Release Day for new collection of WI Short Stories

Red Road Redemption: Stories from the Heart of Wisconsin

PJA Fullerton

WWA Press, April 25, 2023

Fiction, short stories

258 pp

Paper, Hardcover, Ebook

Buy on Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Kobo

The days of small family farm life in rural America are quickly fading to memory. Story-tellers like PJA Fullerton mean to keep them alive. The iconic red gravel roads of Marathon County lead past idyllic farms and fields, across tall rolling hills and through forests of majestic white pines and ancient maples. RED ROAD REDEMPTION: COUNTRY TALES FROM THE HEART OF WISCONSIN is an unforgettable collection of short stories filled with haunting characters, both human and animal, overflowing with thought-provoking drama, humor, and nostalgia. Take an unquiet walk in the woods, peer through a poignant lens at disappearing family farms, all seasoned with triumph and tragedy. Encounter the Unseen Menace, the Old Grey Mare, and a distinctive terrier named Dickens. Meet the Forest Witch, grieve in the hay loft of a magnificent barn.

These stories are about the lives lived beside those roads that connect, but can also divide neighbors, and for some, can become rare paths leading to the redemption of dignity and spirit. “Sometimes clever, sometimes heartbreaking, but always lyrical,” Maggie Smith, author of Truth and Other Lies says, “Fullerton’s stories explore the intricacies of the human heart as her characters cope with the challenges life brings their way in the often-neglected rural settings of the vast Midwest. She writes with an honesty, empathy, and grace that will engage your intellect at the same time it touches your soul.”

AUTHOR: PAMELA FULLERTON is the middle sibling in a family of fifteen P.K.s (Preacher’s Kids). She began her advanced education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison at age fifteen and eventually secured a law degree. She pursued careers in education in a juvenile prison and Administrative Law after youthful stints as a stock car driver and Go-Go dancer. She is co-producer of the documentary “Honor in the Air,” about the life of an unsung American and Wisconsin Vietnam Era military hero. Fullerton lives on her farm near Wausau where she breeds and trains Arabian and Thoroughbred performance and endurance racehorses.

Write on the River May 11-13 Fort Atkinson

 

Write on the River

Members of the community and visitors alike are invited to “Write on the River” and take part in other poetry- and writing-themed events in May, in honor of famed objectivist poet Lorine Niedecker’s 120th birthday.

The Hoard Historical Museum, Dwight Foster Public Library, Friends of Lorine Niedecker organization, Café Carpe, and Fort Atkinson Area Chamber of Commerce’s tourism department have all worked together to create a multi-day event from May 11-13, 2023.

The Write on the River portion of the event spans May 11-13. This is a self-guided event, encouraging people to settle in with lawn chairs or blankets on the banks of the Rock River in Fort Atkinson, and write the poetry, novel, or memoir they’ve been dreaming of writing but haven’t had time. Get “caught writing” from May 11-13 and you may receive a Write on the River sticker, decal, or t-shirt!

Throughout this event, folks are encouraged to take selfies using Niedecker’s poetry murals as backdrops and tag them using the #fortpoetry and #fortselfie.

There are also opportunities for writers to network with and meet other writers. On Wednesday, May 10 and Thursday, May 11, from 7:00-8:00 pm County Inn and Suites (1650 Doris Dr, Fort Atkinson) will have a staffed bar and be ready to host visiting and local writers and poetry enthusiasts.

On Saturday, May 13, street poet Paul Wiegel will be at the Fort Farmers Market with his typewriter ready, creating poetry based on market goers' requests. Donations accepted as payment. Also happening at the farmer's market: authors will be selling their books alongside produce and craft vendors and kids will be creating sidewalk chalk poems.

Related Events Taking Place Around Town on May 13

Happening at the Hoard Historical Museum:

9:30 am: Pedaling and Poems guided bicycle tour with Museum Director Merrilee Lee, taking riders past places that were relevant to poet Lorine Niedecker: https://www.facebook.com/events/892135768511227  

2:00 pm: Poetry reading and talk by Lauren Carlson, recipient of the Friends of Lorine Niedecker Fellowship. Lauren will be speaking about her experience as the first FOLN Fellow, her influence by Lorine Niedecker and her relationship to her own poetry. This presentation will be for those interested in poetry, their own or others, Lorine Niedecker and what it means to be a poet. (2:00 at the museum) Free.

Additional activities between 10:00-4:00: A “Women Authors from Fort Atkinson” exhibit; Our own poetry wall (think magnetic poetry but not on a fridge); Museum-wide Lorine scavenger hunt; Poetry from our 4th graders on display. We have a cooperative unit with the School District in which students write poetry in Lorine’s style while learning about her life. That poetry will be on display through the summer.; If the weather cooperates, we will also have chalk poetry on our sidewalks.

Related events happening at the Dwight Foster Public Library:

Visit the Dwight Foster Public Library at 11:00 to hear poetry and thoughts on the creative process from current Wisconsin Poet Laureate and Fort Atkinson resident, Nicholas Gulig. Free. No registration necessary; drop in.

Related events happening at Café Carpe:

In the evening, visit Cafe Carpe from 6:00 to 7:00 pm for a free poetry reading. Folks who participated in Write on the River are encouraged to share their writing or any poem they enjoy at this event. No pressure, of course! All are welcome to just stop in and enjoy the show if they aren't interested in taking part. There will be a sign-up sheet at the Carpe at 5:00 before the reading. The Carpe will be open for dinner; if possible, please call for reservations. 920-563-9391.

The second event takes places from 8:00 to 9:00 pm: Michael Hecht will read excerpts from literature, and Bill Camplin will perform a song between each excerpt. Readings will be from Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee , as well as The Great Gatsby, Winnie the Pooh, and poetry by Whitman and 2-3 other poets.

Learn more or purchase tickets ($12) at: https://cafecarpe.com/event/michael-hecht-bill-camplin/

For more details about related events happening in Fort Atkinson from May 11-13, visit: https://explorefortatkinson.com/write-on-the-river

Review of Resist by Margot McMahon

 

Resist! A Visual History of Protest
Margot McMahon
Memoir, 50 pp
December 13, 2022, Aquarius Press LLC
16.99 print

Buy on:
Barnesand Noble
Bookshop
Amazon


About the Book:
Resist: A Visual History is the true story of the later years of Franklin McMahon, artist-reporter for many powerful moments in U.S. History, from the Emmett Till Trial to the Apollo missions. McMahon was a WWII Army Air Corps veteran and former prisoner of war in Germany who made it back home to Chicago to his sweetheart Irene. McMahon became an award-winning presidential artist, among numerous additional honors. This book is the final in a series by Franklin's daughter, Margot McMahon. This book is part of the RESIST! exhibitions in museums nationwide.


My Review:
“Stop examining your belly button…get out there and make a change!” was William Franklin “Mac” McMahon’s lasting advice to all of us. Mac’s daughter, sculpturer Margot McMahon, devotedly shares decades of his work to make a difference in social justice across our world.

Through these short pages, Margot portrays her father as a POW in WWII, a family man, a reporter and an artist who became dedicated to the cause of creating a better society. The book opens as Mac is taken prisoner in Germany during his Army Air Corps service in World War II, missing one boot. Margot shares the story of his resolve to say nothing during the frequent interrogations. With his imagination to keep him company, Mac spent time “mind drawing” his surroundings: “ Insights into gestures and expressions kept him observing intently. The drawing gave a purpose to this unearthly hell.” Later in Stalag III he was able to draw with donated YMCA art supplies and was even able to send ideas for cartoons back to a Chicago magazine. He also met Tuskegee Airmen survivors.

We move next to the 1950s where McMahon has press credentials from Life Magazine as a reporter and cartoonist/artist. He’s in Mississippi to cover the Emmett Till trial, with copy and art. Mac’s daughter recounts her father’s emotions and doodles during the brief atrocity dangerously called a trial. A brief sentence sums up the disposition of the community: At the coffee shop door they (reporters) were surrounded, closely, by a few white male citizens, “You Northerners go back home and leave us Sumner folks alone.”

That trial and article showed McMahon “that art could effectuate social change.” In the next decade, the author takes her place around the family table, as seventh of nine children, growing up the 1960s. Conversation was lively with her journalist father and Irene, her mother, who was also an author. The turbulence of social justice protests during this time—women’s rights, worker’s rights, racial justice, gay rights, all were freely discussed. The McMahons encouraged the family to learn about world news, raise questions about politics and culture, all spurring Margaret to use her talent and carry on speaking out for change of inward and small-thinking injustices around the world. Franklin McMahon continued to capture the times in his art, and with his wife Irene, created award-winning films.

In 1995, at the age of seventy-five, McMahon participated in the Million Man march at the National Mall in Washington D.C. to protest systemic racism and call for revitalization of communities of color. Franklin McMahon passed in 2012 at the age of 90, having left a legacy of encouragement toward social justice. In his eulogy, Margot said, “With his art, he illumed awareness to nudge the world in a fairer direction, watched the change erase justice with presidential strokes of a pen and captured the protests again as people took to the streets with handmade signs to express their rights and wrongs.”

This powerful short book is filled with the late McMahon’s art and advice, the story of what it’s like to fight for a change both on the world stage and in our own neighborhoods. The book a good read for discussion; it’s an actionable book for families, for book clubs, and anyone who wants to see conscionable shifts in action and learn where to take a stand themselves.

 
About the Author:
A lifelong environmentalist, internationally-awarded Margot McMahon sculpts, writes, and paints human, plant, and animal forms to say, through art, her hope that decisions be made to support life on earth. Margot earned an MFA from Yale University then taught sculpture and drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, DePaul University and Yale University’s Norfolk Summer School as well as Oak Park's District 97. Margot has created documentary movies to explain and share the insights she has gained from her background and explorations in art. Cinema Guild in New York City represents her videos. https://www.margotmcmahon.com/

**This review originally appeared at wiwrite.org

Wisconsin Olympic Athlete Memoir Gwen Jorgensen

 

Gwen Jorgensen, USA’s First Gold Medal Triathlete

by Gwen Jorgensen, Elizabeth Jorgensen, Nancy Jorgensen

Young Reader Memoir, 175 pp

October, 2022, Meyer & Meyer Sport (UK) Ltd.

paperback, $16.95

Buy on Amazon

 This memoir of USA Olympic Triathlete from Wisconsin, Gwen Jorgensen, is a lovely book geared toward young readers, encouraging them to reach for their dreams. Gwen competed in triathlon in the 2012 Olympics in London and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The book is an account of her years of training, and overcoming challenges to become a professional athlete on her way to the world stage and a gold medal.

Gwen had big dreams of being an Olympian as a child, working hard to become a competitive swimmer. She learned about swim meets through school, and her parents supported swim lessons at a local high school. There she met friends who encouraged each other at practices and in competitions.

Eventually she earned a walk-on collegiate swimming spot at UW-Madison, added running to her repertoire, and then finally when learning about the triathlon, bicycling. She met her husband while training for triathlon events and competing in Europe, Mexico, Canada, Japan, and Australia. The book intertwines her preparations for Rio with elementary years, upper grades and college. Along the way she dealt with bone breaks and fractures and other lessons of difficult training situations, including heartbreaking setbacks and losses. Gwen shares what it was like to prepare for the triathlon in Rio, from packing for the journey with her husband, to what each moment of the journey, of being in Brazil, including recipes for healthy meals, such as her overnight oatmeal. 

A personal letter from Gwen which includes an invitation to engage with young readers who can post their goals on her social media pages sets the stage. Tips and lessons, such as how to learn swim strokes, self-advice about patience and dedication, personal essays, and excerpts from newsclips.

The book is nicely laid out and easy to read, embellished with art work, personal quotes, and numerous photos, giving it a scrapbook feel. The book also includes goal-setting advice and a worksheet. Gwen Jorgensen is a positive, encouraging read and would make a wonderful gift for the young reader in your life.

Debut novel for dystopian fans

 

Tiny Tin House

Futuristic Fantasy

Debut Novel

paper, $17.99

Hardcover, $34.99

ebook, $7.99

Buy on Barnes and Noble

Amazon

In the Christian States of America, a woman's place is with a man. No exceptions.

Although she's legally an adult, eighteen-year-old Meryn Flint must live at home until her stepfather, Ray, finds her a husband. That's the law.

But when Ray kills her mother and Meryn must flee for her own safety, she quickly discovers there's no safe place in the CSA for a woman on the run. Unless she's willing to marry her former boyfriend-a man who's already demonstrated his capacity for violence-she'll be forced to live on the street. And that's a dangerous option for a woman alone.

As time runs out, Meryn is offered a third path: build herself a tiny house, a safe place to call home. Even though it's a violation of her Family Duty as well as every moral law on the books, Meryn seizes the chance.

But even a tiny tin house might not be enough to save her . . .

______

Author, L Maristatter,has published poetry in Songbirds Southwest and fiction in The Saturday Evening Post.

Crossing the Pressure Line by Laura Anne Bird

 

Crossing the Pressure Line

Laura Anne Bird

Middle grade fiction, 243 pages

Orange Hat Publishing, March 1, 2022

$14.95 paper

$6.99 ebook

Buy on Amazon 

Barnes and Noble 

Kobo 

About the Book:

Twelve-year-old Clare Burch has just lost the person she loves most in the world. She wonders if her feelings of sorrow and self-blame over her grandfather’s death will ever go away.

Out of the blue, a special request sends Clare on a journey from her home in Chicago to the Northwoods of Wisconsin. She knows that she must honor Grandpa Anthony’s last wishes, even though they completely upend her summertime plans.  

Clare heads to rural Alwyn with her little blind dog and a duffel bag full of worries. What will she do without her best friends and swim team? Who will take her fishing and spoil her with candy now that her grandfather is gone? And most important, is she strong enough to let him go, forever?

During her summer up north, Clare stumbles upon the answers to her many questions. Even more, as she makes peace with why she couldn’t save Grandpa Anthony, she ends up rescuing someone else from danger.

Above all, Clare learns to listen to the courageous voice inside—and discovers just how tough she really is. 

My Review

Twelve, going on thirteen-year-old Clare is part of Grandpa Anthony’s last pet project—getting his girls to just get along better. Grandpa’s will has two surprising directives, neither of which sounds like any fun, especially not when both Mom and Grandma can’t even agree on what to pack for a summer exiled up north at Grandpa’s favorite place in the world.

“No friends, no swim team, no you, and a mom and grandmother who are experts at arguing.”

But a little voice inside of her says, “Just make it work, Clare Burch.”

It’s a summer of revelation as Clare makes goals, and works to achieve them. She keeps up with her friends at home, makes new friends who have surprising international backgrounds but aren’t really much different, keeps in shape by swimming in the lake, tries to reel in that elusive musky, and learns to drive. But when Grandma Lulu makes a devastating decision, it’s just one more hurdle to try to handle.

Revelations come in many forms; revelations of self-acceptance at any age or stage of life as Clare works to overcome survivor’s guilt and learn empathy, her mother works to accept her talents, and Grandma to accept her new life without her husband. The Burch family makes their mark in the late Grandpa Anthony’s hometown, but for how long? Anything can happen above the pressure line—where the air is more breathable and the stress of problems seem easier to resolve.

Middle grade, pre-teen girls will find much to enjoy about Clare’s eye-opening summer, where she learns to look past outside and recognize grief plays out in many forms. Just a note: keeping certain endangered or predatory bird feathers is illegal in Wisconsin, but if you want to know more about that, you’ll just have to read the book.

About the Author:

A Milwaukee native, Laura Anne Bird graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in English. She lives in Madison with her husband, three teenagers, and little dog. When she’s not reading, writing, or reviewing books, she loves to exercise and explore the outdoors. Crossing the Pressure Line is her first novel. You can find her on Instagram @laura_at_the_library. www.laurabirdbooks.com

Short quirky tales from Wendy Wimmer

 

Entry Level
Wendy Wimmer
Short story collection
Autumn House Press, August 24, 2022
190 pp
$12.49 ebook
$17.95 paper

Buy on Amazon 
Barnes and Noble 

About the Book
Tales of characters trying to find their way through the struggles of underemployment.

Wendy Wimmer’s debut short story collection, Entry Level, contains a range of characters who are trying to find, assert, or salvage their identities. These fifteen stories center around the experience of being underemployed—whether by circumstance, class, gender, race, or other prevailing factors—and the toll this takes on an individual. Wimmer pushes the boundaries of reality, creating stories that are funny, fantastic, and at times terrifying. Her characters undergo feats of endurance, heartbreak, and loneliness, all while trying to succeed in a world that so often undervalues them. From a young marine biologist suffering from imposter syndrome and a haunting to a bingo caller facing another brutal snowstorm and a creature that may or not be an angel, Wimmer’s characters are all confronting an oppressive universe that seemingly operates against them or is, at best, indifferent to them. These stories reflect on the difficulties of modern-day survival and remind us that piecing together a life demands both hope and resilience.

Entry Level was selected by Deesha Philyaw as the winner of the 2021 Autumn House Fiction Prize.

My Review

Many of these quirky and poignant tales were published in other venues before being collected into one powerful volume. How do we push ourselves out of a rut, out of our circumstances, out of our dreams and into reality…for that matter, what is reality? Wimmer works magic with language and character, posing thought-provoking what-ifs: what if we could get a do-over by going back in time? What if there was a magic pill that took control of the consequences of our choices? My favorite explores the origination of dreams in “Where She Went.”

The stories are told from different personas with different needs and wishes, different perspectives, but all wanting something elusive, and maybe unattainable. Wimmer easily into different genres, ages, life circumstances, telling ghost stories from a scientist’s point of view, life as a conjoined twin, a little girl, a bereaved widower. Each of the fifteen stories will speak to someone.

About the Author 

Wendy Wimmer is a writer living in Wisconsin. Her work has been published in Barrelhouse, Waxwing, Paper Darts, Believer, ANMLY, Per Contra, Blackbird, and others. She holds a PhD in English Literature with a Creative Dissertation from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and a Master of Arts in English Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.