Jumping the Picket Fence - A great read.

This week I wish to use this space to review a fabulous book, written by a dynamite woman: Jumping The Picket Fence, by Lydia Dean.















But first some backstory.

This photo was taken last week in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Do we look happy, or what?

The smiles were because we had just spent four days in the company of a group of people who can best be described by this adjective train; energetic, intelligent, gracious, compassionate, virtuous, and above all else, lovingly kind. The retreat/visioning session was with Go Philanthropic — A foundation and ethical travel enterprise.  www.gophilanthropic.org (the foundation)   or www.gophilanthropic.com (the travel company).

We first met Lydia Dean, one of the founders of "Go Phil," about seven years ago in Vietnam. At the time we were working on one of our humanitarian projects and Lydia was in Hoi An to explore partnerships with local Vietnamese, grass-roots NGOs. We met her family and, a year later, met another of the founders of Go Philanthropic, one exceedingly brilliant woman, Linda De Wolf who was also in Vietnam and Cambodia visiting grass roots programs with whom Go Phil partners.

Lydia and friends.

   Linda and friends











Lydia was writing her book at the same time Elaine and I were putting the finishing touches on our first book, Back to Vietnam:Tours of the Heart. Over the years, we became close with both Lydia and Linda and began collaborating on various humanitarian projects, as well as supporting one another in the brutal business of writing for publication and marketing our products, once written. Earlier this year, after January meetings in Santa Fe and Denver, Elaine and i became proud members of the Go Philanthropic Founders Circle. That led to our series of meetings with about twenty other members of the go phil family last week. We're excited about moving forward as more active collaborators with this wonderful organization.

The Go Phil family just before dinner in Santa Fe. Lydia and Linda stand just left of center. Tracey Morrell next to Lydia, on her right, is the third co-founder

So much for the preamble. Now for Lydia's book.

Lydia Dean is clearly a woman with a compelling story to tell. And she tells it with astounding candor, rich narrative and profound depth. It is a deeply personal account of one woman’s journey to find her life’s purpose, and along the way to discover the breadth of human resilience in the face of adversity, and the power of compassion to fuel change and bring light to the darkest corners of despair. 

At the age of 28, Lydia and her husband John ran a successful executive search business and had achieved financial independence. But Lydia awoke one morning thinking there must be more to life than a balance sheet. She loved her work, cared deeply for her family and enjoyed her comfortable lifestyle, but realized that her soul was being insufficiently nourished. She embarked on a several-year journey — physical, emotional and spiritual — to discover how she might live a more meaningful life, and ultimately found her purpose in philanthropy. 

This is an uplifting love story that spans the globe from the cesspools of Southeast Asia to the slums of India and beyond. A must read for anyone, male or female, who is inspired by those who make a 
 difference. 

Buy it. Read it. Be inspired by it. Change your life.  It's available on amazon.com in both digital and print formats,  

https://www.amazon.com/Jumping-Picket-Fence-Meaning-Suburbs/dp/0990821307/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532626919&sr=8-1&keywords=jumping+the+picket+fence&dpID=415Xuwx7LmL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch 

There are two components to this post. 

First, I'd like to briefly review a book I first read in 1962. I was a sophomore in college and the professor of my Sociology 202 class assigned this reading as a hypothetical example of what happens when a society and all its institutions, laws, norms and mores completely break down. I recently discovered this apocalyptic novel has been reprinted in 1995 and again in 2005.  It remains as compelling now as it was those 56 years ago. Maybe even more so, given the proliferation of nuclear tipped weapons in possession of madmen in this new century.

Alas Babylon, by Pat Frank: A nuclear holocaust has devastated the United States and much of the rest of the world. The patina of civilization has been swept away. Miraculously, a small town in central Florida is spared the ravages of the blasts and radiation. But the isolated community regresses to the dark ages when there is no electrical power, telecommunications, or television. Within weeks, there is no gasoline, no provisions left on retail shelves, no functioning police or protective services, no means of charging batteries and eventually no means of producing flame. But the small community of survivors learns to pull together and face what will undoubtedly be the longest night in history.

Although it depicts a terrifying eventuality, Mr. Frank has somehow created a story that captures the indomitability of the human spirit. It's populated with lovable (and some not so lovable) characters who for the most part have been well developed and to whom the reader can relate as everyday folks.  The story line follows a good narrative arc with a hook, action rising to a crescendo, a logical climax and a cliff-hanging conclusion. If one could find fault in the author's style it might be that this tale contains some stereotypes that reek of racism and sexism. But, hey, that's probably a reasonable depiction of the tenor of the times in Florida sixty years ago.

Component Two: Reviewing Books on amazon

Have you ever tried to post a review on amazon.com only to get an error message that says you are not a qualifed reviewer? Several people who've tried to review my first novel, Finding Lien, have been told that in order for their review to be accepted, they must have an amazon  account and have purchased $50.00 worth of product within the preceding 12 months.
 

I invited the policy to the attention of my publisher and pointed out that this seems like a case of a  corporate giant holding authors and publishers hostage. After all, the more reviews a book receives, the more marketing visibility it has, and sales go up. We know that amazon's magical algorithms will uptick the market exposure of any book with 50 or more reviews. So everybody wins - the author, the publisher and the retailer (amazon). Right? . 

Black Rose Writing, the publisher of my two novels advised me that they were following the policy closely and hoped that some middle ground could be found. The reason for the policy is that there are some deviant companies out there who will open myriad false accounts, leave multiple reviews, then charge the authors for 50 or more reviews.

So, now you know the rest of the story.

Rebirth and Book Reviews

Darn, I had really good intentions when I launched this blog two years ago.  It was to be a platform for me to share things writerly — a little about my own learning experiences in commencing a writing career in my seventies, some hints for wannabees on "pulling it together," some techniques and practices that work for me in editing, finding beta readers, getting technical help and getting published, and maybe my impressions and reflections about recent books I've read.

Alas, after three posts, life came at me. I experienced the death of someone close to me, suffered a broken hip and subsequent replacement, became immersed in the writing and editing of my second novel, served as a willing, - but not terribly competent - caregiver when my wife, Elaine, went through a hip replacement and dealt with various and sundry other competing demands on my time.

But having just signed a contract for As The Lotus Blooms, my new novel, I have a bit more time on my hands and now I wish to resurrect my efforts at blogging with a pledge (to myself) to post at least once a month (better yet, bi-weekly whenever I'm not travelling).

So, in this first edition I'd like to briefly review, and enthusiastically recommend, two books I've recently read.

So - Here's the First Review:
 

 This is what I said on amazon.com about this book.  "This is an  outstanding, but heartbreaking, tale of a devastating and progressive health condition, and how deeply it touches those it enfolds. The author, who has closely experienced the cruelty of Alzheimers in a loved one, has shown a great deal of courage and consummate determination in writing it. This well-paced and brilliantly written story is at once poignant, agonizing, funny in places and all-consuming. The reader will have difficulty putting it down but had best keep a box of tissues at hand. It made this hardened, former combat soldier weep like a schoolchild through much of the second half. But I feel I have emerged from this novel with greater sensitivity to the whole continuum of dementia and its emotional impact on those who must find a way of dealing with its encroachment on their lives. There are not enough superlatives in the English language to give justice to a description of this debut novel by an obviously compassionate, energetic and witty author. It is worthy of six stars."

This fine novel is also a finalist for the National Indie Excellence Awards. Irene also publishes a daily blog and writes a column for Grandparents Day Magazine, an Australian on-line publication www.grandparentsdaymagazine.com. 


And - Here's the second:

Equal and Opposite Reactions is a rollicking good yarn about complex relationships and emotions in middle-class American culture. The author has created an incredibly funny romantic comedy, which transcends the ubiquitous romantic triangle and expands it into a quadrangle, complicated by the interweaving of relationships between the children of the principal characters.  Cleverly plotted, twists and turns,  and exceptionally well written this part drama and part slapstick comedy, is a tour-de-force. Bravo Patti.

Stay tuned. Next time, I think I might blog about the pitfalls and perils of collaborating with another author.