![]() But as they get closer to prying out the murderer's identity, Shannon is viciously attacked. Shannon is happy to put her rotten date behind her, but when Jerry's found dead in a run-down Victorian home that she's been hired to restore, the town's attractive new police chief suspects that her threats may have laid the foundation for murder.ĭetermined to clear her name, Shannon conducts her own investigation-with the help of her four best friends, her eccentric father, a nosy neighbor or two, and a handsome crime writer who's just moved to town. ![]() On a blind date with real estate agent Jerry Saxton, she has to whip out a pair of pliers to keep Jerry from getting too hands on. Shannon's home-renovation and repair business is booming, but her love life needs work. But while Shannon can do wonders with a power drill and a little elbow grease, she's about to discover that some problems aren't so easily fixed. ![]() In the seaside town of Lighthouse Cove in northern California, everyone knows the best man for the job is actually a woman-contractor Shannon Hammer. This Description may be from another edition of this product. ![]()
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![]() ![]() "With The First Bad Man, Miranda July provides an audaciously original, often hilarious map of the ever-expanding reach of unhinged imagination in America. Lena Dunham, author of Not That Kind of Girl Never has a novel spoken so deeply to my sexuality, my spirituality, my secret self. By the time July tackles motherhood, the book has become a bible. Writing in the first person with the frank, odd lilt of an utterly truthful character, she will make you laugh, cringe and recognize yourself in a woman you never planned to be. ![]() "Miranda July's ability to pervert norms while embracing what makes us normal is astounding. ![]() With it, the esteemed artist and filmmaker joins the front rank of young American novelists-and then surpasses them." "Miranda July's first novel announces something new, not only in its invention, characterization, and pace, but emotional truth. George Saunders, author of Tenth of December If I ever start to doubt the power of language and intelligence, I only have to read a few lines of July to have my faith restored." ![]() Hers is smart, funny, twisted, vulnerable, humane, and reassuring: a dazzling human consciousness speaking frankly and fondly and directly to you. "July's work reminds us that the essential storytelling tool is voice. ![]() ![]() I never lived with them, but the memories of my interactions with them color this story. Whether or not that was as “sheltered” as they assumed is another story entirely! My parents had plenty of siblings and I knew my great-grandparents and great aunts and uncles as a child. My parents wanted me to have a safe and sheltered education, so I spent high school at a Christian boarding school. One of the best things about writing fiction is the freedom to make everything up! Which is to say while my parents still live in the same house we moved to when I was five, I do share the experience of having left home for school. 1 - What was your upbringing like? Do you share similar experiences as Madalyn? She grew up in California and was so chatty as a kid that her mother begged her to “just write it down.” Now she’s back in California, doing her best to keep writing it all down. ![]() Davis is the award-winning author of six novels for middle grade and young adult readers, including Serena Says, Peas and Carrots, Happy Families, and Mare’s War, which was a Coretta Scott King Award Honor book and earned her a nomination for the NAACP Image Award. ![]() ![]() ![]() Nonetheless, our government still intends to treat the Talented favorably, just as we always have. "The ‘norms’-a term that is gaining popularity-regard all Talented as a threat they aren’t able to distinguish between natural-born Talents and the chaos-loving Created. ![]() The American people are wary of the Talented these days, Ian continued. Several of the UNITED council members nodded in agreement. I’m sure all of you have seen a similar impact in your own, Ian stated. The combined effects of the battle against TOXIC and the introduction of Created talents have altered the political climate in my country. Delegates from each member country were gathered around an expansive conference table, either physically or via hologram, for the impromptu meeting. The American representative to the UNITED council ignored Amberly’s snide remark, addressing the rest of the assembly instead. I would think a country the size of yours could welcome more. ![]() Oh, is that all? Amberly Azevedo, the Portuguese councilwoman, asked dryly. The United States can accommodate ten thousand of the refugees, Ian Crane declared. Prologue Isle of Exile Four Days Before the Vote ![]() ![]() ![]() After years of living a simple life in Caldwell with her family, Mae lost her parents, and then her brother. The full powers of this Book aren’t yet clear, but it’s definitely magical and somewhat animate, as it is able to lure unsuspecting people toward it for unknown nefarious purposes.Įnter Mae, a quiet and unassuming vampire who has decided to go after the Book in hopes of using it to resurrect her brother. Most of the story seems to focus around the new danger facing the vampires – which I’ll call the Book of Unspecified Evil (but which is usually just referred to as “the Book”.) Since they killed off their old nemesis, the Omega, the universe decided to bring them a new one (to maintain the balance between good and evil and give the reader a good story). ![]() ![]() As with many of the later books in the series, it continues ongoing storylines and assumes a base level of knowledge about the fantasy world, so shouldn’t be read as a standalone. Fans of the series will recognize the usual setup of insta-love between two strangers set against the backdrop of a new danger facing the vampire race. ![]() I’ve been half-heartedly following the Black Dagger Brotherhood series for the last few years, and Lover Unveiled is a perfect example of why. ![]() ![]() ![]() They spark the thought experiments that generate award-winning novellas like “The Lifecycle of Software Objects,” and inspire Hollywood movies like “Arrival.”Ĭhiang’s soulful short stories have earned him kudos from the likes of The New Yorker, which has called him “one of the most influential science-fiction writers of his generation.” During this year’s pandemic-plagued summer, he joined the Museum of Pop Culture’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Ted Chiang, a science-fiction author of growing renown with long-lasting connections to Seattle’s tech community, doesn’t back away from such questions. What rights does a robot have? If our machines become intelligent in the science-fiction way, that’s likely to become a complicated question - and the humans who nurture those robots just might take their side. (Alan Berner Photo via Knopf Doubleday Publicity) ![]() The story of Ted Chiang’s life includes stints as a technical writer in the Seattle area and worldwide acclaim as a science-fiction writer. ![]() ![]() ![]() What role do others or external circumstances also play in this?.What do you contribute to creativity with your own personality, your own abilities, your own character and history, and your own imprints?.How do you produce (good and bad) results?.How do you direct the creative process? What exactly matters?.Twyla Tharp explains in her book what this means: And bring corresponding habits into the day. If you want to take creativity seriously, you will accept and consider it as part of your professional and/or private life. So too Twyla Tharp, choreographer by profession. At least that is what all reputable experts in this field say. In other words: work.įirst and foremost, work on and with oneself. Creativity, like so many things – sorry people – is simply: practicing and doing. Apart from that, there is little truth in the myth of creative genius. …a certain amount of talent should be helpful in doing creative work. Innate or somehow genetically predisposed. ![]() ![]() That creativity is at least a rare talent. “Doing is better than not doing, and if you do something badly you’ll learn to do it better.” (Twyla Tharp)Įspecially in this country, we tend to believe in genius. ![]() ![]() ![]() Jack abused Ada, finally deserting her and their surviving son, Bennet. The Blackjacks had three children, only one of whom survived infancy. She married Jack Blackjack, a former hunter and dogsled driver, at age 16 and moved to the Seward Peninsula. ![]() She was raised by missionaries who taught her to read English and sew. Ada's father died of food poisoning when she was eight years old, and her mother sent her and her sister, Rita, to a Methodist mission school in Nome, Alaska. Ada Blackjack ( née Delutuk – May 29, 1983) was an Iñupiat woman who lived for two years as a castaway on the uninhabited Wrangel Island, north of Siberia.Īda Blackjack Johnson was born in the remote settlement of Spruce Creek, eight miles from Solomon, Alaska. ![]() ![]() Also, please note: because the length of the essays I’m writing for this first book are quite long, I’ve divided them up and have slightly changed the publishing schedule.ġ1 March: Preface and Introduction (one essay)ġ2 March: Chapter One ( All The World Needs A Jolt )ġ8 March: Chapter Two ( The Accumulation of Labor and the Degradation of WomenĢ5 March: Chapter Three ( The Great Caliban )ġ April: Chapter Four ( The Great Witch-Hunt in Europe)Ĩ April: Chapter Five (Colonization and Christianity )Īlso, please consider commenting after reading this essay and others in the series. ![]() ![]() I’ve created a new section on From The Forests of Arduinna specifically for essays that are part of our book club readings. This is the first of a series of essays written for an open book club on Silvia Federici’s profound book, Caliban & The Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation. ![]() ![]() ![]() She would remember these things and hold them close to her like talismans against the onslaught of darkness. ![]() ‘’She’d look back on that night and remember the feel of her Husband’s arms around her, the sound of his voice in the gloom. Just to point out there was a brilliant paragraph at the end of one of the ‘happier’ earlier chapters where you think yep, these two are cute and it might all be ok, then JJ swoops in and dashes all of that in an instant. ![]() I felt like I was there and know what the house and land look like in my mind even after finishing the book. As always Janz’s imagery was excellent, from the run-down house, the stream, bridge and clearings to the creepy woods that envelope Chris and Ellie. The setting is perfect for a Demonic Cult tale, Chris and Ellie have inherited his late Aunt Lilith’s estate, the house is old and is surrounded by forestland. I’ve come to the conclusion that you are always in for a treat with a Jonathan Janz book, I invariably look forward to getting stuck into one of his Novels, The Darkest Lullaby was no exception to the rule. Order a copy from Flame Tree Publishing directly or via Amazon. ![]() |