Tell us a little about your book. This is a novel. On the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua in 1926, U.S. expatriates manage fruit plantations, timber companies, and gold mines. When a stunning local woman named Dorette Fox entangles herself with two Americans, the desultory love triangle combined with an escalating civil war results in murder. Cordell Fletcher, a young officer from the U.S. consulate sent north from Bluefields to investigate the death, finds that the shooting is not over. What inspired you to write this book? This is a story I heard from an old man on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua when I lived a few years in the area. He told me about the people involved; I had to make educated guesses about why they acted the way they did; the fact that there was a nascent civil war at the time would explain a lot, I think. What are you doing to market your book? Trying to get in touch with blogs and websites concerning Nicaragua. One important site has been Nicaragua Living, which runs reviews What was the biggest challenge you faced writing this book and how did you overcome it? I had it third-person, to begin with, but switched it to first. It took some time, but was an improvement. What is your next project? A novel about my publisher, White Cedar Press. We are proud to announce that Paulo d’Avignon Bruschet, Chief Production Editor of White Cedar Press, has been inscribed into the Fédération Internationale de Imprimerie, the publishing industry’s most prestigious professional association. Paulo joined us in 2000 (in our Miami office) after moving from Toronto, Ontario, where he had edited Football North America, Canada’s leading soccer magazine. Paulo was born in Chile of Brazilian parents and brings to White Cedar Press an unsurpassed familiarity with printing and Romance languages thanks to his education in Havana, the then-USSR, and Antwerp, Belgium. Paulo worked closely with Alexander Solzhenitsyn while a student and now cultivates excellence among our many writers. Paulo enjoys the unequivocal support of his colleagues at White Cedar Press who have stood by his side through these past 12 years of sometimes difficult work. During sabbaticals in 2003-2004 and 2006-2011 Paulo researched a number of experimental residential psychological discernment centers; his impressive, 1,600-page account of those many months, White Walls and Burlap Mattresses, is under consideration by several publishing houses. Paulo is also a certified PADI scuba instructor and was equipment manager of the Miami Fusion of Major League Soccer from 1998 to 2001. Please join us in our congratulations. Have you published anything else? Other things listed on Amazon. I’m happy with their reviews. Any advice for other writers/indie authors out there? Speaking as an author . . . no, not yet.
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When Henry watches news of a coup in the small territory of Jartanzia and sees (what could be) the picture of a hedgehog, he knows the end is near. He dispassionately murders his mother and takes off for a secret rendezvous. After all, when the world as we know it is in ruins, she’ll be dead anyway, because when the dust settles only members of the Underground Hedgehog Revolution Network will survive. Via their website, Henry—a member for 15 years—has been providing information to the Grand Hedgehog. He’s pretty sure he’ll get a Captaincy, or even governorship of one of the new states.
So begins Elmore Hammes’ Not Fit For Human Consumption, with a cast of fully-fleshed-out characters, each with their own story and personal agenda, in some way involved in the fate of life as we know it on good old planet Earth. We meet Henry again as he flies to his destination and follow his obsession with a beautiful fellow passenger as he becomes convinced she is his soul-mate. I enjoyed Henry’s imagination as he endows her with glowing attributes and schemes to meet her. Unbelievably, his plan actually works, and I waited for him to tell her about the Hedgehog Network and ruin his chances. But that conclusion would be obvious, and Hammes does not do “obvious.” Hammes calls his book a comedic farce, and it is indeed funny; but farce is often associated with the superficial, while the human characters engage you and have depth. I can’t say the non-humans have quite the same depth, but it’s a close thing. They do have history and personality, which makes them real, and not as far down the food chain as we like to think. Mr. Jamison is a dedicated teacher of 25 years, musing on his life past and present and trying to figure out what motivates his students. Alice mourns her dead husband, but discovers she was not the only woman in his life. Morgan Stanwyck is a survivalist who knows something bad is coming. Some are bystanders dragged in from the sidelines. You won’t want to miss the fate of t-shirt guy. Then there is the ironic tale of young Brandon and Jacob, who concoct and implement a plan to convince two girls that the world is coming to an end and they must go into the family’s shelter (built by Dad for when the clock struck 2000 and everything would stop working) They just want to get laid. The irony is, the story the boys tell is not far-fetched. Peter the cockroach calls his fellow roaches together to tell them they should rule the world. Unfortunately, only Sarah joins him in his quest for world domination, and that’s because she fancies him. Loretta the rabbit escapes her cage and forms an unlikely friendship with Mittens the cat. Lazarus the super-rat was abandoned in a laboratory. And Arax the Annihilator, who is NOT a nice guy. Arax comes to Earth from another dimension with one objective, to destroy our world. Nothing can stand against him. Or so it seems. This is well-written, well-crafted storytelling, a really fun read with a clever finale. Believe me, when you finish this book, cockroaches with aspirations will not seem bizarre. Read it. You won’t be disappointed and write your essay about your feelings. The New Death and Others by James Hutchings ASIN: B005Q8Q8DY Copyright © September 2011 264 KB (119 Pages) Kindle .99 cents Having read and reviewed James Hutchings’s Two Fisted Tweets I have to say that Mr. Hutchings is a master at microfiction. Able to tell a story in 172 characters or less in order to meet the Twitter guideline in TFT, Hutchings now treats his readers to longer pieces of work (but not too long) and poems in his new book called The New Death and Others. Hutchings relies heavily on the use of anthropomorphism (look that one up!) and personification, giving human qualities and voices to abstract states and inanimate objects which presents many of his stories in almost a fable-like storytale feel that relies heavily on tongue-in-cheek humor and irony. You’ll stop and scratch your head and ponder the meaning of many of his twisted little tales, or laugh out loud at the silliness which is exactly what Hutchings intended. Here is an author that enjoys puns and jokes, and obviously enjoys entertaining others. There are even footnotes in some of the stories which actually turn out to be additional jokes. There are numerous poems throughout the book, many of which were inspired by other famous authors’ writings. Definitely good reason to seek out the works he’s cited so that you can compare them and discover Hutchings’s meanings and reason for inspiration. Here is one of my favorite short poems: If My Life Was Filmed If my life was filmed, it would go straight to DVD and someone who was famous once would have the role of me and if five stars meant ‘excellent’ you’d give it two or three and most of those who rented it would watch ironically. Years later they would track me down and do an interview. They say “I heard you died,” and I’d say “Yeah, I heard that too.” “Is any of it fictional?” “Perhaps a scene or two. There weren’t as many ninjas, but the rest is mostly true.” If you are looking for some light, interesting reading and wish to be entertained (and don’t mind a lot of cats), The New Death and Others is worth a look and worth the buck! |
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