The Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters is the second book in her series chronicling the exploits of Amelia Peabody (now Emerson) and her husband Radcliffe Emerson in Egypt. This book is as strong as her first, Crocodile on the Sandbank.
Wellington's Rifles by Mark Urban
I want to quickly mention an interesting book I just read, Wellington’s Rifles by Mark Urban. If you are a follower of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe Series, you are familiar with the 95th Rifles in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. The book generally covers the exploits of the 1st battalion, 95th Rifles from 1809 to 1815.
NICE GIRLS FINISH FIRST: AN INTERVIEW WITH HARLEY JANE KOZAK
This interview originally appeared in my free monthly writing newsletter WRITING UP A STORM last year after I met Harley Jane Kozak at the Malice Domestic conference in Arlington, Virginia. I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Gayle
Gayle Trent
http://www.graceabraham.com
Guest Blogger for Kevin (8-12 – 8-19)
Guest Blogger
Hello, I’m Gayle Trent. Lucky Kevin is going on vacation next week and has asked me to fill in as his guest blogger.
I’m a full-time freelance writer, author, editor and publisher. You can learn more about me at http://www.graceabraham.com and/or http://gayle24202.tripod.com. I say that because I don’t want to turn this into a post about me.
I’m planning on blogging about writing. If there is anything you’d like to ask or have me address this coming week, please let me know.
Kevin, I hope you and your family have a wonderful time on vacation!
Haste Makes Waste
Interesting post by Athol Dickson on writing too fast. He is concerned that Christian fiction writers are giving in to the pressure to crank out the books:
I recently got into hot water with some writer friends by crying out for a slower, more thoughtful pace. Although I hate it when people are unhappy with me, I’m not backing down. Many popular Christian authors are in the habit of putting out three, four or even five or more novels every year. Such haste strikes me as a risky proposition.
[. . .]
Other than those three exceptions—bursts of inspiration, requirements of the genre, and true genius—I suspect this publishing pace is driven by naive over-optimism, economics, and/or a fear of failure. Naive over-optimism, because some remain perennially convinced of their ability to cram 240 minutes of work into an hour, especially while negotiating deadlines. (Agents and acquisitions editors share the responsibility here.) Economics, because more books usually means more money. And fear of failure because we (wrongly) believe the readers will forget us without a constant supply of fresh reminders on the shelf. Whatever the reason, and with the exceptions above duly noted, such a pace means insufficient thought is given to the work, and let me be clear: insufficient thought given to the work is the concern, not how fast one writes the first draft.
Speaking of Dickson, I just finished his River Rising and hope to post a review soon. Short take: an engaging and thought provoking novel.
Indestructible by Jack Lucas
I just finished a book about a remarkable man who selflessly gave his body for his country and his fellow Marines. The book, Indestructible: The Unforgettable Story of a Marine Hero at the Battle of Iwo Jima by Jack Lucas, traces the life of Lucas, the youngest Marine to ever win the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Lucas’s story is one of tragedy and getting back up again. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Lucas, at the age of fourteen, lied about his age and his mom’s consent and joined the Marines. He quickly grew to love the Marines and easily adjusted to the lifestyle. After becoming bored with stateside duty, he ignored orders and made his way to the Pacific where eventually got on a troop ship headed for the invasion of Iwo Jima. From there, he bravely protected his comrades from a grenade attack with his own body.
This book is generally about choices – the various roads that Lucas chose to take on his road of life. Some of the choices were poor and others were good, but they all seemed to lead him toward the one decision that saved three Marines’ lives. Following that heroic event, he continued making choices that would help and hurt him – e.g. divorcing his first wife and marrying his second, who embezzled from his company and tried to have him murdered.
Although I do not agree with many of Lucas’s decisions, I respect him for his sacrifice and his unabashed patriotism. The book clearly describes his motives for joining the Marines at such a young age – his patriotism and his drive to avenge the damage done to America by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. His enduring love of his country is commendable, especially in today’s age of cynicism. Lucas makes it clear that he never questioned his decision to come to his country’s aid at its most desperate time.
I like how the book is not in the style of a typical autobiography where the author goes in a chronological order of his or her life. Lucas begins his book with his decision to join the Marines and goes from there – he interweaves scenes from his childhood throughout his story. For example, when he is being shot at for the first time on Iwo Jima, he relates that to his first experience of having a weapon fired at him by mistake when he was four years old.
Although I expected to read more about battles in the Pacific (his only combat was on Iwo Jima – through no fault of his own), I read about a man who fought his own personal battles throughout his life and won.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the life of a war hero whose life did not always go as planned.