New poetry Aging in Place by Lynn Aprill

Aging in Place

Lynn Aprill
Water's Edge Press LLC (April 15, 2025)
Poetry‎40 pages

ISBN-13: ‎978-1-952526-25-1‎

Print $12

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Upon retirement, find them, become them

Those women who have time to go to the Y during the day, the poet says…those women are just finding their new place in life after age sixty, which feels like the new forty in Lynn Aprill’s latest book of clever, poignant, frank verse. It’s our job to jump in the deep end of aging and sink or swim.

Aprill uses form with relish, a zuihitsu checklist of the things we all have forgotten at one time or another; often multiple times during the day. I thought I lost my passport the other day and spent a half hour cleaning out old files anyway. In a sijo, we inhale the aroma of new grandson; in villanelle, the gradual realization that the everywhere of another’s discomfort, of pain, is now ours. It hurts everywhere, our shared nightmare. Couplets, three-line and five-line stanzas, glorious freeform, the poems are uncompromising in their poke at life, hazy memories fragmenting, the thought of what we once enjoyed, the drama of what we’re becoming.

Written in two segments with an epilogue poem, Aprill gradually guides us toward reconciliation with dreams of the house we hold until we die, the habits of a lifetime of ordering a suit every year, of visiting familiar places; the ravages of stroke, dementia, rehab we always hope is temporary. A favorite is a Boomer Pitch for a popular television reality show in which the reality is not just growing food, but preparing, preserving, herding it…while taking care of yard and the prize spouse.

A final thought in For My Daughter is a pause for all of us—how will I age? What will I remember…and forget?

Aging in Place is a thoughtful, beautifully drawn picture of who we are, will be, and once were.
Poetry lovers will return to read these poems over and over.

The Breakfast Jury by Kenneth B Humprey

 

The Breakfast Jury

Kenneth B Humphrey
https://www.kenhumphrey.com/ 
January 17, 2024 by Wheatland House Publishing, 483 pages
 
Paper $14.99
Ebook $7.00
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About the Book

In 1999, a jury of misfits is thrust into the case of the century. A man stands accused of poisoning his wife with antifreeze and they are charged to deliver judgment. During the longest trial in state history, they unwittingly form bonds stronger than anyone could have predicted and come to realize their differences are not so great after all. One year later, a reunion turns deadly when they fall victim to poison. Is this targeted retribution for their verdict or simply forewarning of something darker to come? Enter disgraced detective Aramis "Arch" White and his penchant for finding trouble. As he digs into the shadows, skepticism plays a third wheel, blurring the line between duty and vendetta. Can he unmask the puppeteer orchestrating this retribution tango? The clock is ticking and as time winds down he finds that vengeance possesses a wicked sense of irony.

My Review

        This is a fast-paced who-dun-it set in turn-of-the-century (twenty-first, that is) Wisconsin, bouncing between a criminal murder trial and some of the aftermath a year later. Humphrey’s main protagonist, Arch White, returns in a quest to redeem himself after his police career bottoms out. A friendly referral that was supposed to be a pat on the back turns into a serious case when Arch untangles threads that lead back to a jury of the murder trial, and apparently the members of the jury are now targets of a copycat killer.

Peeling back the evidence through flashes between the trial in 1999 and the case Arch is investigating, the reader slowly sees the suspects, means, and motive coming into play. The action was twisty enough that, although I followed the trail, I’d read the story again because there were so many moving parts and people that I’d see something new each time I read it. Skillfully played with a wide cast, detailed and nuanced in all the right placed, The Breakfast Jury is a fun read. The title is a riff on the high school comedy which is mentioned frequently. Those who enjoy detective stories with some humor and parallel action between near past and present will enjoy The Breakfast Jury. I’m also checking out Arch White in the previous series.

About the Author

My story really isn't all that different than other writers. I grew up loving books. I spent a lot of time daydreaming. I wondered how everyone else in class seemed to know what to do when I didn't even remember the teacher saying anything. 

And there were many voices in my head.

Apparently, I also lean to the left when taking pictures.

Book Review of Vector to Destiny

 

Vector to Destiny: Journey of a Vietnam F-4 Fighter Pilot, George W. Kohn

Memoir, 254 pages

2020, Koehlerbooks

Reviewed by Jack Kruse, sub_hunter_p3@yahoo.com for Wisconsin Writers Association

In his teens George Kohn dreamt of becoming a fighter pilot. He suspected the dream resulted from watching B-58 Hustlers passing over his father’s farm dragging their sonic booms behind them. By his own admission, he built a mountain range of obstacles between himself and his goal, starting with poor grades in High School and no college preparatory work.

His story of working his way through those obstacles (college, ROTC, flight physical, flight training, qualifying as the GIB—guy in back—of an F-4 Phantom) become a story of determination and sacrifice. These characteristics defined him throughout his life.

His arrival at Da Nang Air Force Base, and his year of wartime flights over Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, puts the reader in the back seat with him. In one instance he recounted a bomb run on enemy troops in a mountain valley. The Forward Air Controller marked the target and gave them a heading to the target up the valley and into a mountain.

“The A/C pickled the bombs on my command and started a pull up. However, we had miscalculated how fast we closed on the rapidly approaching mountain ahead of us. It appeared that we hit some trees.”

“After we got back to Da Nang, the crew chief and I walked around our airplane and pulled some twigs out of our pylons.”

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Vietnam War, use of aircraft in combat, or the inspiring story of a young man overcoming all obstacles in the realization of his dreams.

***

Reviewer LCDR Jack Kruse USNR (Ret.) qualified as a Patrol Plane Navigator, and Airborne Anti-submarine Warfare Tactical Coordinator in Patrol Squadron 22 from 1976-1979, and, in the Naval Reserve Patrol Squadron 60 from 1982 – 1994.

As a life-long student of warfare through the ages, specializing in the use of aircraft in combat he has written numerous short stories and three novels. His current work in progress focuses on women fighter pilots flying in combat for the Soviet Union against the Nazi German forces. This novel is inspired by the true stories of these valiant women. His story “Night Witches,” published in the UWWC literary magazine, Pyrite, Spring, 2016, won him the Regina V. Diamanti Prize. His blog may be found at jackkrusewriter.net. 

Waters of the Dancing Sky, a love story

"There is a land of the living and a land of the dead, and the bridge is love - the only survival, the only meaning." Thornton Wilder

About the Book: Sometimes you must tiptoe across that bridge linking this world with the next. Sometimes, it is the only way to put the twisted pieces of one's life back together again.

Beth Calhoun is a middle-aged woman haunted by a tragic past - the drowning death of her young mother, the shame of having no father. Escaping from an abusive marriage, she retreats to her family's wilderness island home on Rainy Lake along the Minnesota/Ontario international border. Here she embarks upon a journey of self-discovery that flows through a series of wilderness adventures, past and present. As she delves into her mother's old diaries, she discovers long-held family secrets including the identity of her mysterious father. Spirits of the past emerge as she struggles through a complex web of emotions and shifting relationships. Can she forgive and put the past behind her? Can she learn to trust and to love again?

Waters of the Dancing Sky is an inspirational love story, an intriguing blend of fact and fantasy that weaves an appreciation of nature and local Ojibwe culture into mankind's eternal search for meaning.

About the Author: Janet Kay lives and writes on a lake in the North Woods of Wascott, Wisconsin. Drawn to nature since she was a child, she sees it wonders as a source of renewal, reflection, and connection with something greater than oneself. Her lifelong passions include creative writing, photography, travel, and spending time with family.

Waters of the Dancing Sky is her debut novel. It has earned excellent reviews and a 5-star rating on Amazon.com. It is available for $16.95 through her publisher, Llumina Press, via her website; Amazon.com; Barnes & Noble; Ingram; Baker & Taylor; and many bookstores. E-books are also available for $5.95 through Smashwords, Kindle, Nook, Apple, Diesel, Sony, and Kobo.

For more information, check out her website. It includes her blog, Janet Kay's Journey, a photo gallery, and opportunities to enter her promotional contest.

She is currently working on her next novel, tentatively titled Amelia 1868. It will be set in the antique country town of Walnut, Iowa and the old western ghost town of Virginia City, Montana. A sequel to Waters is also in the works, based upon numerous requests from readers.

What Others Are Saying About the Book:

"An elegantly told story filled with twists and turns, pain and tenderness, conflict and resolution. Touched by spirits of Native Americans long passed from this world, emboldened by the majesty of the North Woods, this is a story about the universality of life - a book about the magic of the human spirit and the often wisp-like will of the humann mind. Highly recommended reading for lovers of life everywhere." Don Bacue, Executive Editor, International Features Syndicate

"All great storytelling is about love, death, and birth. This book transported me into Beth's world, making me feel its mysterious magic and stark reality. Not since Tolkien's Trilogy have I fallen into a book so completely." Gary Hetts, Member of St. Croix Writers, Solon Springs, WI

"The hero seeking light in the fog of an unsettled past, in the swirl of a disturbing present, and finding courage to embrace the unknown future...all elements of a true mythic story. Waters of the Dancing Sky is a soul journey that unfolds like a plot of a Hallmark Channel movie." Frank Zufall, Spooner Advocate

"...a true communion of place, character, and plot. Waters of the Dancing Sky is a complete vision, one with reverberating depths and serious surprises." Laura Kasischke, author of The Life Before Her Eyes