‘Your Face in the Fire’ by Naomi Ruth Lowinsky

I’m pleased to see the release of Lowinsky’s sixth poetry collection on June 1. A Jungian analyst, Lowinsky creates poetry I greatly appreciate, including Adagio and Lamentation in 2010 from Fisher King Press.

From the Publisher

“Naomi Ruth Lowinsky’s soul was shaped by deep impressions made on her by India, where she lived for two years in the 1960s. It was there the Goddess claimed her. It was there that myths began singing to her. It was there her soul remembered other lives. It was there her stars insisted she learn to tend her fire. And the fire spoke: I am the heat of your passion. It is I who will show you your way.”

Blurb

“Naomi Ruth Lowinsky’s book of poetry: Your Face in the Fire, speaks with an impassioned voice which opens us up to that vast space which we find in Jung’s Red Book. It is a vibrant standpoint from which she encounters the mysteries of the psyche. Through her poetic imagination, we get to participate in her vision-making process. Nourished by her dreams that invite us to imagine with her as she expresses a lifetime of creating, engaging, reflecting, and reworking while showing us how her process is not only transformational for her but for anyone who opens up to the reality of their experiences of psyche’s being. The archetypal dimension shines through this book.” – Sam Kimbles

Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of magical realism short stories and novels.

The bumpy ride of ‘The Blue Bicycle’ by Régine Deforges

Somehow, my wife got a copy of The Blue Bicycle in the mid-1980s, possibly from one of several people with whom she traded books, and it didn’t take long for her to discover that the book was similar to Gone With the Wind. Too similar, we thought.

The author was sued for plagiarism by American Trust Company Bank who represented the rights to the Margaret Mitchell novel. Deforges, a popular French author, lost the case and was ordered to pay $330,000 in damages. The book was a bestseller in France.

However, according to the New York Times, Deforges was cleared on appeal in 1990. The French “appeals court agreed that Miss Deforges’s book began with a character similar to Miss Mitchell’s Scarlett O’Hara. But it said the two novels then followed different paths.”

Deforges died in 2014. The book is still available on Amazon.

From the Publisher

“‘The little savage from Montillac’ is what her suave lover Francois calls Lea, the passionate heroine of this frankly lush, romantic novel of France during the war years 1939-1942. Daughter of a rich wine grower in Bordeaux, Lea sees her adored childhood sweetheart, Laurent, married to his cousin, namby-pamby Camille. Lea has lovers but never stops carrying the torch for Laurent, while tending pregnant Camille during Laurent’s service at the front, holding down the family estate of Montillac, where Germans are billeted, and cycling through occupied checkpoints with messages for the Resistance. Deforges, a bestselling writer in France, gives us moving scenes of civilian panic and carnage and glimpses of Paris high life enjoyed by collaborators and black-marketeers. Radio broadcasts by the still unknown de Gaulle, and defeatist Petainhead of the Vichy puppet regimefire French patriotism and keep the underground going. Plenty of entertainment here, and echoes of Gone with the Wind, though it’s hard to tell what lusty Lea sees in Laurent.”

I taught college-level communications law. By no means an expert, I do not agree with the appeals court’s decision because I think the material Deforges copied went beyond the scope of fair use.

–Malcolm

 

‘The Demon of Unrest’ by Erik Larson

Larson

The Bibliography of the American Civil War says there are over 60,000 books about the war in print. If I were an editor at Crown Publishing  Group and received a proposal via an author’s agent for yet another book, my primary thought would be “What will this book add to the discussion.” No doubt I would be influenced by a proposal from the author of The Devil in the White City which made a big splash in 2003.

Larson writes on his website, “At the heart of the story is a mystery that still confounds: How on earth did South Carolina, a primitive, scantily populated state in economic decline, become the fulcrum for America’s greatest tragedy? And even more bewildering, what malignant magic brought Americans on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line to the point where they could actually imagine the wholesale killing of one another?”

If these thoughts were part of Larson’s agent’s proposal on my desk, I would want to read more. When Larson’s readers see the listing for this book, due to be released at the end of May, they’ll also want to read more, according to, well, me.

From The Publisher

“The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Splendid and the Vile brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War—a simmering crisis that finally tore a deeply divided nation in two.

“A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR:
The New York Times, People, Time, Los Angeles Times, Men’s Health, New York Post, Lit Hub, Book Riot, Screenrant

“On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.

“Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter—a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Lincoln himself wrote that the trials of these five months were “so great that, could I have anticipated them, I would not have believed it possible to survive them.”

“At the heart of this suspense-filled narrative are Major Robert Anderson, Sumter’s commander and a former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor at every opportunity; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over both marriage and slavery and seeing parallels between them. In the middle of it all is the overwhelmed Lincoln, battling with his duplicitous secretary of state, William Seward, as he tries desperately to avert a war that he fears is inevitable—one that will eventually kill 750,000 Americans.

“Drawing on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers, and plantation records, Larson gives us a political horror story that captures the forces that led America to the brink—a dark reminder that we often don’t see a cataclysm coming until it’s too late.”

From Publishers Weekly

Sumter – 1861 Photo

“In this twisty and cinematic account, bestseller Larson (The Splendid and the Vile) recreates the five-month period between Abraham Lincoln’s 1861 election and the outbreak of the Civil War, focusing on the intensifying showdown over Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C., where Maj. Robert Anderson, the U.S. Army commander, faced a swelling Confederate force with his outgunned garrison of 75 soldiers. Larson mirrors Anderson’s struggle to hold his post while avoiding provocations that might lead to war with Lincoln’s tightrope-walk attempt to stand firm against secession without goading the South into it. As he traveled to Washington, D.C., to take office—arriving in disguise after dodging a rumored assassination plot in Baltimore—Lincoln vacillated over whether to resupply Fort Sumter or surrender it.” – Publishers Weekly

Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell, author of magical realism and contemporary fantasy novels, previously served as a book reviewer for a Georgia regional magazine.

‘The Nature of Personal Reality’ by Jane Roberts (Seth)

Dorothy Jane Roberts (May 8, 1929 – September 5, 1984) was an American author and poet, who claimed to be psychic and a spirit medium channeling a personality who called himself ‘Seth.’ Her publication of the Seth texts, known as the Seth Material, established her as one of the preeminent figures in the world of paranormal phenomena.” Wikipedia

The Seth books channeled by Janes Roberts were very popular during the 1960s-1980s. I’ve read most of them and believe that The Nature of Personal Reality is the most practical in terms of how the reader can put the ideas into use. I’ve been greatly influenced by the Seth Material even though much of the information in the other books is interesting chiefly in a big-picture, philosophical sense rather than having a direct application to ourselves. It works! But, it requires dedication to use since it runs counter to everyday beliefs and concepts. I seldom meet anyone who believes that we create our own reality.

I can tell that interest in the books has waned because not only are they seldom mentioned, but the Amazon listings don’t include the original publisher descriptions the books had when they were new. So, while my link on the cover picture is to the book’s Amazon page, the publisher’s description below comes from the Internet Archive.

About the Book

“From the Bestselling Author of Seth Speaks, The ‘Seth Books’ by Jane Roberts are world-renowned for comprising one of the most profound bodies of work ever written on the true nature of reality.In this perennial bestseller, Seth challenges our assumptions about the nature of reality, and shows us how we create our personal reality through our conscious beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world. He stresses the individual’s capacity for conscious action, and provides excellent exercises that show us how to apply his empowering insights to any life situation. His message is clear: we are not at the mercy of the subconscious, or helpless before forces we cannot understand. ‘We are Gods couched in creaturehood,’ Seth says, ‘We are given the ability to form our experience as our thoughts and feelings become actualized.’

“You are a multidimensional personality. Trust the miracle of your own being. ‘Make no divisions between the physical and the spiritual in your lifetimes, for the spiritual speaks with a physical voice, and the corporeal body is the creation of the spirit.’ — Jane Roberts, Speaking for SethPraise for The Seth Books by Jane Roberts ‘The Seth books present an alternate map of reality with a new diagram of the psyche . . . useful to all explorers of consciousness.’ — Deepak Chopra, M.D., author of The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success ‘Seth was one of my first metaphysical teachers. He remains a constant source of knowledge and inspiration in my life.’ — Marianne Williamson, author of A Return to Love “I would like to see the Seth books as required reading for anyone on their spiritual pathway.’

“The amazing in-depth information in the Seth books is as relevant today as it was in the early ’70s when Jane Roberts first channeled this material.” — Louise Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life ‘Quite simply one of the best books I’ve ever read!. — Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull  ‘I count Jane Roberts’ brilliant book, The Nature of Personal Reality, as a spiritual classic and one of the influential books in my life. As I closed the last page, I looked up at a new world —boundless and filled with possibility.’ — Dan Millman, author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior The Nature of Personal Reality had an important influence on my life and work. ‘Seth’s teachings provided one of the initial inspirations for writing Creative Visualization.’ — Shakti Gawain, author of Creative Visualization ‘The Seth books were of great benefit to me on my spiritual journey and helped me to see another way of looking at the world.’ — Gerald G. Jampolsky, author of Love Is Letting Go of Fear ‘As you read Seth’s words, you will gain more than just new ideas. Seth’s energy comes through every page — energy that expands your consciousness and changes your thoughts about the nature of reality.’ — Sanaya Roman, author of Living with Joy ‘To my great surprise — and slight annoyance — I found that Seth eloquently and lucidly articulated a view of reality that I had arrived at only after great effort and an extensive study of both paranormal phenomena and quantum physics….’ — Michael Talbot, author of The Holographic Universe”

The book is in sync with James Allen’s As a Man Thinketh, the 1903 book I’ve mentioned often in my work. The book is available on Amazon and free of Project Gutenberg.  The concepts appear in many places, but this book brings them together.

Malcolm

Male author writing from a female character’s POV

In some ways, this post is a shameless promotion. My apologies.

The four books in my Florida Folk Magic Series have female primary characters. I had already written one book, Sarabande (contemporary fantasy) from a woman’s viewpoint. It’s the opposite of The Sun Singer (the sequel) about a young man following a plotline based on the hero’s journey popularized by Joseph Campbell in The Hero With a Thousand Faces.

When I began thinking of a sequel to The Sun Singer, I discovered a lot of controversy among writers and mythologists about how a woman would go on such a journey. Many people said the woman would simply follow the standard tropes of the man’s hero’s journey; others thought that was absurd because men and women generally have different mythic focuses. I agreed: I needed a heroine’s journey, not a tweaked hero’s journey.

So after researching mythologists who wrote about strong mythic females, I opted to write Sarabande from a woman’s point of view by using a mythic journey, that of Inanna, an ancient Sumerian goddess, as a basis in a very general way. Research took a long time mainly because I needed to get to the point where the narrative sounded true to a woman’s thoughts and actions rather than to a man pretending to know how a woman would think and feel about the experiences encountered in the story.

I decided maybe I had accomplished this when a female reviewer, speaking of an assault scene in the novel, said the scene worked and that she had to keep reminding herself it had been written by a male author.  The mythic elements and the fantasy genre probably played a lot in my accomplishing this; had the woman been a modern-day character in typical real-life situations, I don’t think my characterization could have come out sounding true–that is, as a woman would think and feel.

However, when it came to the “older-than-dirt” African American conjure woman in the 1950s-era Florida Panhandle, this white boy knew better than to write from her point of view. The gulf in our ages, cultures,  and experiences was just too great even though the conjure woman is loosely based on a person I knew while in junior high and high school; then, too, I lived within the period when the book was focused and had observed the things I was writing about.

That’s why the narrator is a cat, something I thought I could get away with since the novels are written in the magical realism genre. That allowed me to do things that wouldn’t have worked in a non-genre book. I was helped in this ruse by having lived with one to three cats in the house since the 1980s when my wife turned me into a cat person. My “take” on how a cat might act and think was probably more believable than trying to write directly from my character Eulalie’s viewpoint. Readers worried more about something bad happening to the cat (Lena) than the people. I didn’t count on that, but I got used to it.

The writer’s “trick” is to write around the things s/he can’t possibly write “property.” Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t work.

–Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of the contemporary fantasy novel “The Sun Singer.”

‘An Unfinished Love Story’ by  Doris Kearns Goodwin

I like Goodwin’s books because their accuracy has been proven over time, their readability has been acclaimed, and their focus never fails to hone in on the key elements of the historical period she’s writing about. This makes for an uncanny reading experience when she’s writing about a period I know well. And, the husband-and-wife debates/discussions give us something extra and unusual in this book.

From the Publisher

An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin, one of America’s most beloved historians, artfully weaves together biography, memoir, and history. She takes you along on the emotional journey she and her husband, Richard (Dick) Goodwin embarked upon in the last years of his life.

“Dick and Doris Goodwin were married for forty-two years and married to American history even longer. In his twenties, Dick was one of the brilliant young men of John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier. In his thirties, he both named and helped design Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and was a speechwriter and close advisor to Robert Kennedy. Doris Kearns was a twenty-four-year-old graduate student when selected as a White House Fellow. She worked directly for Lyndon Johnson and later assisted on his memoir.

“Over the years, with humor, anger, frustration, and in the end, a growing understanding, Dick and Doris had argued over the achievements and failings of the leaders they served and observed, debating the progress and unfinished promises of the country they both loved.

“The Goodwins’ last great adventure involved finally opening the more than three hundred boxes of letters, diaries, documents, and memorabilia that Dick had saved for more than fifty years. They soon realized they had before them an unparalleled personal time capsule of the 1960s, illuminating public and private moments of a decade when individuals were powered by the conviction they could make a difference; a time, like today, marked by struggles for racial and economic justice, a time when lines were drawn and loyalties tested.

“Their expedition gave Dick’s last years renewed purpose and determination. It gave Doris the opportunity to connect and reconnect with participants and witnesses of pivotal moments of the 1960s. And it gave them both an opportunity to make fresh assessments of the central figures of the time—John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, and especially Lyndon Johnson, who greatly impacted both their lives. The voyage of remembrance brought unexpected discoveries, forgiveness, and the renewal of old dreams, reviving the hope that the youth of today will carry forward this unfinished love story with America.”

“Just as An Unfinished Love Story is a testament to the Kearns Goodwin marriage, so is it a love story of the United States and its democratic government. The many speeches written by Goodwin, the writings of Kearns Goodwin and both their reflections demonstrate that words do indeed matter.”—The Columbus Dispatch

About the Author

“Doris Helen Kearns Goodwin (born January 4, 1943) is an American biographer, historian, former sports journalist, and political commentator. She has written biographies of numerous U.S. presidents. Goodwin’s book No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1995. Goodwin produced the American television miniseries Washington. She was also executive producer of ‘Abraham Lincoln’, a 2022 docudrama on the History Channel. This latter series was based on Goodwin’s Leadership in Turbulent Times.- Wikipedia

Malcolm

 

New novel from Marisha Pessl to be released on November 12th

“NEW YORK (AP) — Marisha Pessl’s first novel in six years is a psychological thriller with the kinds of intricate clues and connections she has been known for since her acclaimed debut, Special Topics in Calamity Physics.” – Associated Press

If Darkly offers the mysterious inventive spark we saw in Special Topics in Calamity Physics, her fans will be well pleased.

From the Publisher

A seemingly ordinary high school student. A mysterious summer internship. And a legendary game designer, now dead, leaving a dark legacy. The New York Times bestselling author of Night Film spins a twisted web in this masterful YA psychological thriller.

“What would you kill for?

“When an ad for an internship with the Louisiana Veda Foundation poses this question, seemingly every high school student in the country rushes to apply. Arcadia “Dia” Gannon has been obsessed with Louisiana Veda, the late game designer whose obsessive creations have attained a cultlike status, ever since she and her mom played Disappearing Act—but Dia has never won anything in her life. So she’s shocked when she’s chosen as an intern, along with six other teenagers from around the world.

“Little is known about Louisiana Veda. Her game-making empire, Darkly, was renowned for its ingenious, utterly terrifying toys and games, rife with hidden symbols and secrets. But after Veda’s mysterious death, Darkly went bankrupt and production was discontinued. The remaining games are priced like highly sought-after works of art, with the rarest and most notorious items commanding tens of millions of dollars at auction.

Web site photo.

“Now the interns are thrust into the enigmatic heart of Louisiana Veda’s operation, and Dia immediately questions everything. Who are these other kids? Why do they all seem to have something to hide? And why was she really chosen? It soon becomes clear that this summer will be the most twisted Darkly game of all.

“As chilling and addictive as one of Louisiana Veda’s complicated and inventive games, Darkly is an intricate labyrinth full of buried clues and hidden connections created by Marisha Pessl, whose dazzling prose and signature powers of imagination will startle, tantalize, and delight readers.”

Malcolm

‘Fire and Bones,’ by Kathy Reichs

This upcoming novel in the Temperance Brennan series will be released on August 6, 2024. As I said in my post about Rhett Revane’s upcoming novel Ditch Weed, I won’t be first in line to purchase my copy due to my beauty sleep requirements, and besides, I haven’t done a long-line-in-the-middle-of-the-night mission since the wild and crazy Harry Potter days.

I’ve read all (or mostly all) of Kathy Reichs’ novels. I haven’t slowed down even though “Bones,” the TV series based on the book hasn’t aired in prime time since 2017 after running for 246 episodes over twelve seasons. [You can read a brief 2017 interview with Reichs about the end of the series here.]

From the Publisher

“New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with a twisty, unputdownable thriller featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, who finds herself at the center of a Washington, DC, arson investigation that spawns deepening levels of mystery and, ultimately, violence.

“Always apprehensive about working fire scenes, Tempe is called to Washington, DC, to analyze the victims of a deadly blaze and sees her misgivings justified. The devastated building is in Foggy Bottom, a neighborhood with a colorful past and present, and Tempe becomes suspicious about the property’s ownership when she delves into its history.

“The pieces start falling into place strangely and quickly, and, sensing a good story, Tempe teams with a new ally, telejournalist Ivy Doyle. Soon the duo learns that back in the thirties and forties the home was the hangout of a group of bootleggers and racketeers known as the Foggy Bottom Gang. Though interesting, this fact seems irrelevant—until the son of a Foggy Bottom gang member is shot dead at his home in an affluent part of the district. Coincidence? Targeted attacks? So many questions.

“As Tempe and Ivy dig deeper, an arrest is finally made. Then another Foggy Bottom Gang-linked property burns to the ground, claiming one more victim. Slowly, Tempe’s instincts begin pointing to the obvious: somehow, her moves since coming to Washington have been anticipated, and every path forward seems to bring with it a lethal threat.”

You can learn more about Reichs on her website here.  Here’s a sample. (“Dr. Reichs is one of only 100 forensic anthropologists ever certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. She served on the Board of Directors and as Vice President of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and is currently a member of the National Police Services Advisory Council in Canada. She is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.”)

-Malcolm

Fate’s Arrows is the fourth book in Malcolm R. Campbell’s “Florida Folk Magic Series.” It’s available in hardcover, paperback, Kindle, and audio editions.

Coming soon, ‘Ditch Weed,’ a novel by Rhett Devane

If Rhett wrote it, I read it. Ditch Weed will be released on June 15. I won’t be first in line because I need plenty of beauty sleep and/or time to sleep off the moonshine or Scotch I drank the night before for medical purposes. But, I can worry about that line later by pre-ordering from Twisted Road Publications here.

From the Publisher

“Eighteen-year-old Danae Gray hasn’t seen her older sister in eleven years. But there she is, just across the street, in this small North Florida town where Danae has only just arrived. Has fate finally brought them back together? Is it really even her?

“Mevlyn Jenson, the feisty octogenarian owner of the Wash-Away Laundromat, can see Danae is lost, alone, and troubled. But Mevlyn needs help as much as Danae does, and the two quickly form an alliance. In exchange for room, board, and Mevlyn’s freely bestowed advice, Danae begins to help Mevlyn care for her terminally ill husband.

“As Danae unravels the tragic secret surrounding her older sister’s disappearance, and Mevlyn comes to terms with the losses in her own life, Danae and Mevlyn create a new heart family, filled with love and renewed hope.”

“Ditch Weed” usually refers to wild marijuana. You’ll have to read the book to see whether Rhett is using the term literally or figuratively.

About the Author

Website Photo

Rhett DeVane is the author of seven published mainstream fiction novels, two coauthored novels, short stories, flash fiction, middle-grade chapter books, and poetry. Her short fiction pieces have appeared in five anthologies. She has won numerous awards for her fiction from the Tallahassee Writers Association, Florida Authors and Publishers Association, and the Florida Writers Association.

“For the past forty-plus years, Rhett has made her home in Tallahassee, located in Florida’s Big Bend area, where she splits her time between writing and thinking about writing. She is currently working on the next novel in line, as well as a series of middle-grade and young-adult fiction because her muses refuse to contain her in a single box.”

Malcolm

‘The Quest: a Montanan’s Photographic Journey’ by Richard S. Buswell

After it acquired Buswell’s complete works, the Montana Historical Society partnered with the University of Montana Press to bring those photographs out in The Quest.

From the Publisher

Richard S. Buswell has created images of some of Montana’s most haunting relics of the settler period. Ghost towns can have an eerie allure or architectural charm, but Buswell’s technique captures more than decrepit buildings and historic trash. To date, Buswell’s work has hung in exhibits worldwide, is held in over two hundred museum collections, nationally and internationally, and has been the focus of six books.

“The Quest” showcases seventy-one arresting photographs, a powerful collection that carries readers into an evocative and contemplative space where images of a deteriorating past are captured to bring out their hidden beauty. The abandoned material things of everyday life take on new energy through his camera lens, strange and wonderful. This is a journey between a receding past and the magical present.

About the Author

“The 78-year-old Buswell is retracing footsteps of his childhood, when he would go ghost-towning with his parents.

“In the past half-century, he’s carried a 42-pound backpack of camera equipment on his mostly lone sojourns on weekends.

“’Hiking alone has attuned me to sights and sounds that I would otherwise miss. The sound of quiet causes me to lose my hurry.’”

“During this photo career he’s taken a total of 534 photos. One year, “’I only took one photo,’” he said during an interview at his kitchen table in his Helena home with his wife Sue, who assisted with details of the book.

“Yale University and the Montana Historical Society are the only ones to buy his entire collection of photos; 232 other museums have partial collections.

“He also acknowledged he would never have been able to pursue this passion over the decades without Sue’s support.
“Working as a doctor during the week, he would hike to far-flung ghost towns in the mountains many weekends, while she took care of their three children and household.” – from The Independent Record.

–Malcolm