The Devil's Garden

Author Brady Christianson cures writer's block by target practicing with his knives. "I can spend hours throwing them," he says. "Focusing on the target helps focus my thoughts." 

It's no wonder this former Marine, who served in the Reconnaissance Division, has centered his first novel, The Devil's Playground, around a retired Recon Marine who thinks he is enjoying a quiet, civilian life but who has his world suddenly turned upside-down when heavily armed Arab terrorists break into his house and try to kill him and his family. It is clear that his former military "secret identity" has been compromised and ghosts from the past have come back to settle old scores. 

 

This action-packed mystery/thriller was inspired by true events, after Christianson learned that a laptop was stolen from the Department of Veterans Affairs. "It contained the names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and social security numbers of every veteran who served this country since the Vietnam conflict. The missing laptop was not recovered until about a month later, which was an eternity for someone to copy the information and sell it...Considering these events and weighing them against the fact that there are those in the military services whose identities are protected—and they are protected for good reasons—the potential for disaster becomes painfully apparent...The story almost wrote itself."

I am pleased to welcome Brady Christianson to Reading Between the Lines to share his thoughts, in his own words, about The Devil's Garden:

The fog of war is a place where confusion rules, innocence dies and demons are born. Sometimes these demons come back to haunt a man and other times they simply come back to kill him. Few men would welcome the fight, which is to say, a proud and terrible few. The Devil’s Garden twists a Recon Marine’s worst nightmare into a deadly reality.

There is a saying in Recon: There is no life after Force. The lack of adrenaline and ensuing boredom will kill a warrior’s spirit. However, former Recon Marine Brandon Colson has a different kind of death to fear. After years spent in remote deserts and jungles on the other side of the planet dreaming of a quiet, civilian, family life, he finally has it. The problem is he has a large price on his head that even his family doesn’t know about: He is wanted by terrorists he worked to bring down.  With revenge in their hearts and murder on their minds, Colson’s enemies plan to revisit his sins upon him, his wife and his children. When a heavily armed squad of assassins arrives at his home in the middle of the night, he quickly dispatches the men, but knows the identity he buried deep in his past is no longer a secret. With his family in hiding, he makes it his personal mission to eliminate the threat to his family and reclaim the life he’s made.

The Devil’s Garden captures the irreconcilable thoughts and trepidation of a military man turned family man who must now fight to protect his family. As Colson’s crucial mission leads him to the Devil’s Garden of Florida, a forgotten wasteland of swamps, collapsed shacks, and lost souls, he finds that the midnight attack on his home was simply an omen of what is to come. With his fate in the balance until the last second, Colson must navigate a trail littered with bloodshed and revenge.

To learn more about The Devil's Garden and Brady Christianson (and read excerpts from the novel), link HERE

Follow the book blog tour for this novel at Tribute Books 

The Devil's Garden by Brady Christianson
Two Harbors Press, Trade Paper, 9781938690167, 392 pp
Publication Date: November 11, 2012
To order this book via AMAZON link HERE

War Stories

Life is a battlefield in War Stories, a riveting collection of short fiction by Elisabeth Doyle. Each story delves deeply into the experiences of American soldiers, the physically and emotionally wounded (and those who love them) as they struggle to survive and fulfill the demands of civilian life. 

Half of the stories deal with the idea of soldiers in the literal, military sense of the word:

Rebelliousness is at the heart of "Recruiters," a story about a farewell rendezvous for a young friend heading for boot camp that goes dreadfully wrong.

In "One of These Days It Will All Be Over," a man returns home from war and admits to his wife, "I'm not the same man...I'm nothing now...How can God love me?" But the simple act of going to pick up his children one day offers him an unexpected moment of transcendence.

"Pistolesi," a story about resilience, is told from the point of view of a young war wife and mother whose severely injured husband returns home from combat steeped in a severe depression. In order to pay the bills, the wife takes a job as a baby photographer and becomes enlightened by what it means to fight for the things that give life meaning.

"Driving" depicts how the terrifying prospect of combat is overcome for a young couple by taking car rides together.

And in "The Deepest, Darkest Part of the Woods," a numb veteran returns home unable to move past a chilling atrocity of war that keeps him a spectator to his own life. But the presence of a neighbor and the remembrance of a compelling dream offers a sense of renewed perspective.

The rest of the stories deal with secondary soldiers - those struggling to move on and reinvent their lives beyond the personal grief and anguish inflicted by the ripple-down effects of war:

In "Median," a highway car crash is the impetus that forces the father of a war hero to come face to face with the past. 

"Passengers" is a harrowing story about a mother whose son was unable to cope with life after war and how she finds herself caught up in a life and death battle of her own.  

Aimlessness, isolation, guilt, detachment and love are common threads that bind these nine sparse, yet richly drawn stories. With great perception and insight, Doyle focuses on chilling facts and small moments that give emotional heft to the interior landscapes of these traumatized, fully realized characters.

War Stories is currently under consideration for The Story Prize (2012).  To read more about Elisabeth Doyle and her writing process link HERE.

War Stories by Elisabeth Doyle

Two Harbors Press, $14.95, Trade Paper, 9781937928407, 111 pp

Publication Date: September 21, 2012

To order this book via INDIEBOUND link HERE

Note: This book was provided for review by Tribute Books, as part of a hosted book blog tour. 

Jerome Charyn and BACK TO BATAAN

Author Michael Chabon (The Wonder Boys, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay) has called him, "one of the most important writers in American Literature."  Newsday has hailed him as "a contemporary American Balzac."  And the LA Times has described him as "absolutely unique among American writers."

Who is he? He's Jerome Charyn, an incredibly prolific, award-winning author who writes across genres and has published 30 novels, three memoirs, eight graphic novels...so far.

His latest undertaking is a novel of historical fiction, BACK TO BATAAN, an eBook (re-issued by Tribute Books) for middle grade readers (Grades 7-9): It's 1943 in New York City. Eleven year-old Jack Dalton is depressed and restless following the death of his father at Bataan (in the Philippines) during World War II.  Jack's mother is trying to keep body and soul together by working in a parachute factory and Jack, tossed aside by his girlfriend and left to his own devices, wants to enlist in the army.  When Jack finally runs away, he falls in with a gang of criminals.  This compact YA novel is filled with action, adventure and suspense.  To learn more, link HERE

Jerome Charyn was kind enough to chat about the book and share some of his ideas about the craft of writing.

Kathleen Gerard:  Thanks for joining us, Jerome.  You write across a realm of different genres, what excites you about connecting with different audiences? 

Jerome Charyn:  I’m not so sure that these are different audiences, I think we all love stories, whether we’re children or great-grandfathers and when you move from genre to genre you are still telling a story like Scheherazade and the king is always waiting for the next tale.

KG:  BACK TO BATAAN is a reissue of a print book, now being offered for the first time as an eBook.  Being a published author for nearly 50 years, what's your impression of digital books? 

JC: I think that this is a kind of logical step as we move from the internet into eBooks. Publishing is changing even as we speak. I think there now will be a more complicated dance between the eBook and the printed book, and as we’ve seen recently, successes in eBooks allow the author to move into print.

KG:  How much of your own life is embroiled in BACK TO BATAAN? Did you personally experience New York during World War II?
JC:  I think so much of the source of my writing comes from my childhood, I grew up during the War - so many of the terrors and the magic of certain films have remained with me.  And all of this appears in the character of Jack.

KG:  In reading the story behind this book, I understand that your brother was a detective. Did your experiences with him influence the plot of BACK TO BATAAN?

JC:  Not really, I think all writing is crime writing. And Back to Bataan is a crime novel with a very original twist.

KG:  In the book, why did you decide to include a fascination with famous people - Gary Cooper, Eleanor Roosevelt, etc. - as an underurrent?

JC:  These people were heroes to me as a child, particularly Eleanor Roosevelt, who was one of the most extraordinary women who ever lived, and of course as a child I fell in love with Gary Cooper’s face and with his very slow drawl, that seemed so exotic to me.

KG:  Jack, the main character of the novel, finds acclaim through his writing, yet he feels guilty for exploiting the lives of other people on the page. How does a writer bridge this gap?

JC:  You’re always cannibalizing other people and writers when you start to write, so it’s natural that Jack should be a young cannibal.

KG:  The New York Times plays a significant role in this novel. How important is New York Times in your own life and is there any special reason why you decided to make it a form of connection in the life of Jack, the main character?
JC:  As a child, I didn’t even know that the Times existed – I grew up in a neighborhood without newspapers and books, so that when I first fell upon the New York Times, I was very very greedy, and wanted to include it in Jack’s middle-class life.

KG:  Your writing is so precise, yet evocative - how do you work at crafting your unique style of prose?
JC:  Everything begins and ends with the word, with the music of the sentence and as Tolstoy once said, “I’m always composing.”

KG: What are your thoughts on the recent explosion and popularity of the YA genre?

JC: I think it might very well be that it started with Harry Potter, that young adult writers are trying to tell good stories and adults have moved into that kind of dream.

KG:  What advice would you give to young people who aspire to a literary career?

JC: It’s not worth the money – only write if you’re absolutely in love with it.

Well, there you have it, thoughts from Jerome Charyn, an acclaimed, dedicated writer who has made significant contributions to the literary community.  Reading Between the Lines thanks him for visiting and wishes him much continued success!  

Back to Bataan by Jerome Charyn
Tribute Books, $2.99, eBook, ASIN #B008DYK6C2, 101 pp
Publication Date: June 21, 2012
To order this book via AMAZON link HERE

The New Face of Publishing

Publishing models and platforms are changing at a rapid pace.  E-books sales already account for more than 10% of all books sold - and some in the industry claim this statistic is much higher than actually reported.  With the release of more affordable e-readers, lower priced Kindles and the launch of the new Kindle Fire from Amazon, some say that figure is bound to double by the end of 2011.  In a recent article featured in Shelf Awareness, paidContent.org is reporting that Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch said the company, "expects the size of the print book market to decrease by a third by 2015, while the e-book market grows by 700%."


With that in mind, I am pleased to host Nicole Langan of Tribute Books for an extended Q&A regarding her exciting new publishing venture.  Nicole started Tribute Books in 2004. She has successfully published fiction and nonfiction books (in print and electronic form) that have gone on to win a host of industry awards. But for 2012, she has decided that Tribute Books will now concentrate solely on publishing great new Young Adult (YA) books via e-publishing platforms only.  

Kathleen Gerard:  What inspired you to make this big change to YA only e-books?

Nicole Langan:  Our main reason is the explosion in popularity of e-readers such as the Kindle, Nook and iPad. Over the course of 2011, we've watched our ebook sales outpace our print sales by 2 to 1. The under $5 price point of most of our titles and the ease of purchase and delivery are surely contributing factors.

On a business level, the young adult genre sells especially if it is well written and has a paranormal romance theme. On a marketing level, the devotion of the young adult fan base is unparalleled. On a personal level, I thoroughly enjoy a good young adult novel and review many on my blog at http://tributebooksreviews.blogspot.com.

KG: What kind of author are you looking for?

NL: My preference is for damn good writing, the particular topic is secondary in importance. However, books written with a series in mind or those that delve into the paranormal will have a slight edge. Manuscripts that have already been professionally edited will receive greater consideration. Our preference is to work with authors who have already been published through a royalty-paying press and who know the ins and outs of book promotion. An established social media platform is a must, and we will not consider writers who do not have a well-followed blog, Facebook page or Twitter account.

My hope is that we are able to recruit some talented writers of well-written, well-crafted stories in order to develop an eager fan base for the titles we publish. We want readers to be excited about the ebooks we produce. Young adult authors have the most devoted fan followings out there, and we'd like to introduce that audience to a whole new host of talent.

KG: What is your promotion strategy?

NL:  I am a big believer in the power of social media. I even conduct monthly blog tours for outside publishers and authors in order to help them increase the online presence of a book. Book bloggers are a powerful force in the book industry. With more and more book stores closing and book review columns being cut from major newspapers, readers are depending on bloggers to help them find the books they want to read. They are turning to the internet as a reference point to fill this information gap.

In my opinion, social networking is the bread and butter of any author's promotional efforts. Without it, it's like trying to paddle upstream without a canoe. Readers want to connect with the person who wrote the book. They crave interaction with an author. Nothing beats getting a writer to comment on a blogger's book review post or getting a personalized thank you tweet from your favorite author. The days of authors being isolated from their fans is over. They're now able to build an online following and receive instant feedback for their work. They have the opportunity to take part in creating their own literary community.

We try to keep an active online presence with our web site, Facebook, Twitter and blog. We're looking for those who love young adult literature to join us for the ride.

KG:  What are your submission requirements?

NL: Interested authors can submit their manuscripts via email to info@tribute-books.com. There will be no charge for the authors we select to work with, and they will receive 50% of the net profits of their ebook sales in quarterly royalty payments. We're looking for Microsoft Word documents with a maximum of 350 pages of text with no photos, charts, illustrations, graphs, etc. The ebooks will be available through Kindle, Nook, iPad, Smashwords and as PDF downloads through Tribute-Books.com. They will retail between $2.99 and $4.95.

KG: What is your background in publishing?

NL: I've spent roughly the last 12 years in the publishing world. I have a B.A. summa cum laude in English and Communications. From 1999-2004, I went from being an intern to an editorial assistant to an associate editor of a regional magazine. In 2004, I started Tribute Books. Since that time, I've worked with dozens of authors, illustrators, photographers and editors in publishing over 30 books. Some of our books have gone on to win awards such as the Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year and the Mom's Choice Award while others were endorsed by PBS and The Thoreau Society. In 2012, we'll embark on a new transition becoming solely an e-publisher of young adult titles.

KG: Thanks for stopping by and sharing more information, Nicole. I wish you and Tribute Books much continued success!

Please note: Tribute Books intends to publish a total of twelve (12) books in 2012.

Contact information for Tribute Books:
Website: http://www.tribute-books.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Archbald-PA/Tribute-Books/171628704176
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TributeBooks
Blog: http://tributebooks.blogspot.com/

Fire Men: Stories from Three Generations of a Firefighting Family

Hugs and thank yous don't happen often. This is a thankless job. So why do it? Why be a firefighter? The reasons obviously differ for each person. For me, it's the satisfaction of doing something only a small percentage of people can do - entering buildings being consumed by fire and having the skill to save lives. (Excerpt from Fire Men by Gary R. Ryman)

You've heard the sirens. You've seen the bright red engines that barrel through town when the alarm sounds. You tune in each week to TV programs like Rescue Me. But in FIRE MEN: Stories from Three Generations of a Firefighting Family, Gary H. Ryman has given readers an authentic, firsthand account of what it really means to answer the call (literally and figuratively) to fight flaming battles, day-in and day-out.

FIRE MEN is a well-written, emotion-packed memoir that is rich with description. In twenty concise chapters, Ryman details, with unabashed grit, a personal account of what it's like to serve on the front lines of danger. The book has a linear structure and is told via episodic installments of how and why Ryman became a firefighter; how and where he trained; and his personal firefighting experiences that now make him an expert, veteran consultant on firefighting practices. The stories reflect how firefighting has evolved over the years, now requiring more specific training and certifications, as the role of firefighting becomes more diversified and emergency service oriented (EMS), especially post 9-11 and amid the implications of terrorism.

Long-time fireman Ryman offers a unique perspective of what it's like to be the son, as well as the father, of a firefighter. He writes engaging, dramatically rendered scenes which shed light into what a firefighter may face with his buddies while on-call; at the firehouse during down-time; and also in serving the public.

Taken as a whole, FIRE MEN is filled with joy and heartbreak and offers harrowing insight into the emotional landscape of those who see the best and worst of what life has to offer.

Fire Men: Stories from Three Generations of a Firefighting Family by Gary R. Ryman

Tribute Books, $10.95, Trade Paperback, 978-0982256596, 280 pp.

Publication Date: April 20, 2011
To order this book via INDIEBOUND link HERE

NOTE: In order to write this review, I received a copy of this book from Tribute Books.