LOVE - Book review

Angela Carter’s slim novel Love was published in 1971 and revised in 1987. In her new Afterword she states that the three main characters are ‘the pure perfect products of those days of social mobility and sexual licence’ (p113). Sadly, the characters themselves are not perfect – far from it.

 Annabel is psychologically unstable: ‘a sparse, grotesquely elegant, attenuated girl with a narrow face and hair so straight it fell helplessly down around her as a mute tribute to gravity. She had prehensile toes that could pick up a pencil and sign her name. She stole’ (p27).

Her husband is Lee: ‘Annabel was quite incomprehensible to him and he already knew she was unbalanced; yet his puritanism demanded he should be publicly responsible for her. He was overcome with conflicting apprehensions’ (p30).

Lee’s brother Buzz ‘had been grievously exposed to his mother’s madness’ (p13) and lived with the married couple. ‘Their mother’s madness, their orphaned state, their aunt’s politics and their arbitrary identify formed in both a savage detachment’ (p11).

It’s a distinctly destructive love triangle tainted with infidelity, self-loathing, suicide, jealousy and a split from reality for impaired souls. The kind of fractured relationships Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine indulged in most effectively.

At one point Lee is interviewed by Annabel’s psychiatrist, ‘She was dressed entirely in black and lavishly hung about with hair of metallic yellow. Her eyes were concealed behind tinted glasses and her voice was as if smoked also, dark-toned and husky’ (p55).

With few pen-strokes Carter effectively inhabits the damaged trio. And of course her prose is always readable, the writing of an astute and acute observer:

‘... and old men sit outside in shirtsleeves on kitchen chairs, as if put out to air upon the pavement. On the low window ledges, one might find, here, a pie set out to cool or a jelly to set, there, a dreaming cat’ (p11).

‘the peeling walls, bare and lopsided staircase, fissured linoleum underfoot, foetid accumulated reek of years of greasy cookery’ (p91).

‘He felt nothing but the absence of feeling which is despair’ (p100).

Indeed, it won’t end well.

THE HEART OF THE MATTER - Book review

Graham Greene’s novel The Heart of the Matter was published in 1948. It became an instant best-seller and has been reprinted many times and won awards and high praise.

In 1926 Greene was received into the Roman Catholic Church and, not surprisingly, several novels of his deal with characters bound by that faith. Major Scobie, the police chief of a flyblown West African colony during the Second World War, is one such.

Inspector Wilson is a new arrival: ‘He was like the lagging finger of the barometer, still pointing to Fair long after its companion has moved to Stormy’ (p11). Wilson shares accommodation with Harris and there’s an amusing episode where the pair start a cockroach hunt – The Cockroach Championship – to alleviate boredom (p70).

Scobie has been here for fifteen years and feels comfortably bound to the place. ‘Why, he wondered, swerving the car to avoid a dead pye-dog, do I love this place so much? Is it because here human nature hasn’t had time to disguise itself?’ (p35).

Unfortunately, his rather faded wife Louise wants to have a break, to go away on holiday. Scobie feels guilty that Louise is not happy. The bank won’t lend Scobie the money as his salary is not generous and, indeed, he has just been passed over for the post of Commissioner. In a moment of weakness, he accepts a loan from a local Syrian merchant, Yusef, who is a known black marketeer though no proof has ever been found. ‘He never reaches the freezing-point of knowing absolute failure. Only the man of goodwill carries always in his heart this capacity for damnation’ (p60).

While Louise is away in South Africa Scobie begins a clandestine affair with a refugee from a sunken transport ship, a young widow, Helen. He is aware he is committing the grave sin of adultery. He argues it is not a sin, it is love. And doomed.

There are several themes: guilt, sin, avarice, blackmail, deceit, love and trust. ‘Trust was a dead language of which he had forgotten the grammar’ (p264).

As the book blurb indicates, ‘inexorably, his conscience and his love of God lead him to disaster’.

There are too many examples of Greene’s prose imagery to note here, but the following are examples:

‘There was nothing to be read in the vacuous face, blank as a school notice-board out of term’ (p55).

These two, among many other insights in the book, suggest he drew upon his time as an Intelligence Officer in Freetown, British Sierra Leone:

‘The mosquitoes whirred steadily around them like sewing machines’ (p112). ‘... a mosquito immediately droned towards his ear. The skirring went on all the time, but when they drove to the attack they had the deeper drone of dive-bombers’ (p122).

‘Only the vultures were about – gathering round a dead chicken at the edge of the road, stooping their old men’s necks over the carrion, their wings like broken umbrellas sticking out this way and that’ (p230).

Editorial comment:

I’ve brought this up before; something that editors don’t spot: the tendency for writers to state a character thought to himself or herself. This really is tautological.  ‘He thought’ is adequate; ‘to himself/herself’ is superfluous.

‘He thought to himself, poor Louise’ (p17). Also on p53...

SHOELESS JOE - Book review

W.P. Kinsella’s 1982 novel Shoeless Joe was filmed as Field of Dreams (1989).

This fantasy story is preceded by a quotation from Bobby Kennedy: ‘Some men see things as they are, and say why, I dream of things that never were, and say why not’.

Ray Kinsella runs a corn farm in Iowa with his wife Annie; they have a five-year-old daughter Karin. Three years ago, ‘when the sky was a robin’s-egg blue and the wind as soft as a day-old chick’ (p3), Ray heard a voice state ‘If you build it, he will come.’

For most of his life Ray has been obsessed with the history and game of baseball, and notably the Black Sox Scandal of 1919 World Series. Eight players, including Ray’s hero Shoeless Joe Jackson, were blamed for throwing the game. Ray stopped playing baseball with his father when they fell out some years ago, and now his father was dead... Another of the players is Moonlight Graham – ‘Nicknames are funny, they just land on you, like waking up one morning with a tattoo. You don’t know how you got it, but you know it’s gonna be with you forever’ (p159).

Ray is drawn by the voice to build a baseball field in the midst of the corn crop and surprisingly Annie agrees – ‘If it makes you happy, do it’ (p4).

So the field is built – at financial risk to the already precarious state of their funds. And, eerily, one night a figure appears on that field – Shoeless Joe Jackson, a young man dressed in his old-time baseball outfit. Ray, Annie and Karin see him and speak to him. Shoeless Joe admires the field: ‘This must be heaven,’ he says. ‘No,’ Ray replies. ‘It’s Iowa’ (p19).

A fan of the writer J.D. Salinger, Ray notes some coincidences in the famous author’s books – even naming characters Kinsella. He is drawn to meet Salinger, who he believes has an interest in baseball. (Salinger was not pleased to feature in the book and the film-makers prudently decided to rename the character for the film). The Salinger character says ‘Other people get into occupations by accident or design, but writers are born. We have to write. I have to write...’ (p109) ‘I dream of things that never were’ (p253) Salinger says, echoing Bobby Kennedy.

Despite Ray’s enthusiasm – ‘I’ll pierce a vein and feed him the sounds, smells, and sights of baseball until he tingles with the same magic that enchants me’(p39) – Salinger is dubious about Ray’s ‘field of dreams’ but gradually comes round to joining him on his return journey home.

Annie’s brother Mark is big in land-deals and presses to buy the farm, even threatening to foreclose. So we have conflict as well as ghosts.

Of course this is more than a story about baseball – and indeed much of that aspect went over my head. It’s about redemption, realising dreams, love, and the poetry of the natural world. ‘The cornstalks are now toast brown in the orangeade sunshine of October, and ball-park smells of burning leaves and frost. The ever-listening corn rustles like crumpling paper in the Indian-summer breeze’ (p28).

As can be seen in these few excerpts from the text, Kinsella has a way with words. ‘You’re terrible,’ says Annie, mischief crackling like static electricity in her eyes’ (p41). ‘I lean my head against the window and look up, noticing a few lamblike clouds in a chrome-blue sky (p94).

Both the book and the film are poignant and never mawkish. Kinsella’s writing style reminds me of Ray Bradbury’s – another Ray! – in the way the author perceives the world.

I recommend you enter this ‘baseball park for a rendezvous with stalled time’ (p221).

FFB - Nanjing 1937

Nanjing 1937 by Ye Zhaoyan was published in 1996; this edition 2003; translated from Chinese by Michael Berry.

Ding Wenyu, almost forty, is married and a womaniser; he’s a college professor proficient in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Romanian; his ‘legendary’ language abilities come in useful from time to time. When in his late teens he was banished to France as a result of a misguided pursuit of a young woman. In Paris he crossed paths with Ernest Hemingway, Vladimir Nabokov and Jorge Luis Borges, among others. Indeed, the book is deliberately scattered with name-dropping, notably the hierarchy of China at the time (there’s a helpful glossary of historical figures). Wenyu does not appear to be a likeable fellow, though he is amusing and his conceit in disavowing the mores of his times evokes sympathy.

Whether a fault of the translator, the editor (if any) or the author, the text is peppered with far too many clichés: ‘hold a candle’, ‘between a rock and a hard place’, ‘a piece of cake’, ‘the short end of the stick’ to list a few. As the book contains irony as well as humour, perhaps this is intentional. Besides humour, there are a few scenes of farce, too.

Wenyu’s life is changed when he beholds the younger sister of the girl he’d pursued twenty years earlier: At her wedding to a popular fighter pilot, Yuyuan captures Wenyu’s heart. He is smitten with ‘a kind of adoration of the utmost purity’. Unlike his encounters with married women and prostitutes, he does not lust after her. [Yuyuan is also an exotic garden in the Old City of Shanghai.]

‘In this world there are many mistakes committed due to a lack of love, but love has the power to purify. It can make someone forget themselves and all their inhibitions. Before he met Yuyuan, Ding was a pathetic orphan, lost in a desert without an oasis in sight… Orphans to love are stranded at an eternal impasse; to pursue a woman without love will never quell the loneliness in one’s heart. Love is humankind’s starting point and its final resting place.’

So, he becomes obsessed with Yuyuan. He writes love letters (not lewd or salacious, just full of praise) to her every day. Perhaps nowadays he would be arrested for stalking. ‘True love is based on giving and not taking. Only a love based on giving is true love.’ In the final event, he follows that dictum, giving of himself.

In parallel – deliberately – the author juxtaposes Wenyu’s pursuit of his love against the threat of Japanese invasion – both seeming leisurely in pace, though that same pace quickens towards the end. There are some interesting snippets about the military situation, for example: ‘According to intelligence reports at the time, the Japanese military’s primary future target was not China but Russia. Moreover, if the Japanese navy wanted to conquer the Pacific, a direct conflict with America would be inevitable….’

This is, just, a love story; the blurb calls it ‘epic’ but it isn’t. Its emotional punch is weakened by the omniscient point of view, so as a result the ending was disappointing.

Some critics have mentioned ‘explicit’ scenes and ‘raunchy sex scenes’; these are minor, and most of the sex (there isn’t much) is handled without graphic detail. There is one curious item regarding women without pubic hair being called ‘white tigers’; the legend has it that white tigers can harm men, so apparently many superstitious Chinese men will not bed a ‘white tiger’. Another minor though dubious incident involves an acquaintance of Wenyu indulging in necrophilia.

The book is enlightening about the culture and attitudes of the time in China. What comes across most forcefully is the universality of the human condition, irrespective of culture. In 1937 Nanjing there was a cult of personality; the rich and notable craved to be seen at events; divorce was considered a scandal but accepted; and young girls attempted to marry older rich men.

Hanging over the leisurely and sometimes farcical courting by Wenyu is the oppressive knowledge that Japanese forces would prevail and Nanjing would fall. The Chinese saying is perfectly apt: ‘If good fortune awaits there is no reason to hide – if disaster awaits there will be no place to hide.’

'The Trilby Hat' - part 2 (conclusion)

 

THE TRILBY HAT

 

[Part 2 of 2]

 

Nik Morton

 

All around stark blasts deafened Alfred. Flashes of light and flames sprouted everywhere. Black smoke mushroomed into the wintry night sky.

            Still giddy, he regained his feet. A sickly knowing feeling in the pit of his stomach gave strength to his ageing legs. Ignoring the dull ache of a bruised hip and shoulder, he rushed back to the ruin.

            An ARP warden and a couple of neighbours were already sifting through the rubble, even though the dust cloud hadn't settled yet.

            Mercifully the houses on either side had been spared, only their windows shattered, a few roof slates dislodged.

            Alfred stood, unable to move, and his mouth felt very dry. Somewhere a fire bell clanged, and another.

            A fractured water-main gushed high, sparkling in the torch-light.

            Hardly aware of what he was doing, Alfred knelt by the debris where the front of the house had been. "Here!" he cried out to the frantic helpers. "They were here!" And he started heaving bricks to one side, gashing his knees and hands in his haste, heedless of the cold.

            The ARP warden who shouted the warning earlier was soon panting by his side. "They won't have known what happened, mate. It'll've been over quick. A direct hit, you see?"

            Two hours later Alfred collapsed, exhausted, after they unearthed the battered Christmas tree. Miraculously, the fairy survived intact. The ARP carried him to the doorstep next door. There, a kindly neighbour gave him a chipped metal mug of sweet tea.

            Now, shakily, he got to his feet and shuffled over to identify them. His whole family, wiped out. He would never forget the joyous look on little Connie's face, he thought, gripping his trilby hat tight.

***

            Paul  Reeman was on his way home when he heard scuffling in the dark. He flashed the beam of his torch across the nearby waste-land and relaxed. It was only a fox.

            Then he picked out the shape of a battered hat and he recalled the incident earlier with old Alfred. Could this be his trilby? It looked the same colour. But it was so timeworn, and crumpled.

            The hat felt dry though cold and it was reasonably clean. It hadn't been lying here long, then. The label was faded but he could just make out GRANDA and LOVE. Might as well call round on my way home, he decided, and tucked it inside his overcoat.

            The dawn light was streaming down the deserted street as Paul walked up to the door. A few curtains twitched in the neighbouring terraced houses even at this hour. He rang once, his eyes drawn to the flaking paintwork.

            The door opened. A musty smell greeted him, of untended dust, of age. Alfred stood shivering in his worsted trousers, shirt sleeves and braces. In the weak hall light Paul noticed a bruise under the old man's left eye. "You all right?"

            Alfred nodded, eyes questioning.

            "I think I recognised those louts," Paul continued. "Would you come to an identity parade?"

            Alfred's three remaining teeth shone as he smiled. "Yes, it'll be a bloody great pleasure." He hesitated on the doorstep. "It was good of you to call. Erm, come in."

            "No, I can't stop. I'm expected home," Paul explained. He rummaged inside his coat. "Is this yours?" he asked awkwardly, handing over the aged trilby hat.

            The expression on Alfred's face had Paul worried for a moment. Then the old man seemed to collect himself. "You've made me very happy, constable." Tears gathered around his weak grey eyes.

            Feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden, Paul backed away and bid Alfred good-morning.

            "Merry Christmas!" Alfred called after him. "Merry Christmas."

            Paul waved. He couldn't understand it. It was as though he had bestowed some wondrous gift on Alfred. Then he remembered the label in the hat. Granda and Love. Indeed, it was sometimes easy to forget in this material world, Christmas was not only a time for giving but also a time for remembering.

            "Merry Christmas!" Paul replied.

 

 

***

'The Trilby Hat' was originally broadcast on British Forces Radio, Malta, read by Reverend Ray Jones, November 1975. For the time transition, the production team used incidental music which proved effective. I jiggled the date-time for the printed version some years later…

Published in The Portsmouth Post, 2003.

Copyright Nik Morton, 1975, 2003, 2014.

Note: The hat's name derives from the stage adaptation of George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby; a hat of this style was worn in the first London production of the play. In the book the heroine is Trilby O'Ferrall; she is strongly influenced by a Jewish rogue, Svengali. The book has been republished under the title of Svengali; it was one of the first best-sellers in modern literature.

 

***

If you liked this short story, you might like my collection Spanish Eye, published by Crooked Cat Publishing, featuring Leon Cazador, private eye in 22 cases.

http://www.crookedcatbooks.com/

 

US: http://amazon.com/dp/B00GXK5C6S
Canada: http://amazon.ca/dp/B00GXK5C6S
UK: http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GXK5C6S
France: http://amazon.fr/dp/B00GXK5C6S
Germany: http://amazon.de/dp/B00GXK5C6S
Austria: http://amazon.at/dp/B00GXK5C6S
Italy: http://amazon.it/dp/B00GXK5C6S
Spain: http://amazon.es/dp/B00GXK5C6S
Japan: http://amazon.jp/dp/B00GXK5C6S

 

 

 

 

 

Get to know different writers and genres perhaps not visited before!

That heading’s the comment from one of three 5-star reviews for the anthology Crooked Cats’ Tales, 20 short stories from some of the publisher’s authors. 

Anthologies like this are ideal for reading in waiting rooms, while travelling or in between reading novels. And they have the happy knack of introducing new authors without huge commitment on the part of the reader. Yes, very much like a sampler in old record parlance (that dates me!)

Please give these tales a try. It’s possible you might not like all of them. But I guarantee that there’s something for every taste here, and it’s a bargain for such little outlay.

The blurb goes like this: You will find twenty tantalising tasters from Crooked Cats from the UK and the US, all keen to showcase their writing skills with glimpses into their existing releases, or with something new altogether.

Twenty stories of historical and contemporary fiction, crime and drama, fantasy, humour and ghostly shenanigans. Murder. Love. Adventure. Gossip. Growing up. Scheming. Friendship – Crooked Cats’ Tales has it all:

 
Cocktail Hour by Pamela Kelt
A Rescue in Graphite by Maggie Secara
Once Again by KB Walker
The Pied Piper of Larus by Kathy Sharp
Her Visitors by Ailsa Abraham
White Rose by Carol Hedges
A Bright New Copper by Catriona King
Altared by Adele Elliott
Misgivings by Nancy Jardine
Saturday Fever by Sue Barnard
The Wanderer by T.E. Taylor
Sheffield Steel by Trevor Ripley
The Blue House by Carol Maginn
Processionary Penitents by Nik Morton
The Second Summer of Love by Michela O’Brien Young Loves by Jeff Gardiner
Cradle of Man by J.L. Bwye
Silken Knots by Frances di Plino
The Thread that Binds by Mark Patton
Boo! by David W Robinson

Amazon UK Reviews

Stories to suit all tastes 25 May 2014 - By Sue Roebuck

Twenty authors from one publisher (Crooked Cat Publishing) have created an anthology of twenty short stories that vary in genre and style. It's a book for dipping into when you want to enjoy a twenty minute or so break and need to be entertained by a new narrative voice that comes with each story. I cannot say I disliked any of the stories since each covered a cross section of themes that were enjoyable in their own way and I found I was moved, unsettled, and definitely entertained as I was taken on journeys around the world: UK, US, France, Holland, ancient Greece, Spain (where one of the characters mistakes the Spanish ancient religious ceremony garb for Klu Klux Klan!), Kenya (a very atmospheric story). Since I love quirky stories, my favourite was The Pied Piper of Larus by Kathy Sharp and I laughed aloud at David Robinson's Boo. From this anthology I've found new authors whose books I want to read and that can never be a bad thing.

Something for Everyone 16 May 2014 - By Ms. Carol Hunter

This is an eclectic collection of short stories from every genre and a brilliant read. I found crime, romance, suspense, historical fiction just for starters. Some stories are shorter, some longer, and all are well written. Definitely recommended.

20 fine reads 26 May 2014 - By J Gundlack

A great collection of murder, mystery, humour, and different cultures. A perfect travelling companion on the train or a late night read. Anthologies are a great place to get to know different writers and genres perhaps not visited before.
 
Amazon UK - £not-a-lot - here

Amazon COM - $1.22, a bargain - here

Crooked Cats' Tales - 20 stories right up your alley

As a publisher of predominantly full-length fiction, Crooked Cat Publishing always wanted to create a collection of short stories by their authors – so here it is, a sampler of their work.

Twenty tantalising tasters from Crooked Cats from the UK, Spain, France and the US, all keen to showcase their writing skills with glimpses into their existing releases, or with something new altogether.

Stories of historical and contemporary fiction, crime and drama, fantasy, humour and ghostly shenanigans. Murder. Love. Adventure. Gossip. Growing up. Scheming. Friendship – Crooked Cats’ Tales has it all!

 

 

 Tonight at 8pm UTV+1. Crooked Cat Publishing is launching something very special. CROOKED CATS’ TALES - a collection of 20 tantalising tasters from a selection of Crooked Cat authors.

on AmazonUK here

on Amazon COM here

and on Smashwords here

***
Crooked Cat short stories and their authors:

Cocktail Hour by Pamela Kelt
A Rescue in Graphite by Maggie Secara
Once Again by KB Walker
The Pied Piper of Larus by Kathy Sharp
Her Visitors by Ailsa Abraham
White Rose by Carol Hedges
A Bright New Copper by Catriona King
Altared by Adele Elliott
Misgivings by Nancy Jardine
Saturday Fever by Sue Barnard
The Wanderer by T.E. Taylor
Sheffield Steel by Trevor Ripley
The Blue House by Carol Maginn
Processionary Penitents by Nik Morton
The Second Summer of Love by Michela O’Brien

Young Loves by Jeff Gardiner
Cradle of Man by J.L. Bwye
Silken Knots by Frances di Plino
The Thread that Binds by Mark Patton
Boo! by David W Robinson

***

The authors, in brief:

Pamela Kelt worked in journalism in the 1980s and is now author of six novels and a smattering of stories. She lives in Kenilworth. Her novel Tomorrow’s Anecdote is published by Crooked Cat.

Maggie Secara’s poetry and stories have appeared in a variety of little magazines both on- and off-line. Her latest novel, The Mermaid Stair, the third adventure in the Harper Errant fantasy series from Crooked Cat, is released on May 23, 2014. As for the story in this volume, last year’s King’s Raven featured a pair of supporting characters in mid-Victorian London… and this is about them.

KB Walker revisits some of the characters and Castlegate, the scene of her novel, Once Removed. Originally from Michigan, Kimm Walker moved to Yorkshire and took up a career in teaching. 

Kathy Sharp lives on the Jurassic Coast at Weymouth, Dorset. The years she spent living on the Isle of Portland, in particular, provided her with wonderful ideas for quirky and amusing tales as well as being the model for her first novel, the fantasy Isle of Larus.

Ailsa Abraham lives in France. Working under two pen-names she has published six books. As Ailsa Abraham published by Crooked Cat, she has written Alchemy and Shaman's Drum. She is presently writing the third book in this series which will continue the adventures of Iamo, Riga, The Gaia Foundation and the other characters from the first two books.

 
Carol Hedges is the author of eleven books for teenagers and adults. Her novel Jigsaw (now an ebook: Jigsaw Pieces) was long-listed for the Carnegie Medal. Crooked Cat recently published her Victorian murder mystery, Diamonds & Dust. Carol lives in Hertfordshire.

Catriona King is a doctor and has trained as a police Forensic Medical Examiner. Her best-selling Craig Crime series of novels are set in the streets of modern Belfast and Northern Ireland. The Craig Crime series comprise: A Limited Justice The Grass Tattoo The Visitor The Waiting Room The Broken Shore. Books six and seven, The Slowest Cut and The Coercion Key will be released in June and August 2014 respectively. Catriona's latest release, The Carbon Trail, is a standalone thriller set in New York City.

 
Adele Elliott is a New Orleans native, exiled in Columbus, Mississippi. She is a 1995 graduate of the University of New Orleans with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts. She minored in English and was the fiction editor of Ellipsis, the literary magazine of UNO. Her novel Friendship Cemetery is published by Crooked Cat.

Nancy Jardine lives in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Nancy has four novels published by Crooked Cat: Topaz Eyes – an ancestral/dynasty based mystery thriller. The Celtic Fervour Series of Historical Romantic Adventures: The Beltane Choice (book 1); After Whorl: Bran Reborn (book 2); After Whorl: Donning Double Cloaks (book 3).

Sue Barnard was born in North Wales but spent most of her life in and around Manchester. Her first novel, The Ghostly Father (Crooked Cat, 2014) is a new take on the traditional story of Romeo & Juliet. Her second novel, a romantic mystery entitled Nice Girls Don’t, is due for publication by Crooked Cat later in 2014.

 
Tim Taylor was born in Stoke-on-Trent and now lives in Meltham, near Huddersfield. He studied Classics at Pembroke College, Oxford, and some years later did a PhD in Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London. As well as fiction, Tim writes poetry, which he often performs on local radio. His historical novel Zeus of Ithome was published by Crooked Cat in November 2013.

Trevor Ripley works full time for the NHS and is studying for a Master’s Degree. Lily Lovebug and the Unconquered Planet, a 30,000 word novel for readers aged 8 upwards, is the first of Trevor’s works to be published. Sheffield Steel – Aisha’s Story presents a sample of his 80.000 word crime thriller Sheffield Steel, set in the city close to his heart.

 
Carol Maginn currently lives in Liverpool, her home city. She has published a number of short stories and non-fiction. Ruin, her first novel, was published by Crooked Cat in December 2013. Her second, Daniel Taylor, is a thriller set in Rome, which will be published later in 2014.
 
Nik Morton is me, so you probably know too much already... This story is my 23^rd Leon Cazador case; the others can be found in Crooked Cat’s Spanish Eye. At least three books are due out in 2014: a co-written fantasy quest novel Wings of the Overlord, a sixth western The Magnificent Mendozas and, from Crooked Cat, Sudden Vengeance, a vigilante crime novel. I live in Spain, but you probably know that...

Michela O’Brien was born in Milan, Italy. She moved to England in 1994. Crooked Cat has published her novels Playing on Cotton Clouds and A Summer Of Love, both of which have received much praise.

 
Jeff Gardiner is the author of two Crooked Cat novels: Myopia explores bullying and prejudice, following the stories of Jerry and Mindy, who also appear in ‘Young Loves’. Igboland is a novel of passion and conflict set in war-torn West Africa. Treading On Dreams is a tale of obsession and unrequited love from Tirgearr Publishing. His collection of short stories, A Glimpse of the Numinous, contains horror, romance and humour. His work of non- fiction, The Law of Chaos: the Multiverse of Michael Moorcock is due out later in 2014.
 
Jane Bwye, a businesswoman and intermittent freelance journalist, lived for over half a century in Kenya. Her first novel, from Crooked Cat, Breath of Africa, was written to feed her nostalgia when she and her husband left for the UK at the turn of the century. Other publications include a cookbook in aid of the Kenya Museum Society and a History of her local church.
 
Frances di Plino is the pen name of Lorraine Mace, children’s author, humour columnist for Writing Magazine and a competition judge for Writers’ Forum. She also runs a private critique and mentoring service for writers. Writing as Frances di Plino, she is the author of the crime/thriller series featuring D.I. Paolo Storey: Bad Moon Rising, Someday Never Comes and Call It Pretending. The fourth novel in the series, Looking for a Reason, is due out in the autumn 2014.

Mark Patton was born and brought up on the island of Jersey, studied archaeology and anthropology at Cambridge, and completed his PhD at University College London. He has taught at several universities in the Netherlands, France and the UK, and now teaches with The Open University. He writes historical fiction for Crooked Cat: Undreamed Shores and An Accidental King.

David Robinson is a Yorkshireman living in Manchester; he is a prolific freelance writer, novelist and humourist. To date eleven of his Amazon best-selling STAC Mysteries and three stand-alone thrillers have been published by Crooked Cat. The first of his new series of supernatural mysteries, Spookies, will be published by Crooked Cat in the summer, 2014.

 

Links to the authors and their blogs/websites and books can be found at the end of each story...

***

The above twenty are only a few of the many talented Crooked Cat authors. These stepped up to the plate in record time. Why not browse Crooked Cat Publishing online? You’re bound to find books of interest!

Crooked Cat at Amazon UK here

Crooked Cat at Amazon COM here

Note that the next open window for submissions

for Crooked Cat is 25-27 April, 2014. The clock is ticking!

 

Blog guest – Mari LaFore – ‘cat scan’

Cats can, apparently; and so can humans, too…

Today, my blog guest is Mari LaFore, who is the author of The Tale of Wisdom and Delight, the true and inspirational story of two cats and reincarnation; it’s also about love, devotion and loss. And belief. When I was EIC of Solstice Publishing, I accepted Mari’s book.

Hi, Mari, thanks for being my blog guest.

It’s my pleasure! First of all I wish to thank you from the bottom of my heart for choosing my book to publish. You made my dream come true for me.

Can you tell us how your book Wisdom and Delight evolved?

Our precious13-year-old cat, Wisdom, died in 2001, and then less than one year later miraculously returned to us, in the form of a Calico kitty which we called Delight. His return was foretold to us by a pet communicator named Valerie Dixon and it was a turning point in my life. All the signs were obvious and even though I had no previous experiences or training in reincarnation, I knew unmistakably what was happening. It was impossible for me not to know that Wisdom had loved us all so very much that he made the journey across time and space to come home and be our Delight.

I'm home...

You did a great amount of research into reincarnation. Were there any surprises?

Yes, definitely! I’m not the only one who had experienced reincarnation of a loved one. This experience is considered common in countless lands. Sadly, many people in western cultures have shunned the teaching of reincarnation for too long and by doing that many of us have missed life-changing reunions with loved ones who returned to share our lifetime over and over again. When I first realized that Wisdom was back with us in the form of Delight, I thought it best not to share my experience with doubters for fear of being ridiculed because the fallacies of organized religion in the west still have a grasp on many people. Then, with the encouragement of a dear friend, Kathleen Schneider, internationally renowned psychic consultant, located in Middleton, Wisconsin, I actually shared it with the world in a book! The Tale of Wisdom and Delight, was written to encourage and inspire others who have had the same life-changing experience. My research came afterwards. I didn’t do it for myself because, as I say in my book, “If there’s one sure thing I know, it is that this really happened!” I wrote it for the readers; for anyone who has ever loved a pet.”

'New beginnings' - with Mari's son & daughter

The subject of the book – animal reincarnation – might be considered controversial. How much positive feedback have you had from readers?

Readers have been amazingly positive and I am always delighted when they open up their hearts and share their similar experiences with me or in reviews. My book was meant to do just that. They no longer feel alone or foolish in sharing their newfound spiritual awareness with the world and that is exactly what their loved ones, whether human or animal, are nudging them to do!

Love at first sight - Dustin with Wisdom, 1987

The sub-title of your book is ‘Love always finds its way home’ – what do you mean by that?
Spiritualists unconditionally accept the survival and return of departed souls to their loved ones. They don’t question this phenomenon. We come here on a journey. Our loved ones accompany us or come into our lives later at a moment when we need them the most, but we don’t always recognize them in this lifetime. When we do recognize them, it is a miracle and we need to reach out and take hold of it. If we will just listen to our hearts, our loving Creator is telling us that we don’t ever have to feel alone or lonely again. They are always with us, surrounding us with unconditional love. That is the spiritual answer to the phrase “Love always finds its way home,” which seemingly fell into my heart as I was writing my book.

The scientific answer in part is that mental energy involves electricity. It has been discovered that the brain has twelve to fourteen hundred billion cells. The combined power of these cells is equivalent to hundreds of watts of energy. This can be recorded by an electro-encephalograph. In other words, it is provable. This energy, however faint, when emitted can affect matter. To make a long story short, intense emotions are similar to powerful and concentrated thoughts because they can and do leave their imprints on objects that are thought to be inanimate. Both animals and humans can sense these impressions and they will find their way home, sometimes against nearly insurmountable odds.

I did not know all of that when I heard the still, small voice within my soul whispering “Love always finds its way home.” My heart knew it, though, and at the end of the day, isn’t that all that really matters?

'Our cat family forever' - Mari

Lastly I’d like to add something I found in my research which encompasses both the scientific and spiritual explanations of reincarnation. I wrote about it on page 81 in my book: “Masters who have studied reincarnation believe that the soul seeks the location of its growth and its greatest happiness. This usually means it will return very close to where it left the previous body. This place is like a gravitational field or vortex. The soul drifts faster and faster as it approaches life once again. It falls toward its previous origin. It comes home!” This clearly explained to me why a tiny kitten was sitting patiently in an empty parking lot on a cold, snowy day with no one around, no houses, surrounded by two busy streets, office buildings, and quite a little way from my sprawling apartment building… very unlikely but that’s how Wisdom chose to arrive in the neighbourhood. It was here that he sought out the help of Angela, the angel who found this cat and put up all those “Cat Found” fliers. The journey and the transition was a success! Once in our home, Delight only remembered her former life as Wisdom or a moment to show us who he was and then with those memories erased this precious soul became our Delight.

Flier - Mari's 'turning point'

Your book is non-fiction. Have you ever wanted to write fiction?

Yes. l plan to write a novel combining fiction and fact about some of the players in my life who were with me in past lives and who have made appearances in my current life in most astonishing ways. It will be my way of letting them know that I do indeed recognize and love them more than ever and always will. God gave us the miracle of reincarnation and, unfortunately, it has been too long suppressed and needs to be shared and even shouted from the rooftops.

Can you list five favourite books and tell us why they’re your favourites?
Wow, five? Well, Portrait of Jenny by Robert Nathan is my first choice. It was the first book I ever fell in love with back in high school. It is the story of a man who meets and falls in love with the ghost of a girl who has been his soul mate for eternity. It seems like I was destined to know of the magic and power of reincarnation way back then because this book has held fascination for me all these years. I love the humour and insight of Ellen DeGeneres and so I will include her New York Times Bestseller The Funny Thing Is… on my list. It makes me laugh.  I have yet to accomplish The Art of Doing Nothing which is why another favourite of mine by the same title and written by Veronique Vienne is always on my night table. I rush by it and think about doing nothing… but don’t follow my own advice most of the time! I simply love Born Standing Up by Steve Martin which my son Dustin gave me one year for my birthday. I am the all-time Steve Martin fan and you can read about Dustin and his perpetually positive and delightful influence on my life in my book too (complete with photos). Hmmm…one more favourite…OK…I’ll have to choose Listen to the Warm, a collection of love poems by Rod McKuen. The first poem “A Cat Named Sloopy” sent me forth on my journey of love for cats and I mention how it all began with this poem in my book. Thanks Rod, in case you read this blog!

You’re a busy person. Now that you’ve finished your book and seen it published, do you have any other writing projects?
I made a tiny start at writing a novel about which I’ve already mentioned. I just finished a 35-page research paper for a college class so I am taking it easy on the writing for a while…. or at least I was until I got this questionnaire from you, Nik! Here I sit answering these questions and enjoying every minute of it!

And if so, what are you working on now? Well, I’m working on this blog at the moment, Nik! (You are supposed to laugh now).

What is your biggest distraction when it comes to writing?
Everything! Life! Jobs! College! Family! Writing takes a lot of inspiration and when you’ve got that you need the discipline to sit yourself down and write, write, write before that inspiration slips away.

What’s your favourite movie?
I have to say All of Me, starring (who else?) Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin, wins my vote. Oddly enough it is centred on a soul who wishes to keep living after her death so she can experience all the things she missed in her current life. The concepts of reincarnation and the somewhat similar concept of transmigration (the passing of a soul into another body after death) are portrayed in a humorous way, yet the lesson for all of is there if we look. Life never ends and our chances to make things right, to become the one we were meant to be and to find our destiny are always right there for us if we will just believe!

What’s your favourite quotation?
Every Winnie-the-Pooh quote that was ever written, I’d have to say! I can’t seem to choose because my eyes are filled with tears as I read down the list I have collected!

If you could live anywhere else in the world where would it be and why?
I do love San Francisco. I left my heart there twice!

And lastly, just for interest – what’s your favourite food and why?
Yogurt is my everyday favourite food…any flavour! A day without yogurt is like a day without sunshine! Of course, I feel quite the same about chocolate, but chocolate is not a food but a flavour, but I don’t seem to care for chocolate flavoured yogurt…go figure!

Thank you, Mari. I wish you continued good fortune with your book.

THE TALE OF WISDOM AND DELIGHT

Mari LaFore

Amazon.com kindle can be purchased here

Amazon.com paperback can be purchased here

Amazon.co.uk kindle here

Amazon.co.uk paperback here

 

Illustrated with photographs, and includes a comprehensive list of sources.

Some reviews:

“Mari LaFore combines her heart-knowledge of her pet’s reincarnation with documentation and expert opinion to create a beautiful and credible testimony. As an author, I enjoyed having LaFore’s loving words about her cats dance up and down my spine. Kudos on a warm and soul-satisfying story!” - Pegi Deitz Shea, Institute of Children’s Literature, Redding, Ct

“A wonderful story of love and hope.”  - Megan Zuba, Case Manager, St. Joseph Center, Los Angeles, CA.

“I find Mari LaFore’s story quite stunning and heart-warming.” - Seema Kapani, Diversity Education Coordinator, UW Madison

“Wisdom and Delight moved me. It makes for an inspirational read for anyone who has lost a loved one, whether human or animal.” - Robert Morton, author of Death is Another Life

“Fans of The Ghost Whisperer will find this a delight. If you love animals, especially cats, you’ll adore The Tale of Wisdom and Delight!” – Helen Ross, reviewer

Bio

Mari LaFore lives in the beautiful, Isthmus city of Madison Wisconsin between two sparkling lakes. Her sunny apartment is shared with plenty of contented purring cats. Her home reflects the timeless beauty of a Maxfield Parrish painting, decorated with her paintings, photographs, and other works of art. She considers it to be her heaven. She is an artist in oil paint, acrylics, watercolor, and tempera. She loves writing poetry and short stories. She has written a whimsical four-act play called Will I Know You?, a zany TV sitcom pilot called Chicago Dogs, and a delightful children’s tale titled Salvador’s Wallet which was published in the Skipping Stones Multicultural Magazine, March/April 2012 issue. Find Mari’s artwork  at http://laforedesign.smugmug.com/Art/Mari-LaFore-Painting/

Mari has a Liberal Arts Degree from Madison Area Technical College, has taken theatre and film classes at U.W. LaCrosse and Edgewood College, and is currently a senior pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree in Theater at the University of Wisconsin, Madison where she also holds a certificate in Chican@?Latin@ Studies. She is a member of Working Title, a writing organization on campus and was a poetry judge for 2012’s Annual Lit Fest held on UW Madison campus. She also studies Spanish during the summer months plus working at both Student Unions UW Madison campus, Wisconsin Union Theatre also on UW Madison campus and Kelley’s Market. She also finds time to counsel bereaved pet owners, who have recently lost their furry babies