The Rooming House Gallery from Bill Mathis

                                                  


The Rooming House Gallery: Connecting the Dots, by Bill Mathis
Literary Fiction, 260 pp
May, 2020, Rogue Phoenix Press
99 cents ebook
$10.99 paperback

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About the Book
Josh and Andres unexpectedly inherit an old rooming house in Chicago. Each discovers they have a long and deep history with the place. Thrilled to have a home of their own, plus a place for Andres to make and sell his art, the two are challenged to turn the place into a community art center. The challenge becomes more personal as each deals with their own backgrounds, family issues and differing personal interests. Tough decisions are made about their new/old home, relationship with their fathers, and their conflict over starting a family. The neighboring family and new friends play a key role as they bring the art center to fruition, move into a new personal home, and begin a non-DNA family.

My Review
History and contemporary life duke it out in a quest for acknowledgment in this edition of the Rooming House saga. A building with a previous life is bequeathed to a young couple, one wanting home and family, one wanting space and community action. They learn their roots go deep and twine through the building’s very foundation, and their current relationship may have sprung from history itself as they unravel personal stories from the ledgers and diaries left in the building.

At heart is the author’s passion for family, something that resonates with me. When two people try to form a more perfect union, no matter who, what, when, and where they are, reality often exposes scars and warts and everyone’s personal level of depravity. It’s the committed soul who can share the healing process. Andres and Josh may look and act like opposites, but their mutual affection and determination to give and take are an example for all couples. Each has a desire to learn from the past and grow forward, while serving the greater community. They’ve been together ten years, but how well do they know each other, truly, and the direction to the next level of their union are questions explored in this richly nuanced, very human story.

Told from a large perspective, occasionally shifting among family and community members, the reader is drawn into the secrets and revelations of the evolving American culture. I also had to look up a tamale recipe. While bedroom scenes are under covers, so to speak, parents of potential readers under 16 might want to vet the book first.

About the Author
Bill Mathis won the 2019 Pencraft Runners Up Award for Family Fiction. He is a Preacher’s Kid from Clarksville, Michigan. Bill directed YMCA camps and worked with foster children. He grew up in a tiny town filled with other big families, which may be the reason he frequently writes about family—maybe it’s therapy? He has children, grandchildren, is divorced, retired, and lives with his partner near the Rock River in Beloit, Wisconsin (a wonderful town) from where he can see Illinois. He travels, reads, writes, volunteers with hospice, and eats. He's trying to lose weight—hopefully next year. Bill’s books are about family, warts and all, diversity, and usually include some LGBTQ characters.

Tails and Tales cat poetry from John Manesis

                                                         

Tails & Tales
John Manesis
Poetry
August, 2020

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Paperback $12.00

About the Book
A collection of cat poems based on 50 years experience with family pets, news items, felines in movies and famous cats in literature.

My Review
Manesis creates his latest book of 75 poems from the stuff of literature, history, film, fables and children’s stories. Some are short, a single stanza, and some cross the fold. Many follow a particular rhyme pattern and all are lyrical and pithy.

The poems all feature cats either famous by history, fable, or personal experience, such as “Cleo”: My wife and I inherited another cat…” which leads one to question “inherit”? “another”? but follows the tale of pet treatment battlelines. Another riffs on a scene from The Third Man, where a calico cat helps “out” a presumed victim. Scattered throughout are quotes from the likes of Dickens, Twain, and even da Vinci.

Poetry is often so personal it makes a reader feel like a voyeur, but Tails & Tales happily converts history, present day headlines, word play, and family into a joy ride of cats through pop culture. A very fun and appreciative Author’s Note at the end helps the reader put deeper perspective about particular poems, such as Manesis’s double take on “Puss ’n Boots.” Lots of fun for poetry and cat lovers.

About the Author
John Manesis, born in Eu Claire, Wisconsin, graduated from medical school in 1962 and practiced internal medicine and diagnostic radiology until his retirement in 1996. His poetry has appeared in over 100 literary publications, including many anthologies, and he has also published a children’s story, Greenie and the Tree Frog. He and his wife Bess have two sons and two daughters.

Online Events in November with Write On Door County

 

Write On, Door County Calendar of Events for November 2020

 

·         Thursday, November 5, 10:30 am - noon: Great Lakes/Great Books The selection for this month’s online book discussion is Great Lakes Rocks: 4 Billion Years of Geologic History in the Great Lakes Region by Stephen E. Kesler. For more information, please visit www.writeondoorcounty.org or call 920-868-1457.

·         Thursdays, November 5, 12, 19 The Craft of Writing: Poetry Join award-winning poets Kimberly Blaeser and Sean Hill for a conversation on writing poetry followed by two 90-minute workshops the following Thursdays. Presented virtually. For more information, please visit www.writeondoorcounty.org or call 920-868-1457.

·         Saturday, November 7, 10:30 am  – noon: Writing Young Adult Characters with Agency YA novelist Miriam McNamara leads an online workshop on creating authentic characters in young adult literature. For more information, please visit www.writeondoorcounty.org or call 920-868-1457.

·         Wednesday, November 11, 7 – 8:30 pm: Virtual Poetry Reading Join the Door County Poets Collective and the Dickinson Poetry Reading Series for an online reading with contributors from the new anthology of poems about Door County, Halfway to the North Pole. For more information, please visit www.writeondoorcounty.org or call 920-868-1457.

·         Sunday, November 14, 10:30 am - noon: Making Comics Led by Crystal Gibbins, this online workshop allows participants to explore what goes in to creating comics. For more information, please visit www.writeondoorcounty.org or call 920-868-1457.

·         Monday, November 16, 6 – 8 pm: Rise and Fall: Writing Water Author Catherine Young presents a two-hour online workshop focused on writing about water in any genre. For more information, please visit www.writeondoorcounty.org or call 920-868-1457.

·         Saturday, November 21, 10:30 am – noon: The Inside Story on Publishing Graywolf Press editor Steve Woodward gives an insider’s look on the process of getting your literary fiction or nonfiction into print and provides feedback on your opening pages. For more information, please visit www.writeondoorcounty.org or call 920-868-1457.

 

For more information or to register for any of these programs, please visit www.writeondoorcounty.org or call 920-868-1457.

Write On, Door County is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The mission of Write On, Door County is to inspire people to write and share their stories. Everyone has a story to tell.

Gray Horse at Oak Lane Stable young adult fiction

 

Gray Horse at Oak Lane Stable (Oak Lane Stable Adventures, Book 2)

by Kerri Lukasavitz

Young Adult Fiction

Three Towers Press, an imprint of HenschelHAUS Publishing

September 1, 2020, 299 pp

Reviewed by Joan Bauer

This post originally appeared at: https://wiwrite.org/book-reviews/9317304

All children should have obsessions. In Gray Horse at Oak Lane Stable, Kerri Lukasavitz’s second novel for young adults, thirteen-year-old Cassie Piotrowski and her friends are obsessed with horses. The story, set in 1976, invites any reader to immerse herself in a world of shared values and interests—a world that can reflect universal experiences through an unfamiliar lens.

Lukasavitz easily evokes the nineteen-seventies with her beautiful world-building. When a March snowstorm sends Cassie home early from school, one of the boys “bent over and tucked the open ends of plastic bread bags in the tops of his boots after putting his stocking feet into them.” And when the bus reaches Cassie’s house, her mother, a freelance writer, is at home making banana bread and stew. The story is full of delightful touches that ground it firmly in its moment, from the shag carpeting to the communal experience of the summer Olympics and the bicentennial. Even the quiet pacing is reminiscent of a time before the internet, though Cassie’s problems with bullying will be recognizable to anyone who’s ever been the victim of a nasty post on social media.

Cassie fully inhabits this world and takes responsibility for it. At the stable, she breathes in “the rich, dense smell of horses kept inside all winter long;” she displays intimate knowledge and professionalism as she cares for her horse, Snowdrops, even as she longs to try new things with different mounts. Cassie may have an expensive hobby, but there is never a whiff of helicopter parenting or a mention of how it will look on a college application. When she wins, she accepts her ribbons gracefully; but when she loses—and she does, repeatedly, once the bullying starts—Lukasavitz takes the opportunity to examine the full range of her changing emotions. As the novel proceeds, I found myself wishing anxiously that Cassie would talk to her parents about the threatening notes she was receiving, and the culmination of this problem is managed beautifully. But the book demands something that may be in short supply among young readers: patience.

Still, it is a patience well worth cultivating, and for the parents and grandparents of young readers, it should come with many smiles. After all, I certainly never expected to hear the names “England Dan and John Ford Coley” again.

 

Reviewer Joan Bauer holds a Master’s degree in English from Marquette University and has worked as a trust officer in a bank. In the course of raising three children, she has chaired fundraisers, served on boards, and volunteered frequently at church and school. She is working on a novel.

 

A Wisconsin author explores Minnesota

 

About the Book

This new and completely updated edition by co-authors Doris Green and Greg Brick, PhD, invites readers to consider a different angle for their next Minnesota trip. It guides travelers to the state's publicly accessible caves, former mines, and other subterranean treasures. Whether you are a sport caver, hiker, photographer, teacher, historian, or vacationer, this guide offers unique travel destinations, suggests possible study projects, and points to both widely recognized and little known underground locations. Along the way you'll learn to see Minnesota in a different light--a light cast as often by a headlamp as by a northern sky.

YOU'LL FIND:

- 82 sites in 23 counties

- 41 new site listings

- 13 museums and educational centers featuring cave and mine replicas as well as geologic exhibits

- 23 sidebars highlighting Minnesota's underground history and geology--not to mention odd but true subterranean tales

- Directions, precautions, and amenities for all sites listed

This guide offers ideas for travelers who want an unordinary travel experience. While some sites require sure-footedness and an ability to climb steep hillsides, others are accessible even for families with young children. If you're ready for a serious trek or an easier tour beneath the surface, Minnesota Underground can the lead the way.

Print $19.99

Ebook $9.98

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My review:

I have a passion for hidden, enclosed spaces, and love caves; I always have ever since learning about the karst and graben (grave, or sinkhole) geology of my dad’s home in northeastern Iowa. It was with delight that I opened Doris Green’s updated version of Minnesota Underground to read about one of my favorite spots, Niagara Cave.

The authors introduce the several dozen adventures to explore by inviting the reader to experience being there, from the approach to the cave, museum, or mine’s entrance to sharing certain features inside of each. I’m pretty sure a waft of cool, fifty-something degree breeze came out and hit me.

Photos, brief history, excellent facts and concise directions accompany each of the sites. General geological history and descriptions, such as The Driftless Area, and legends such as Seven Iron Men, accompany appropriate chapters. Green makes a point of mentioning natural caves’ most expected denizens, the bat, and the current decline of these fabulous and often misinterpreted creatures due to several factors, including white nose syndrome.

Stories and legends, such as the Gainey Gold Mine fraud, as well as generous but brief folk history and true tales enhance this book. Explore Minnesota from the North, to the St. Croix River Valley, Southeastern, Southwester, and finally the Twin Cities area. Some sites I look forward to checking out with my grandkids in northern Minnesota include Croft Mine Historical Park, the Minnesota Discovery Center, and Conundrum Quarry, and Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. I’ll save Speakeasy Tunnel for a trip sometime with my husband.

I purchased the electronic version of the book to make it easy to transport and read in dim light as well. The table of contents is not clickable, but the pages are well outlined and easy to find in the slide bar. The book includes a few volumes of interest for further reading in the back. Highly recommended for the history lover even just for fun reading, and a fun virtual tour around Minnesota even if you only dream of traveling there. Great resource for planning a trip. Includes as much contact information as possible with each site.

About the Author

Doris Green follows her curiosity about topics such as education, genealogy, and the natural environment, writing for local, regional, and national publications. This diversity sometimes leads to insights not found in more focused approaches. She launched Wisconsin Community Banker magazine with the former Community Bankers of Wisconsin and was a communications specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She previously served as a publisher at Magna Publications. Green holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education and a master’s degree from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She lives with her husband, Michael H. Knight, and three distracting cats in a log home near Spring Green, Wisconsin.

debut crime fiction from Jim Jordan

 

Men of God

JP Jordan

Crime mystery thriller

Orange Hat publishing

September, 2020

Ebook $

Print $18.95 paperback; $29.99 hardcover

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About the Book

Having reluctantly accepted a job from family friend and CEO Emil Swenson, former pararescueman Nick Hayden quickly transitions from rescuing soldiers in Afghanistan to desk jockeying at Weston, a Wisconsin-based insurance company. He’s tasked with closing a failing division responsible for insuring religious institutions, but recent investigations surrounding the murder of a formerly insured priest, a known pedophile, leave Nick feeling suspicious.

Without any leads except a cryptic letter found at the crime scene, the case quickly goes cold, but another murder of a previously insured religious leader leads Nick to a chilling realization: a serial killer is on the hunt. When more obscure messages lead him to believe the next target has been chosen, the race to stop the ruthless killer begins. 

A Brief Interview with the Author

Jim, what do you love about your book?

I really enjoyed the research process for writing Men of God. I was fortunate to pick the brains of several experts from numerous disciplines including the military, law enforcement, and the legal arena. When I needed additional background material, I loved the challenge of finding it on the internet. It was a fun exercise take the expert material and weave it into an interesting storyline. I’m proud of the final product and pleased with the response I’ve gotten from readers.  

Tell us a little about your journey to publication?

My journey to publication started years ago with a rough idea for a book over a bottle of wine at the dinner table with my wife. I had always wanted to write a fiction novel and tossed out the premise of a serial killer hunting down clergy. At the time, I was working full-time and wanted to spend time with my family, so the idea of writing a book went to the back burner. However, that initial thought never went away.

When I retired, I decided to pursue my dream and made writing a priority. In my head, I developed a research plan, found experts, and got to the point that I felt ready, thinking the book would flow directly from my brain through my fingers onto the written page. I remember sitting in front of my laptop realizing I still needed characters, background information, and a storyline. So, after a couple of weeks of making little progress, I decided to type the initial draft of the prologue and presented it to my wife. While we had talked about a book many times, she liked the first pages and told me she was surprised I could write so well.

I began writing in earnest, completing the initial draft of the book in about a year. I often joked with friends that writing the book was the easy part of the process. Getting to publication took much longer than I thought. Writing query letters, getting rejections and/or silence from publishers was frustrating. But I kept learning my craft by attending workshops and conferences, while also learning the ins and outs of a new business.

More than a year later, I pitched Shannon Ishizaki from Orange Hat at a Wisconsin-based writers conference. After sending her the first few chapters, it turned out she was interested and I signed a contract. Then the learning curve got steeper as I went through the editing process and made all the decisions required to print a book and support it with marketing. I don’t think anyone fully gauged the effect of Covid on the publishing world. After all the work, the printing process was delayed and many of the traditional marketing techniques to launch the book were off the table. However, with the support of the Orange Hat team, my dream became a reality.

Introduce us to your main villain.

With Men of God being a mystery thriller, I can’t divulge that information. Suffice it to say that there are many twists and turns as you come down the stretch with the book that will hopefully keep readers engaged and surprised.

What do you hope readers will tell other book lovers?

That they were both engrossed and entertained by Men of God right down to the final page. Also, that the characters evoked some emotional reaction one way or the other.

What are you reading now?

Brad Thor’s Near Dark is at the top of my list. However, I’m also working through a series of short stories in Stephen King’s Different Seasons. Also, as a Rush fan, Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book of Bass is on my reading table.

What’s next for you?

I’ve written a second novel (and a third) featuring a second level character from Men of God. In the follow-up book, Detective Chuck Nowitzke and his partner, Anissa Taylor, are tasked to investigate a series of jewelry thefts that take place largely in Wisconsin. Nowitzke and Anissa are also the protagonists in the third book.

About the Author  J. P. Jordan    

After completing his career as an insurance management professional, Jim’s creative focus is now on writing mystery fiction novels. Men of God is his first effort in this genre. Jim currently resides in Sister Bay with his wife, Nancy.