant, only the briefest glimpses into the inner workings of Lise's mind are made available. However, Lise, who habitually erupts into unprovoked barking laughter, has had "years of illness" of the psychological kind, the results of which have left her office coworkers quietly terrified of her presence. Lise is a walking pathology, a brittle death's head effigy who is likely to collapse or collapse a building at any moment should her precarious self regulating control system fail. Lise is a shark fin cutting the surface of life, a breathing but not necessarily living crash test dummy, a combustible wax work 'other' lacking a genuine human presence and an authentic resemblance to mankind. Spark hilariously underscores Lise's tragic monstrousness by giving her the Bride of Frankenstein's hairstyle, skunk stripe rising up from middlebrow to high pile above.

Subtly coerced by her coworkers to take a vacation, Lise already has extensive plans to do so. She will travel by plane from her own northern country (probably Sweden) to a southern country (most likely Italy), leaving behind her modern pine walled apartment, which has been constructed so that all furniture and appliances fold smoothly away into the walls (even the toilet). Lise keeps the few visible household trappings perfectly ordered and devoid of personal touches, leaving the apartment like a hotel room in a perpetual state of readiness for the next guest. Lise's home is her 'pine box.'

Only elderly, sweet natured, and met - along - the way traveling companion Mrs. Fiedke, who can neither see nor hear properly, can stomach Lise's company as Lise searches endlessly for a "boyfriend" she is unable to recognize or describe. In an effort to assist, Mrs. Fiedke asks, "Will you feel a presence? Is that how you'll know?" "Not really a presence," Lise famously replies, "the lack of an absence, that's what it is." Strangely, Lise becomes briefly more human as the narrative winds to a close; she momentarily regrets the plan she has precipitated, even while there is still more than enough time to bring it to a halt. She misses "the lonely grief" of home, and offhandedly says, "I wished my parents had practiced birth control." Readers will find Lise's brief manifestation of humanity starkly poignant.

By revealing that Lise's present condition has been partially caused by her being "neither pretty or ugly," and her continuing isolation due to her intrinsic status as a nondescript person in a world of mediocre, bland, and unremarkable people, Spark underscores the process by which some individuals perpetually overlooked as 'ordinary' can become extraordinary deviant and dangerous. Encouraging already indistinct members of society to assume generic personalities and rigid, conformist lifestyles, Spark seems to be saying, doesn't force the evolution of the New Man, but causes permanent spiritual deformities and creates abominations.

The Driver's Seat is filled with eccentric characters, but unlike other Spark novels, there are no outright sinister eccentrics other than Lise. The Driver's Seat equates evil with processed sterility and blankness rather than with the more traditional concepts of Christian sin and violation of grace and virtue. Here, vacuous stupidity (when Lise and Mrs. Fiedke are surrounded by cavorting hippies, shrewd Mrs. Fiedke says, "They are hermaphrodites. It isn't their fault"), solipsism, witless opinion, groundless protest, and trendy hedonism are merely the new norm, the to - be expected detritus of newly destabilized Western life. Even meek Mrs. Fiedke, representing the decaying old guard, believes all "homosexuals should be put on an island" and doesn't hesitate to say so. In the Driver's Seat, both civilization and nature, both the old order and the new, are at a dead end.

In an absurd world, can a person seize complete control of his or her destiny? If so, to what degree, and to how many possible outcomes? Can man successfully usurp God's role? These are the questions Spark raises and unsettlingly addresses here.

A story of a woman in search of the perfect man, and of two people perfectly suited for one another finally meeting, The Driver's Seat turns every fairytale and romantic notion painfully upon its head. Upon finishing the book, Spark landed in the hospital, apparently suffering nervous strain and exhaustion, which gives potential readers a hint of its macabre power. Highly recommended.

I'm surprised to see that there is no review posted for this book. It was a gem of a find for me, one of those books that I found while browsing for nothing in particular, and it sounded interesting at the very least. Since then I have come to enjoy Muriel Spark very much, though for nostalgic reasons this book remains one of my favorites. I have read it time and time again, and it's one of those rare experiences that lingers each time.

The book chronicles the vacation holiday of an unsettled, eccentric woman named Lise who is searching for her "boyfriend" in another city. To say more would be to give away wonderful, dissident chords within the book. I think it's one of the greatest parts of the experience Spark gives her readers- it's all a bit off-key, a bit awkward, a bit like watching a train as it lumbers down the track with the knowing that something bad is going to happen. The book follows none of the orthodoxies of most writing, at least in my mind, because while there is an obvious beginning and end, one gets the impression that much of the implied story began a very long time ago and that the future of Lise might include stalking the streets of this foreign city and its more benign tourists. I left my first reading with more questions than answers, but it was a very good thing within this context. There is nothing in Lise that can be contained very efficiently, including what one might expect of her, and so while the story ends in the shortterm with the insertion of the back of this tiny book, somewhere in the mind it is possible for Lise to continue to wander aimlessly through the imagination and the many doors found there.

As effective as the characterization, the sparse narrative is eerie and fantastic and shows restraint where others might provide a deluge of interesting yet ineffectual description and leaves us wanting more in many cases. But, like a scolded child we realize that- as the title implies- there is another who knows better than we who is maneuvering this vehicle and we are totally at her disposal. As a reader, this book was about acceptance and a certain amount of perseverence, because there were times when I truly felt dread reading about Lise and the assortment of characters that she encounters on her journey. It's a book I have never forgotten and one that sticks out in my mind as one of the better pieces I've had the pleasure of reading.

I recommend this book to those who enjoy subtle, creeping turmoil instead of the blood and monsters that pepper popular suspense. This is not about the man with the axe around the next corner, or the modern psychopath stalking their prey. At least, it's not clearly any of these things. It is the bubbling of something more than every-day-ho-hum under the surface of what appears normal (if slightly eccentric) human behavior, and it's got plenty of twists in store for those who decide to take it on. A wonderfully scary book, and a symphony of slightly sour notes building to a creepy, determined finale.

It was the best bio I have ever read.It made me feel like I was part of the Hamner family.When I watched the waltons as a kid I did not know it was based on a real family. Now when I watch the Waltons it has a whole new meaning

Mention 'Earl Hamner' and savvy book readers will instantly recognize his name as the creator of the beloved Waltons, which became a hit TV show - but there's more to his life than Walton's Mountain, as Earl Hamner: From Walton's Mountain To Tomorrow reveals. Hamner was raised in small town Virginia and discovered writing at a young age, becoming a published writer at the age of six. He did much more than just The Waltons: he produced eight scripts for The Twilight Zone, did the screenplay for Charlotte's Web, and was loved and respected for his talents. A fine account of his lively career and many literary contributions evolves.

Earl Hamner is genious, intelligent, heartfelt, honest man. He created the best show on t.v., "The Waltons." This books opens a lot of interesting history of his career and family. The author spends too much time indulging other writers works, and trying to compare them to Earl Hamner. I wish Earl was the author of his bio. You will discover his works from Charlotte's Web, Falcon Crest, Snowy River, Spencer's Mountain, The Homecoming,and of course, The Waltons.
Sections of the book gets very boring, and turns away from Earl's life. The rest of the book is well written. We need more writers & producers like Earl Hamner.
God Bless The Waltons!

Earl Hamner,Jr. is as familiar to some of us as our own father, or grandfather.He has been a part of our lives for as much as the last thirty or so years,since his book "The Homecoming" aired as a made for tv Christmas movie,and the long running series,"The Waltons" took over our living rooms every Thursday night.
The series was based on Mr. Hamner's life growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the depression,and the stories related to many of us,having touched on our families and their histories,stories that were told to us by our parents and grandparents,and some that lived through those times themselves.
Earl had a special gift in his ability to tie that world in with ours,reminding us even still today the meaning of family.He could even make those without a family feel like they were part of one.
Mr. Person's book not only presents a great tribute to a great man, but his writing also has the ability to make the reader feel as though they are reading about one of thier own family,but with some surprises along the way.If I had only one comment about the book it would be that I only wish there were more pages to read in it! Great job,Mr.Person!

This book provides excellant insight on Earl Hamner. My wife and I belong to the International Walton's Fan Club and have meet Earl several times at Walton Reunions. Mr. Hamner is a talented writter and a wonderful person.

All I have to say is that this series is by far the best manga/graphic novel I've ever read... This is not the plotless violence that you see in many manga series', Eden's story line is one of the better plots that I've read in quite some time. This series is absolutely incredible and a 'must-read' for everyone who loves... well... anything.

Eden is simply an amazing graphic novel set in a world ravaged by a killer virus, that wipes out the majority of the population. We start with three survivors on an island. A dying man confined to a wheelchair and two children. From this simple begining we delve into complex subject matter. The concept of sin, sexual desire, explore the meaning of life, question the existence of god and man's role in the natural order. Heady stuff to say the least and then there are the mecha robots, cyborgs, mercenaries and global conspiracies. Breathtaking in it's scope and imagination, Hiroki Endo has created a tribute to the cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic survival genre.

Having read the first three volumes so far, I'm blown away. I haven't found a manga this engaging since Akira. At first glance, what appeared to be a typical "post-apocalytic" story is actually deeply fascinating on multiple levels, most especially characterization. The technological elements are as well done as anything by Shirow (Ghost in the Shell), perhaps even better, as they are more clearly explained and shown to be a logical extension of present-day technologies. The future the author has created here is totally coherent and convincing. Like the best sci-fi, you feel like you are simply glimpsing one aspect of an enormous world.

The visual storytelling is extremely well done. The battle scenes are clearly sequenced and paced in a way that is very cinematic. I found myself racing from panel to panel, my eyes frequently bugging out at dramatic and gory moments that are perfectly presented in service to the larger narrative and the emotional content.

The characters are quite convincing and engaging.

This is a fantastic piece of entertainment!

A worldwide plague has struck Earth, and there's no cure in sight. The disease is particularly nasty because your skin hardens into rock-like consistency and then your internal organs liquefy and drain out through your orifices! So you have all these statues of people laying around like so many victims of Medusa. A bio-dome named Eden is constructed under UN control to quarantine uninfected humans from the pandemic sweeping the world. Many years later, all that's left of the once hopeful experiment are two adolescents named Enoah and Hannah, who have genetic resistance, and their dying guardian Layne, who is rapidly succumbing to the sickness. The rest of this first volume fills you in on how Eden, which was once a bastion of Man's hopes, has now become an empty shell of its former self. We're also introduced to Cherubim, a military robot which Eden's now dead inhabitants blamed for their destruction. The second half of the book takes up a different thread, 20 years later as a young boy named Elijah, accompanied by Cherubim, fights to survive in the ruins of civilization.

This first volume of Eden had it all: Sci-fi, Violence, love, human fears, religious symbolism, and realism. The characters at times feel like mythological, if not Biblical, figures given human shape, but they retain our sympathies. They are protagonists trying to live in a world that has been destroyed by forces on a different level than themselves. As in all times of chaos, factions arise to take advantage of the situation and take control. It's difficult to see how these characters are going to fit into the scheme of things. The little violence in this book is graphic but necessary to tell the story. Death isn't pretty. The art in Eden is some of the best I've ever seen in a manga and is reminescent of a more refined Ghost in the Shell style-wise. Video Girl Ai is another series that is similar in art. This is a gripping and thought provoking first volume in what looks to be a great series.

Eden is an awesome manga. If any manga has achieved a literary state it has to be this one. For example, it doesn't exactly present characters the way other manga do, by showing what they look like, and having them act out in a way that would be characteristic. What Eden did in this volume was present the setting first, and have the characters interact with that setting. Being a post-apocalyptic tale, the setting is key, and having certain people react a certain way to the setting will reveal a lot about that character. Personally, I thought this was brilliantly done, and I felt that I knew Elijah, the main character, well enough to like him, even though he was only in three short chapters of this volume.

The story in Eden--in this volume at least--begins with two teenagers, Enoah and Hannah, as they care for their guardian Layne, who's dying of a disease that hardens the skin and turns the insides of a human to mush. While caring for Layne, these kids learn of their responsibility to human-kind, as well as the tragic past that aided in bringing about the apocalypse in which they are living in. Later, the story moves to young Elijah, a boy whose only companion is a robot named Cherubim, as he goes about the everyday job of survival, including scavenging and hunting, as well as dreaming of girls.

Though admittedly the story is slow, and very little is given away as to what direction Eden is heading in, I can't knock it for the simple brilliance in which it is unfolding. Hiroki Endo put an emphasis on presenting the stark setting and conditions of living in the volume, and also made it clear that it is an intelligent plot no matter how slow it is. The back cover states that Eden is "a brilliant love song to post-apocalyptic survival genre" and I would have to agree on that. Eden is a smart story rivaling even Akira, and one I highly recommend for fans of darker, smarter manga.

Ms. Farrow held my interest in this book from beginning to end. The suspence and intrigue of the characters was well written; and the love story part was outstanding. She knows her stuff. Hope Ms. Farrow writes another soon!

Julie has certainly explained her characters and made them very believable. I rarely read love stories because they are so much the same but this had a really human interest story with it and was described very well. She kept my interest up throughout the book. I look forward to her sequel, Shelley's Promise and will certainly pass this on to my friends. Continue the story, Julie.

WOW! Faith's Desire hooked me in the beginning, carried me along with fast-paced drama, and swung me into a page-turning dynamite ending. Titilating romance scenes added another dimension to the already powerful action sequences and kept me glued to the book. The author obviously has had extensive experience in a trauma center, or did an amazing job of research, because the Emergency room segments of the story were very realistic and had a ring of professionalism.

Great book! Great story! Great read!

I'm not one to read most romance novels, but this one caught my attention because of the subject matter. The author knows her stuff. That's obvious from the detailed descriptions of life in an urban ER facility. This is no television script. It's fast paced, exciting, lots of intrigue and action. Like I said, it's not a typical romance. You guys out there will like it too. Give this one a read. You'll never think of ER's the same again!

EMERGENCY! Faith's Desire is a wonderful romantic adventure told by an expert who knows what it's like to live a life or death, no mistakes career of a hospital emergency room. Love, romance, danger and mystery are all woven expertly in a thrilling epic by this dynamic author! Non-stop action and romantic adventure from start to finish!

This small book is glorious. It is beautiful and poetic. It contains much self analysis on the part of Manrique, and has many intimate details on the men featured therein. It is extremely inspiring and should be read by anyone with even the slightest interest. I will read his other works now. Bravo Jaime!!

Jaime Manrique writes clearly and with precision about himself and the three authors he joins with himself as "eminent maricones." I found this book to be very enjoyable and educational. I was familiar with all of these authors, and now feel closer to each of them. I hope that this book will be read by Latin Americans who like to read; by North Americans interested in Hispanic-American culture; by gay activists interested in our history and the coming-out process.

Simply stated, I learned plenty about these great literary heroes. Manrique does not pretend to know everything, but he has much to share in this touching memoir about his encounters with Lorca, Puig and Arenas. I commend Manrique for showing us how human--vulnerable and flawed--these men were. Grounded in a prose that is unpretentious and generous with glimpses of writers at their best and at their worst, this is a must for any collector of Lorca, Puig or Arenas scholarship.

Emminent Maricones is a treasure. It is rare that a writer of Manrique's skill takes the time to lovingly explore the very human side of the lives and literary contributions of fellow writers. This is not a an irreverant comparison of whether or not Puig, Lorca, and Arenas were able to write well BECAUSE they were gay but how perhaps their perception and world view was more acute because of their sexuality. I found it irresistable and read through this little jewel of a book twice in one sitting, the next logical step being to return to the recommended books Manrique thoughtfully suggests!

"Eminent Maricones: Arenas, Lorca, Puig, and Me" is an extraordinary achievement by author Jaime Manrique. The book combines autobiographical material by the Colombian-born Manrique with chapters about three other gay male Hispanic writers: Cuba's Reinaldo Arenas, Spain's Federico Garcia Lorca, and Argentina's Manuel Puig. The book thus constitutes an exploration of a sort of pan-Hispanic gay male identity, as well as a moving meditation on the place of the literary artist in the modern world. Portions of the book have been previously published in both Spanish and English.

Manrique's autobiographical writing is fascinating. He describes his childhood in Colombia, his emigration to the United States, and his "births" as both a writer and a gay man. Particularly powerful is his memoir of learning how to read; for him, awakening to the power of literacy was a life-changing revelation: "I felt as Balboa must have felt when he first glimpsed the Pacific."

Manrique knew both Arenas and Puig personally, and he writes with tenderness and insight of the last days of these two great writers. In his chapter on Lorca, he "reconstructs" a portrait of the man and the artist through second-hand accounts and through readings of Lorca's own fascinating writings.

Manrique describes Arenas, Lorca, and Puig as "the great triumvirate of openly homosexual writers who have written in Spanish." Reading his reclamation of these three writers as his literary forbears, I was reminded of the work done by African-American writer Alice Walker to recover Zora Neale Hurston as a black literary foremother. Like Walker, Manrique honors those whose revolutionary literature continues to inspire new generations of writers.

Ultimately, Manrique expresses solidarity with and compassion for all who have suffered dispossession or persecution due to the prejudice of an entrenched status quo. I recommend "Eminent Maricones" to those interested in Latin American and pan-Hispanic studies, gay literature, and contemporary autobiography.

Fathering Words portrays the grief and loss one man feels when his father and brother suddenly die within two years of each other. Their deaths cause Miller to recall how seldom he and his father spoke, and yet, he always knows his father loves the family. That singular way one person cares for and remembers another is at the spiritual core of this book. What does a son inherit from the men in his family when there are few conversations? Miller compares his life and his dreams to that of his older brother, and maps out the goals for his own future as he marries, has his own children, and embarks on his career as a poet. He punctuates the story with the gracious voice of his older sister, Marie, as he imagines how the family might have looked to her. Marie carries the secrets and stories that filter down to the younger son as rumors and tales. She becomes a source of information and verification of the family history. Using a network of subtle references to religion, classical and jazz music, basketball and baseball, as well as motifs from literary works, Miller provides a number of avenues by which a broad spectrum of readers will be able to enter and inhabit his poignant text.

For those who want to write about their own lives, the book provides a model for creating scenes in small vignettes that become interconnected by the end of the chapter, as opposed to providing a direct narrative path from the beginning of a life to the present. For writers who aspire to become published, and perhaps even famous, Miller chronicles the encounters he has with a number of writers, revealing the history of African American literature in the past thirty years.

I teach Fathering Words in a senior-level college course on autobiography at the University of Southern Indiana. Readers who want more information about the author might start with his website ....

If I had received this book five years ago, it would have saved me five years of pain and confusion. Fathering Words is the tangible witness of a man's journey into and through his writing life. Unlike many writing memoirs, it is not a how to, or even a how, but a detatched narrative of his life as a poet. He is eerily objective about the mistakes and choices he has made, and uses occasional passages from his sister to broaden the view he gives the reader.

I learned more about the writing process, more about the yearning that true writers feel, and more about the lack of understanding that non-artists have about the whys and wherefores. If you know an African-American man who yearns to "father words", buying this book for him will be the best show of support you can give him.

Fathering Words is a deeply moving memoir. Ethelbert Miller's description of his father will remain with the reader for a very long time. His decision to write the book using both his and his sister's voice is unique and it works.It's definitely a keeper.

Fathering Words portrays the grief and loss one man feels when his father and brother suddenly die within two years of each other. Their deaths cause Miller to recall how seldom he and his father spoke, and yet, he always knows his father loves the family. That singular way one person cares for and remembers another is at the spiritual core of this book. What does a son inherit from the men in his family when there are few conversations? Miller compares his life and his dreams to that of his older brother, and maps out the goals for his own future as he marries, has his own children, and embarks on his career as a poet. He punctuates the story with the gracious voice of his older sister, Marie, as he imagines how the family might have looked to her. Marie carries the secrets and stories that filter down to the younger son as rumors and tales. She becomes a source of information and verification of the family history. Using a network of subtle references to religion, classical and jazz music, basketball and baseball, as well as motifs from literary works, Miller provides a number of avenues by which a broad spectrum of readers will be able to enter and inhabit his poignant text.

For those who want to write about their own lives, the book provides a model for creating scenes in small vignettes that become interconnected by the end of the chapter, as opposed to providing a direct narrative path from the beginning of a life to the present. For writers who aspire to become published, and perhaps even famous, Miller chronicles the encounters he has with a number of writers, revealing the history of African American literature in the past thirty years.

I teach Fathering Words in a senior-level college course on autobiography at the University of Southern Indiana. ...

This book is so beautifully written, so touchingly direct that I called Howard University to search out the author and tell him what a compelling book he had written. Anyone who is a father, about to be a father or contemplating being a father (whether African-American or not) will find this book touching in what it says about the frequently mute love between fathers and their sons. African-Americans families are often love mutes like Mr. Miller's-- too busy working, too focused on the quotidien to express love outside provision of food and shelter. Out of such silent, seemingly fallow ground, E. Ethelbert Miller heaps up words of love and power, fathering not only his own father, but his whole family in some of the most poetic prose you will ever read.

Harold Brodky was one of the great writers of the last half of the twentieth century. This book is the proof.

Overall the book is ok. But, there are five or six stories that are so unbelievably good they more than make up for the mediocre ones and make this one of my favorite books of all time. Really, a phenomenal read.

He writes like nobody else. His stories contain moments that are so beautifully personal and intimate that they left me amazed and full of admiration. He captures youthful shame, compassion and indifference in a more direct an honest way than any writer I have read. His work is uneven, and there are parts that are an effort to get through, but when he gets it right he reminds me why I love literature, and how thrilling it is to be shown a person's truthful, inner life.

This book is just wonderful. The stories are told with finesse and rare magical writing and are told in layers and layers of emotional complexity. This is a fine example of the writing of a brilliant man who was lost to AIDS in the mid-80's. A highly recommended read.

This book of short stories provides a rare glimpse and unique cultural viewpoint of growing up in a mid-western working class environment in the late 1940s and early 1950s. ESsentially, the family lived an affluent lifestyle until his father made a few bad business decisions, lost their home, and later died from a lingering illness. The observations and insights Brodkey provides are priceless. He contrasts his position to that of a wealthy friend, whom he met at an Ivy League school and whose viewpoint and values reflect a totally different approach to life. He describes his mother's aspirations for his sister, whose *only* chances for a "better life", i.e., achieving social and economic advantages, was by dating the right class of boyfriend, as she was expected to marry into a higher social class. The "Quarrel" is a story about his visit to France with a very wealthy friend and their adventures and "fall out", when their social, cultural and viewpoints about life clash, resulting in a quarrel with wounded feelings that can never be repaired.

One of my favorite stories is "Sentimental Education" where a male student sees a pretty young lady at the college he attends and longs to meet and date her. He occasionally sees her at different locations but is too shy to speak to her. He daydreams about meeting her as he falls head over heels in love. He discovers she signed up for a Medieval poetry class, so he changes his choice and signs up for the same class. Eventually they meet and discuss literature. The heart of this story is the strong physical and emotional needs that accompnay this "first love' experience. Brodkey is a tremendously gifted author who provides keen and sensitive insights into life as it was lived in the 1950s. He provides an interesting contrast of the viewpoints of working people and those who possess privilege, money, and therefore more power. This is a book rich with detailed observations about social distinctions and the human behavior that accompanies different positions in society. It provides a greater understanding of r life as it was lived within a particular cultural era. This book receives my highest recommendations. Erika Borsos (erikab93)

"For the Write Reason" is a rich compilation of personal stories and tips from published Christian authors, editors, and others in the publishing field, written directly to those coming up behind them. It answers a lot of common questions and keeps the Christian author focused on the reasons we are called to write through a 31-day bible study. It's always comforting to get the perspective of someone who's been there; this book is no exception!

I aquired this book by reading another book. I really got this book because I was curious. I am estactic that I did. There are so many good tips from other writers in this book, that I have altered my style to what I think is a much better approach. I will be going back to this book many times to reread the information to refresh my writing.

Thank you Marybeth for this excellent tool! Hearing all of the different experiences was not only inspiring but educational. I will recommend this to many!

The women of Proverbs 31 Ministries have produced a book that is a wonderful encouragement for writers. It is an easy read, with stories and insights shared from those who know what it is to stare at a blank screen or page and long to see their words in print. At the end of each segment is a simple Bible study that helps you write "For the Write Reason", keeping you focused on the inspiration and purpose we write.
My favorite segment: From Darkness to Dreams by Mary Southerland. Mary is a speaker and teacher who, like many of us, uses journaling to cope with depression. Her journals led to a book, Coming Out of the Dark. She shares lessons and good advice... and a brief story about not giving up from the publisher who turned down Veggie Tales!
This book is inspiration and encouragement - not a text on how to... but fuel for the soul of the writer who truly wants to write for the right reason.

Lisa Van Allen, PhD

If you have wanted to write but been afraid to try, you should read For the Write Reason, edited by Marybeth Whalen. The book contains thirty-one accounts, some in the first person and others in the third, of how Christians have become writers. Some have always wanted to write; others never wanted to write but found it strengthened their ministry. The people profiled include Rebecca Barlow Jordan, Mary DeMuth, Mary Southerland, Sharon Jaynes, Athena Deane, Thelma Wells, Kendra Smiley, Denny Boultinghouse, Rachel Scott, and Sally E. Stuart--a name familiar to most Christian writers.

Not only do they tell their stories, but many include tips on getting published or writing better, making this a valuable book for writers who are already published. They also share a vision on the importance of spiritual priorities, such as the family, service, and humility.

Each short chapter includes follow-up information on the author, editor, or agent, along with a devotional and a writing challenge. The devotionals deal with obedience, jealousy, priorities, and other subjects as they affect our writing. Most are thought provoking, some encouraging, others convicting. The writing challenges supplement the devotionals and would not take large amounts of time.

Whalen includes helpful appendices on writing a book proposal and bio sheet, marketing your writing, and useful writing resources.

Writing styles vary with the writer, but most are warm, encouraging, and friendly. I highly recommend For the Write Reason, which offers something for almost every writer, especially the beginner. -- Debbie W. Wilson, Christian Book Previews.com