Gerald McFarland has announced two book launch/reading dates for his new novel, T.T. Mann, Ace Detective.
The first date is Saturday, September 29, 2018 at 3PM at Jones Library in Amherst, MA
The second date is Sunday, September 30, 2018 at 3PM at Leverett Library, Leverett, MA
As anyone who has done a book launch and reading knows, the support of ones friends and fellow authors is much appreciated!
If anyone wants to go to one or the other and wants to ride along with me, let me know. I can take three people comfortably with me, four if one doesn't mind riding in the middle in the back seat and squashing up.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
September Meeting Date Set
I contacted Blue Umbrella Books today and spoke to Joyce, booking the September Wordsmiths meeting. The meeting date is Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 2 Main Street, Westfield, MA from 3PM until 5PM. We'll catch up after taking the summer off.
Assignment: Bring your best piece of advice or writing tip to this meeting. They'll be collected and put on the blog. I'll also list them in a document titled WhipCity Wordsmiths Writing Best Tips and Advice, or something like that, and send it to everyone. If you're unable to attend, email me your bit of advice or tip and I'll see that it's included.
See you on the 15th! I will try to schedule the October meeting for an alternate Saturday so those of you who have scheduling conflicts have an opportunity to join us.
Assignment: Bring your best piece of advice or writing tip to this meeting. They'll be collected and put on the blog. I'll also list them in a document titled WhipCity Wordsmiths Writing Best Tips and Advice, or something like that, and send it to everyone. If you're unable to attend, email me your bit of advice or tip and I'll see that it's included.
See you on the 15th! I will try to schedule the October meeting for an alternate Saturday so those of you who have scheduling conflicts have an opportunity to join us.
Sunday, August 26, 2018
A backlog of books!
Books, books and more books! I have a gigantic backlog of books to read and three books that I've read but still need to review, including Lindsay Stenico's debut novel The Assignment.
I am always challenged with writing book reviews on many fronts. First and foremost, each book is an author's personal creation so, right or wrong, I always consider the author's feelings when crafting my review. I understand that reviews are essentially elaborate op-ed pieces but still, criticism can be painful ... or am I just projecting my own fears of criticism? Is there a psychologist in the house?
Second, as I read more and more books and gain exposure to some outstanding authors, my standards have escalated over the years to the point where I have extremely high expectations. What was a FIVE STAR read just two years ago may only be a THREE STAR read today because the bar keeps on rising!
Third, I HATE poor editing and LOATHE typos. Yes yes this may be very judgemental and perhaps petty but for me these are fundamental flaws. I can remember a few of my reviews where I asked, "Where was the editor when this mess was published?"
For me, a great book is tightly edited with sirenical language and a well developed back story that engages and captivates me with such intensity and tenacity that I think about the characters and their situation as if they are real. A five star book makes me sad to finish it because the characters leave my life!
I've read just under thirty books so far this year and just five have been of five star caliber. In 2017, I read 28 books in total and the average rating was just over 3.4 stars.
I am curious how authors view book reviews and the folks who write them!
I am always challenged with writing book reviews on many fronts. First and foremost, each book is an author's personal creation so, right or wrong, I always consider the author's feelings when crafting my review. I understand that reviews are essentially elaborate op-ed pieces but still, criticism can be painful ... or am I just projecting my own fears of criticism? Is there a psychologist in the house?
Second, as I read more and more books and gain exposure to some outstanding authors, my standards have escalated over the years to the point where I have extremely high expectations. What was a FIVE STAR read just two years ago may only be a THREE STAR read today because the bar keeps on rising!
Third, I HATE poor editing and LOATHE typos. Yes yes this may be very judgemental and perhaps petty but for me these are fundamental flaws. I can remember a few of my reviews where I asked, "Where was the editor when this mess was published?"
For me, a great book is tightly edited with sirenical language and a well developed back story that engages and captivates me with such intensity and tenacity that I think about the characters and their situation as if they are real. A five star book makes me sad to finish it because the characters leave my life!
I've read just under thirty books so far this year and just five have been of five star caliber. In 2017, I read 28 books in total and the average rating was just over 3.4 stars.
I am curious how authors view book reviews and the folks who write them!
Florid Language of the 1860's
About a month or so ago I found a book titled Burt's Illustrated Connecicut Valley Guide, published in 1867 sitting on the shelf in Blue Umbrella. Of course, being rather passionate about the 1860-1910 era the book had to come home with me.
This morning, while killing time waiting for John to come home from grocery shopping, I grabbed the book off the end table, plopped down on the couch and started reading aloud from it to Revere (yes, the cat) who was in the front window, and Kelly, who was in her room.
The volume begins with an apology from the editor's. Imagine that! Here is the first line of that apology-
"In presenting this book to the public, it has been the aim of the Editor to awaken an increased interest in New England's fairest and loveliest regions, and to assist the seeker of pleasure to obtain a more perfect knowledge of the grandeur and beauty of Connecticut Valley scenery and that bordering on it."
and then he goes on to write, and I kid you not, this is verbatim from the same paragraph-
"He has aimed to discard glittering generalities for solid substance, stopping by the way only long enough to point out the piquant condiments that each may flavor to his own taste."
Oh, and I love this paragraph to death!
"An occasional anecdote and reminiscence, many of them never before in print, have been culled from the way-side and are here presented, to enliven and relieve the monotony of description, as too much of a good thing is apt to weary the best of tastes."
The apology concludes with this paragraph-
"The Guide is at your service, Reader, and it is hoped you will find in it a help to your enjoyment of a tour through the Connecticut Valley, where it is confidently believed you can find increased health and a pleasant life-long remembrance."
At first I thought, what pompous language...but then I remembered that this was written in 1867 when we didn't have television, social media, or even radio. People spoke to one another, and people read. This was their form of entertainment. Yes, the language is florid and not what we're used to in today's world of abbreviations, acronyms and emojis- we try to communicate in the least possible amount of words or key strokes. We've dumbed down our manner of communication, and even executives cannot write a coherent, literate email.
Have we progressed? I don't think so.
This morning, while killing time waiting for John to come home from grocery shopping, I grabbed the book off the end table, plopped down on the couch and started reading aloud from it to Revere (yes, the cat) who was in the front window, and Kelly, who was in her room.
The volume begins with an apology from the editor's. Imagine that! Here is the first line of that apology-
"In presenting this book to the public, it has been the aim of the Editor to awaken an increased interest in New England's fairest and loveliest regions, and to assist the seeker of pleasure to obtain a more perfect knowledge of the grandeur and beauty of Connecticut Valley scenery and that bordering on it."
and then he goes on to write, and I kid you not, this is verbatim from the same paragraph-
"He has aimed to discard glittering generalities for solid substance, stopping by the way only long enough to point out the piquant condiments that each may flavor to his own taste."
Oh, and I love this paragraph to death!
"An occasional anecdote and reminiscence, many of them never before in print, have been culled from the way-side and are here presented, to enliven and relieve the monotony of description, as too much of a good thing is apt to weary the best of tastes."
The apology concludes with this paragraph-
"The Guide is at your service, Reader, and it is hoped you will find in it a help to your enjoyment of a tour through the Connecticut Valley, where it is confidently believed you can find increased health and a pleasant life-long remembrance."
At first I thought, what pompous language...but then I remembered that this was written in 1867 when we didn't have television, social media, or even radio. People spoke to one another, and people read. This was their form of entertainment. Yes, the language is florid and not what we're used to in today's world of abbreviations, acronyms and emojis- we try to communicate in the least possible amount of words or key strokes. We've dumbed down our manner of communication, and even executives cannot write a coherent, literate email.
Have we progressed? I don't think so.
Sunday Morning at Dunkin Donuts
Just about every Sunday morning since it opened you will find Kelly and me stopping into the Dunkin Donuts at Hampton Ponds for breakfast. We usually sit in the corner booth and just unwind a little from our busy weeks.
This morning Kelly had on her NaNo WriMo T-shirt from last year. She was an ML (Municipal Liaison last year and accepted the role again this year.
It was our turn to be served so the girl took my order, then she looked at Kelly and her face just lit up. She mentioned that she had tried to do NaNo but she has ADHD and has difficult buckling down and writing. We told her that Kelly is this area's ML again this year, and that we held a write-in right here at her Dunks last November. She was excited to hear that and couldn't stop smiling. I handed her a WhipCity Wordsmiths card and told her to contact me and we'd see what we can do to help her focus and stay on track writing something- maybe not a novel, but something that would build her confidence and keep her writing. She tucked the card in her pocket and said she wasn't going to lose that!
I came home after breakfast and did some research in regards to writer's with ADHD and found some good tips to share with her.
I know Kelly and I can both be easily distracted by our cellphones, by what John is watching on TV in the other room while we're trying to write in the kitchen, by conversations and activities going on in the places we might be writing (bookstore, donut shop, library, etc). It's hard enough to focus when you don't have ADHD. I can't imagine how difficult it must be when your brain is jumping around from this to that and the other thing (we all have an overload of input these days into that fantastic computer called our brain...it's so easy to short circuit and give up on what you planned on doing because it's just too much effort to stay focused!)
Anyway- the point today is that Kelly's wearing a writer's T-shirt to breakfast sparked a brief but enthusiastic conversation with a young lady that brightened her day and ours. Hopefully she'll be in touch and we can pass along tips to her that may help her get something written.
All writers have something to say, a story to tell. Getting it written is a challenge. Having a support network and a writing mentor is beneficial because they can help you get something done, even if it involves taking you to a quiet place, like a picnic table in a nature reserve and encouraging you to put down one word after the other, sentence by sentence...even if it's just for ten to fifteen minutes. Then take a little walk to reboot and maybe write again for five more minutes or whatever. If that's what t takes, that's what a mentor and supporter should do to get a writer started and build her self confidence, and to give her a few tips to train herself so her wings can unfurl and she can fly independently.
My other thought from this experience this morning is that we really do live in a wonderful world, if we just take a moment of our time to smile and respond to people face-to-face. The social isolation that social media and our ever present cellphones have created...it's like we're individuals living in self-absorbed bubbles. People walk out in front of traffic focused on their phones and not what is going on around them as if they are protected and invincible within that sphere of focus on their phone. Who's to say the driver of the vehicle approaching you as you step off the curb, frequently not even within the "safe zone" of a sidewalk, is not also focused on their phone while operating what is basically a killing and maiming machine, usually at an excessive rate of speed? Are you that ignorant that you think the whole world is going to alter physics to allow you to cross the street?
I miss the not so old days before we became obsessed with cellphones. We talked to one another. We showed courtesy and respect to one another. We looked one another in the eye and communicated with glances, body language, gestures (not just the one singular, predominant, rude gesture of today's society of all ages). Technology has sucked the basic humanity out of human beings. Thank God all species of wildlife don't have cellphones glued to their noses/paws/hooves/talons! It's ironic that we walk around this planet thinking we're the superior species- are we?
I am stepping down off my soapbox now and wishing you all a good Sunday. I'll be having coffee and conversation with some friends at another Dunkin Donuts this afternoon-always a nice respite in an otherwise busy, hectic life!
This morning Kelly had on her NaNo WriMo T-shirt from last year. She was an ML (Municipal Liaison last year and accepted the role again this year.
It was our turn to be served so the girl took my order, then she looked at Kelly and her face just lit up. She mentioned that she had tried to do NaNo but she has ADHD and has difficult buckling down and writing. We told her that Kelly is this area's ML again this year, and that we held a write-in right here at her Dunks last November. She was excited to hear that and couldn't stop smiling. I handed her a WhipCity Wordsmiths card and told her to contact me and we'd see what we can do to help her focus and stay on track writing something- maybe not a novel, but something that would build her confidence and keep her writing. She tucked the card in her pocket and said she wasn't going to lose that!
I came home after breakfast and did some research in regards to writer's with ADHD and found some good tips to share with her.
I know Kelly and I can both be easily distracted by our cellphones, by what John is watching on TV in the other room while we're trying to write in the kitchen, by conversations and activities going on in the places we might be writing (bookstore, donut shop, library, etc). It's hard enough to focus when you don't have ADHD. I can't imagine how difficult it must be when your brain is jumping around from this to that and the other thing (we all have an overload of input these days into that fantastic computer called our brain...it's so easy to short circuit and give up on what you planned on doing because it's just too much effort to stay focused!)
Anyway- the point today is that Kelly's wearing a writer's T-shirt to breakfast sparked a brief but enthusiastic conversation with a young lady that brightened her day and ours. Hopefully she'll be in touch and we can pass along tips to her that may help her get something written.
All writers have something to say, a story to tell. Getting it written is a challenge. Having a support network and a writing mentor is beneficial because they can help you get something done, even if it involves taking you to a quiet place, like a picnic table in a nature reserve and encouraging you to put down one word after the other, sentence by sentence...even if it's just for ten to fifteen minutes. Then take a little walk to reboot and maybe write again for five more minutes or whatever. If that's what t takes, that's what a mentor and supporter should do to get a writer started and build her self confidence, and to give her a few tips to train herself so her wings can unfurl and she can fly independently.
My other thought from this experience this morning is that we really do live in a wonderful world, if we just take a moment of our time to smile and respond to people face-to-face. The social isolation that social media and our ever present cellphones have created...it's like we're individuals living in self-absorbed bubbles. People walk out in front of traffic focused on their phones and not what is going on around them as if they are protected and invincible within that sphere of focus on their phone. Who's to say the driver of the vehicle approaching you as you step off the curb, frequently not even within the "safe zone" of a sidewalk, is not also focused on their phone while operating what is basically a killing and maiming machine, usually at an excessive rate of speed? Are you that ignorant that you think the whole world is going to alter physics to allow you to cross the street?
I miss the not so old days before we became obsessed with cellphones. We talked to one another. We showed courtesy and respect to one another. We looked one another in the eye and communicated with glances, body language, gestures (not just the one singular, predominant, rude gesture of today's society of all ages). Technology has sucked the basic humanity out of human beings. Thank God all species of wildlife don't have cellphones glued to their noses/paws/hooves/talons! It's ironic that we walk around this planet thinking we're the superior species- are we?
I am stepping down off my soapbox now and wishing you all a good Sunday. I'll be having coffee and conversation with some friends at another Dunkin Donuts this afternoon-always a nice respite in an otherwise busy, hectic life!
Monday, August 20, 2018
Welcome to new Member Marie Hart
Kelly and I would like to offer a warm welcome to our newest member, Marie Hart. Please check out her bio on the Members page. We're looking forward to getting to know her when meetings resume in September. Marie is a middle school English teacher who wants to reinvigorate her own writing. I hope she'll be inspired by the writers and authors who are already members of this group.
Welcome, Marie, our newest Wordsmith!
Welcome, Marie, our newest Wordsmith!
Sunday, August 19, 2018
Welcome to new member Gerald W. McFarland
I'm excited to welcome my author friend Gerald W. McFarland as a new member of WhipCity Wordsmiths. I met Gerry at the Read Local event in June 2015 (I believe) where he had his A Scattered People book featured. I bought it and enjoyed it so began collecting his other books and now have most of them if not all of them in my library and have gifted several of them to family.
Gerry came to Blue Umbrella for my Miss Peculiar's Haunting Tales, Volume 1, author event...my first public appearance. It was reassuring to have a familiar face in the audience.
We've kept in touch over the past few years via email, so it's like welcoming a member of my extended family to the group today.
Gerry has a new book out mentioned in an earlier post this month that I am currently reading and enjoying. It's origin is from detective stories his father told his brother and him when they were boys. I love that his new venture has its roots in the tradition of oral storytelling from his childhood. It resonates with me. I avidly listened to my grandfather's stories when I was growing up, and told Kelly stories and later wrote them down when she was growing up. I still basically write for her, my family and friends.
Welcome, Gerald W. McFarland! I'm so honored and happy to accept you into the Wordsmiths group!
Gerry came to Blue Umbrella for my Miss Peculiar's Haunting Tales, Volume 1, author event...my first public appearance. It was reassuring to have a familiar face in the audience.
We've kept in touch over the past few years via email, so it's like welcoming a member of my extended family to the group today.
Gerry has a new book out mentioned in an earlier post this month that I am currently reading and enjoying. It's origin is from detective stories his father told his brother and him when they were boys. I love that his new venture has its roots in the tradition of oral storytelling from his childhood. It resonates with me. I avidly listened to my grandfather's stories when I was growing up, and told Kelly stories and later wrote them down when she was growing up. I still basically write for her, my family and friends.
Welcome, Gerald W. McFarland! I'm so honored and happy to accept you into the Wordsmiths group!
Thursday, August 9, 2018
Anyone Interested in Running a Workshop or Class for Writers/Authors in 2019?
It's grant writing time.
If anyone is interested in running a workshop or holding a class or other informational/instructional event for writers (connected with WhipCity Wordsmiths with the grant submitted under the Artworks of Westfield umbrella) in 2019 I need to know ASAP so I can get a grant written up and submitted. I need a description of the event and a ballpark budget figure (instructor fee, materials fee, ad/promotional expenses, space use/rental fee, misc.) I would need a description of the event. Also, if your event has a name/title, that would be useful. Last but not least, I need a date for this event and the location. (There are two meeting rooms available in the Westfield library, the Women's Club rents their lower level space, various churches might also rent or loan their halls, and the Italian Club or other organizational clubs also might rent their halls.)
Send me an email at sebuffum415@gmail.com if you want to run a workshop, class, or event for writers/authors. You can gear it toward young authors, teen authors, college-aged authors, or authors of all ages.
Let me know ASAP. I can help you plan an event if you need me to.
If anyone is interested in running a workshop or holding a class or other informational/instructional event for writers (connected with WhipCity Wordsmiths with the grant submitted under the Artworks of Westfield umbrella) in 2019 I need to know ASAP so I can get a grant written up and submitted. I need a description of the event and a ballpark budget figure (instructor fee, materials fee, ad/promotional expenses, space use/rental fee, misc.) I would need a description of the event. Also, if your event has a name/title, that would be useful. Last but not least, I need a date for this event and the location. (There are two meeting rooms available in the Westfield library, the Women's Club rents their lower level space, various churches might also rent or loan their halls, and the Italian Club or other organizational clubs also might rent their halls.)
Send me an email at sebuffum415@gmail.com if you want to run a workshop, class, or event for writers/authors. You can gear it toward young authors, teen authors, college-aged authors, or authors of all ages.
Let me know ASAP. I can help you plan an event if you need me to.
Saturday, August 4, 2018
Author Friend Gerald W McFarland Has A New Book Out
Levellers
Press
71
South Pleasant St.
Amherst,
MA 01002
News Release News Release News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Levellers Press
announces the publication of Gerald W. McFarland’s T.T. Mann, Ace Detective
August 2018, 239 pages. ISBN: 978-1-945473-67-8. Paperback price: $17.95
San Francisco, 1955: An astonishingly thin detective takes
on three tough cases.
Six feet tall and weighing only
twenty-two pounds, T.T. Mann is the perfect protagonist for this light-hearted
take on the detective genre. Unlike the hard-boiled private investigators of
noir detective fiction, T.T. is a gentle fellow who is shy with women, but he’s
not without resources, notably his excellent martial arts skills. With help
from his girlfriend Rosie and his brother Flat Mann, T.T. deals entertainingly
with three dangerous and daunting cases that arise in San Francisco ca. 1955.
In “Blondes Are Trouble,” T.T. comes
into possession of a list of policemen and politicians on the take from the
city’s crime kingpin, Biggie Fingers, a list Biggie’s henchmen are trying to
retrieve by any means necessary.
In “The Angry Heiress,” T.T. is
hired by a rich, drop-dead beauty to gather dirt on her estranged husband so
she can obtain a divorce he is contesting. As T.T. digs deeper, his
investigation uncovers a tangle of shady activities involving a circle of
wealthy businessmen who respond violently when he begins to snoop into their
affairs.
In “Mother’s Way,” Rosie is visited
by her overbearing mother, who has come to San Francisco to become a student of
a spiritualist medium, Mme. Nowicki. When the question of a financial
investment in the medium’s business arises, T.T. and Rosie suspect that the
woman may be a con artist. They investigate Mme. Nowicki’s past and fail to
find anyone who has complained that she has bilked them of money, but T.T.
remains seriously unsettled by her claim to communicate with the spirits of the
dead.
About the author: Gerald W. McFarland is the author of
award-winning books in both nonfiction and fiction. During his forty-four years
of teaching U.S. history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he
published four books in his field, the second of which, A Scattered People: An American Family Moves West, was named by the
Colonial Dames of America as one of the three best books in U.S. history
published in 1985. Since his retirement he has turned to writing fiction. His
Buenaventura Trilogy, set in early 18th-century New Mexico, follows
the exploits of an upper-class Spaniard who is secretly a shape-shifter. The
second and third books in the series were named Finalists in the New
Mexico-Arizona Book Awards contests for 2015 and 2016. His latest novel, T.T. Mann, Ace Detective, is a greatly
elaborated version of bedtime stories his father told him and his older brother
when they were young. Author’s website: www.geraldwmcfarland.com
Levellers Press is an independent publishing house founded in
2009 in Amherst and Florence, Massachusetts by worker-owners of Collective
Copies, a copy center established in 1983.
Thursday, August 2, 2018
It's August!
The summer is flying past at alarming speed! I hope everyone is well and enjoying the sunshine between rainstorms.
My energy has been at a new all time low this summer. I have been working on a new novel, and would like to write another anthology of stories once the new novel is finished, but there have been a lot of distractions in my life since Kelly became a homeowner on July 10th.
With rheumatoid arthritis flares come massive fatigue, brain fog, lack of ability to concentrate. I have always been a high energy person, but for the past few years the progression of RA had been kicking my butt. I am still working 36-hours a week whereas many people at this level of RA would already be on disability. I refuse to do that. I push myself and keep going, knowing that if I give up I will simply freeze up (joints will get worse) and I will go crazy with frustration. So I work all week, and try to keep busy writing or drawing when I get home from work until bedtime (or beyond). On weekends I do housework, run errands and continue writing projects and art work. I have never been a person who can just sit and do nothing. It's not in my nature. Since Kelly bought her house I have also been over there helping her with cleaning projects. Her father is helping her paint ceilings. I bought her new pruning shears, but I had to go out and trim one of the bushes in her front yard because it was driving me crazy!
Anyway- I hope that some writing is being done among fun summer activities. I sat and did a read through of the now over 120,000 word novel (that's not quite finished yet) and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I need to add some things and eliminate others to tighten it up, like I did with The Clockmaker's Son. I really can't describe what it's about but it does have a ghost in it, but it's primarily about two young people who have been damaged by family members (both have PTSD). They bear the names of their ancestors, who were once secret lovers but whose lives ended tragically less than six months apart back in the 1870's. History is sort of repeating itself in the present time, however, they're determined to bring about a happy ever after in this day and age (or as close to it as they can come.)
I'll be setting the September meeting date soon, posting it here on the blog and sending it via an email. See you soon when meetings resume!
My energy has been at a new all time low this summer. I have been working on a new novel, and would like to write another anthology of stories once the new novel is finished, but there have been a lot of distractions in my life since Kelly became a homeowner on July 10th.
With rheumatoid arthritis flares come massive fatigue, brain fog, lack of ability to concentrate. I have always been a high energy person, but for the past few years the progression of RA had been kicking my butt. I am still working 36-hours a week whereas many people at this level of RA would already be on disability. I refuse to do that. I push myself and keep going, knowing that if I give up I will simply freeze up (joints will get worse) and I will go crazy with frustration. So I work all week, and try to keep busy writing or drawing when I get home from work until bedtime (or beyond). On weekends I do housework, run errands and continue writing projects and art work. I have never been a person who can just sit and do nothing. It's not in my nature. Since Kelly bought her house I have also been over there helping her with cleaning projects. Her father is helping her paint ceilings. I bought her new pruning shears, but I had to go out and trim one of the bushes in her front yard because it was driving me crazy!
Anyway- I hope that some writing is being done among fun summer activities. I sat and did a read through of the now over 120,000 word novel (that's not quite finished yet) and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I need to add some things and eliminate others to tighten it up, like I did with The Clockmaker's Son. I really can't describe what it's about but it does have a ghost in it, but it's primarily about two young people who have been damaged by family members (both have PTSD). They bear the names of their ancestors, who were once secret lovers but whose lives ended tragically less than six months apart back in the 1870's. History is sort of repeating itself in the present time, however, they're determined to bring about a happy ever after in this day and age (or as close to it as they can come.)
I'll be setting the September meeting date soon, posting it here on the blog and sending it via an email. See you soon when meetings resume!
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