On the challenges of being an editor, the balance between editing and
writing and what matters in writing today.
Peter Gelfan is the
kind of editor every writer wants. He has the courage to tell you everything
that's wrong with your work while also pointing you in the right direction. He's
also a writer, the author of Found Objects, an intriguing new novel about love, loss and acceptance that
showcases crisp, powerful writing while challenging our conventional views on
love. Finally, Peter is a great teacher. He always asks the right question, but
he'll never give you the answer. And that's how you develop good writing,
folks.
What's the best part
of your job as an editor? The worst?
The best part is reading the next draft of manuscript I’ve
edited and seeing that not only did the writer understand the problems I
brought up, but also solved them in a creative way that enhanced the rest of
the work. The worst is the rare occasion when the next draft isn't much better
and the problems remain unsolved and apparently not understood.
How do you balance
your job as an editor and your job as a writer? Are your best moments as an
editor really different from your best moments as a published author?
I find I have to do one or the other. I can’t write in the
mornings and edit in the afternoons. For that matter, I only edit one manuscript
at a time. The shift of gears takes up too much time and is frustrating.
The best moments of each are quite different. Writing, the
pleasure comes from dreaming up a great idea for the book and making it work
well, even better than expected. When editing, to some degree I have to set
aside my own creativity as a writer. If I don’t, it’s all too easy to take the
client’s idea, run away with it, and start rewriting the manuscript as my own—hey,
how about turning your old-man hero into a young woman and setting the novel in
modern-day Cleveland rather than Roman Carthage? So I have to always keep in
mind what the author wants, and come up with creative ways to deal with
whatever stands in his way.
Do you use an editor
when you write?
Yes, mostly in the early stages, when I want input on the
general idea, characters, and so on.
How did you come up
with the idea for Found Objects?
I could give you a raconteur-worthy explanation, but it
probably wouldn’t be true. I don’t know where story ideas come from. It’s like
falling in love, we have no idea why we fall for this person instead of that
one, but after we do, we come up with all sorts of handy reasons, both
plausible and not so.
The general question—why do people pair up romantically,
sexually, and domestically instead of coming to a more interesting and useful
configuration of three or four or more—has knocked around my brain since
puberty. But such arrangements rarely last long. How come? Even from close up,
or especially so, it’s hard to fathom. The question had prompted a couple of
starts earlier that never bore fruit, but then the central premise of Found Objects popped into being and
began to grow.
What are the most
common issues that you find when editing fantasy?
Some writers become so fascinated by the fantasy world they
have thought up that they think it’s their story, and so the novel consists
mostly of a guided tour. We get exotic lands, strange creatures, different
forms of magic, lots of special effects, intricately designed backstory, but too
often little real plot. In fantasy, it’s easy to forget that the world the
writer, godlike, has created is, in the universe of the novel, mere setting. In
fantasy, setting is often more important than in an earthbound novel, but it’s
still just a stage upon which a story of characters in conflict will unfold.
What matters in
writing today?
The same as always. Having something to say that could be of
value to someone else, and saying it well.
The novel is still evolving, and it’s hard if not impossible
to predict where it’s going. But I have a theory, not about where’s it’s headed
but why it continues to thrive in whatever form. A novel allows
and invites readers to live a life and even its death as if it were their own.
Humans may be the only creature that can learn from others’ experiences without
directly witnessing them. Stories expand a thousandfold the scope of our innate
self-education process of trial and error while avoiding its frequent real-life
consequences of injury, death, or wasted years. We absorb those lessons not as
dry information but as ersatz experience that, like real life, engages not only
the intellect but all our faculties. It’s easy to brush off fiction as
entertainment or artsy diversion, but in fact it’s a vital element in our personal
and cultural advancement.
Thank
you so much for sharing your insights with us, Peter. It's been a pleasure talking to you.
****
Peter Gelfan has been editing and ghostwriting both
fiction and nonfiction for the past 20 years. His clients range from beginners
to published and bestselling authors and celebrities. He also edits screenplays
and has sold two he wrote under his own name, one of which was produced and
recently released in France. His novelFound Objects was published
in May 2013.
Dora Machado is the award-winning
author of the epic fantasy Stonewiser series and her newest novel, The Curse Giver, available from Twilight
Times Books. She grew up in the Dominican Republic, where she developed a
fascination for writing and a taste for Merengue. After a lifetime of
straddling such compelling but different worlds, fantasy is a natural fit to
her stories. She lives in Florida with her indulgent husband and three very
opinionated cats.
When
she is not writing novels, Dora also writes features for Murder By Four, an
award-winning blog for people interested in reading and writing, and Savvy
Authors, where writers help writers.
This blog has been very popular for several years. Just look at our awards over in the sidebar. We've been going strong for a few years now. And what about the stats?
I just looked. As of today--well, my mouth fell open.
Amazing!
We have had over 233,000 views since we started way back when. And oh my, the number of posts, comments, links, and so on. It's mind-boggling.
So heartfelt thanks to all our fans and followers. Without you, this place would be a skeleton ship.
___________________________________________________
Kim Smith
http://www.kimsmithauthor.com
I'm pleased to share a great article on Point of View with you today from the award-winning author, Christine Amsden. Welcome back to MB4, Christine!
Aaron Lazar
www.lazarbooks.com
Mind Games (Cassie Scot
Book 3)
Beware your heart and soul…
Evan broke Cassie’s heart two months ago, and she still doesn’t know why. She throws herself into family, friends and her new job at the sheriff’s department, but nothing helps. The only thing that finally allows her heal and move on is the love of a new man, mind mage Matthew Blair. Cassie finds him…irresistible.
Matthew may also be the only one who can help keep the non-magical residents of Eagle Rock from going crazy over the murder of a beloved pastor’s wife. It looks like a sorcerer is to blame, but while Cassie tries to figure out who, others take matters into their own hands. With tensions running so hot, a single spark might set Eagle Rock ablaze.
Guest Blog by Christine Amsden
First Person: A Matter of Perspective
Whether a writer is a panster or an outliner, there is one question she must answer before getting started: First or third? For some the answer is simply a matter of personal preference, but even if that's the case it's important to think through the implications.
First person is a compelling viewpoint for many authors because it is easy to imagine ourselves as “I” and to tell a story that way. It's sort of what we do, isn't it? Play an elaborate game of make believe? But unless you're a dedicated hobbyist, you're not just telling this story for your own amusement. You're writing to an audience, and your audience may have a different perspective.
As a reader, I usually prefer third person – and I don't say this lightly because my Cassie Scot series is told in the first person (I'll get into why in a bit). I enjoy third person because in my readerly games of make believe, it is a little easier for me to pretend to be “he” or “she” than “I.”It also has the clear advantage of allowing me inside the heads of more than one character, deepening the story by bringing in multiple perspectives.
The third person limited omniscient is a great point of view which eliminates the distance between readers and characters. It puts us straight into their heads in a way that makes it a more intimate reading experience than first person. First person used to be the “close” point of view, but that's when it was competing with an omniscient version of third person. Nowadays, we have better options. Modern limited omniscient third person gets as intimate with the character as first person, but it eliminates distance in time. A first person narrator has, presumably, already lived through the events of the story and is telling them from the future. A third person narrator is right there in the moment.
But don't take this to mean that first person doesn't have a place. Of course it does! There is power in the first person narrator, but it has to be harnessed well and used wisely. As a reader immersing myself in a first person novel, it's more like a close personal friend is telling me their story in intimate detail. To get into it I have to like not only the story, but the person telling it and the way it's being told. Or to put it another way: Your narrator had better have character.
I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say this: If you can substitute “he” or “she” for “I” in a first person story and it's still basically the same, you've chosen the wrong point of view. If this is the case then you've thrown away all the advantage of first person while embracing all the disadvantages.
A first person narrator isn't just a narrator. He or she is a character telling a story. Their character will influence how they tell the story – including voice, style, and presentation method. First person narrators can get away with asides to the audience, or drop dark hints about what is to come (since they have already lived through it). A first person narrator can be unreliable – he can even lie to himself and believe it. He can also withhold information from the audience.
You can get away with breaking more rules in the first person than you can in the third. Ironically, this makes it harder to write. It's easier to effectively break rules once you know them and understand what they're for.
The power of a first person narrator is freedom of style.
I chose first person for Cassie, after a lot of agonizing deliberation, because she needed to tell her own story. It helped that the story (by which I mean the prominent series arc; the individual books are mysteries) is entirely about Cassie coming into herself as an adult. But you can tell a great story in the third person, even if it belongs to only one character. A first person story needs more.It needs a character who desperately wants to tell her own story. Cassie's got attitude, and she's talking right to you. “My parents think the longer the name the more powerful the sorcerer, so they named me Cassandra Morgan Ursula Margaret Scot. You can call me Cassie.”
I said earlier that as a reader, I usually prefer third person. I put the “usually” in there for a reason – I usually prefer third person because I run across too many first person stories that don't harness the power of first person. That don't have the right style or perspective, or that differ from a third person story only in the pronoun choice. The whole truth is that when first person is done well, it's my absolute favorite to read. But of course “done well” is also a matter of perspective.
Giveaway*! A $100.00 Amazon gift card!
The giveaway begins on April 15, 2014 at midnight and ends on July 16,
2014 at midnight.
Christine Amsden has been writing fantasy and science
fiction for as long as she can remember. She loves to write and it is her dream
that others will be inspired by this love and by her stories. Speculative
fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but great speculative fiction is about
real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. Christine
writes primarily about people and relationships, and it is in this way that she
strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.
At the age of 16, Christine was diagnosed with Stargardt’s
Disease, a condition that effects the retina and causes a loss of central
vision. She is now legally blind, but has not let this slow her down or get in
the way of her dreams.
In addition to writing, Christine teaches workshops on
writing at Savvy Authors. She also does some freelance editing work.
Christine currently lives in the Kansas City area with her
husband, Austin, who has been her biggest fan and the key to her success. They
have two beautiful children.
Anyone who writes can tell you that it ain't all roses in today's publishing environment. If you choose the traditional route, you have a difficult path to trod. Agents and publishers are more selective than ever before. If you do not have some sort of "platform" you may very well be passed over. And by platform I mean notice. Somebody out there has to have friended or followed you and given your name and your work's name a Google boost or you literally are not known. And the ones in the industry are skeptical about anyone who is not known.
If you decide to go the other way and DIY with indie or self-publishing, well, get ready for an equally rough ride. You better have some $$ and can afford to pay an editor and cover artist or you might never sell the first book. Today, there are so many people using Amazon for Kindle and print distribution that you are just a face in a sea of faces-and you have to make your book stand out. It is no longer enough to just throw it up on the digital shelf and say here I am. What if you don't have boatloads of money?
Well, sometimes the whole notion just makes one wonder why we ever got started on this journey to begin with. And I have only mentioned the breaking in stuff...I haven't even touched the promotional aspect. When you factor that into the equation, no wonder there is so much angst amongst writers.
So if the road is this hard, have you ever thought about quitting? Just hanging up your pen and paper and walking away? What keeps you motivated to keep on keeping on?
On
the advantages of editing your manuscript, choosing the right editor, and
what's more difficult: editing the newbie or editing the established writer?
I've never met Peter
Gelfan in person, and yet when I write, I hear his voice in my mind. No, I'm
not sick, at least not yet. You see, Peter has been my editor throughout most
of my writing career. He has read every book of mine that has been published
and tackled all of my writing vices. He has applied his expertise, passion and
humor to my work and changed the way I think about writing in general and
fantasy in particular. Today, we are lucky to have him at MB4 answering our questions.
Welcome to MB4,
Peter. Can you tell us a little about yourself? Why did you choose a career in
editing? How long have you been an editor?
The career in editing chose me. Twenty or more years ago, a
good friend of mine, a successful novelist, offered to put a manuscript of mine
into the hands of Renni Browne, who, he said, could get it to agents and
publishers. I got a nice note back from Renni saying she liked the manuscript
but thought it needed some editing. Out of vanity, I declined the offer. Renni,
who had founded and was then running The Editorial Department, made me another
offer. She had a client looking for a ghostwriter for a nonfiction project—was
I interested? I needed the money and found the challenge interesting, so I
accepted. The book got published and did well. Renni continued to offer me
projects, mostly editorial, and I continued to need money, so the career was
born.
For those writers who
are sitting on the fence about having their manuscripts edited: How will
editing make a difference in their work? And will editing help them to sell
their manuscripts?
Often the biggest benefit to having your work edited
professionally is that it gets a careful, objective read by someone who has no
axe to grind other than to help you make your manuscript better. Your mother
and friends either want to be nice to you or try to convince you to quit
screwing around and get a real job. Besides, an editor says a lot more than “I
liked it, it’s great!” or “Couldn’t get through it, dude.” An editor can tell
you what’s working, what’s not, and why. A good editor will then help you produce
the book you want to write rather than push you to write the book he or she
think you should write.
I’ve heard agents and acquisitions editors say that knowing
a manuscript has been edited shows the writer is serious about the work and can
take suggestions, though I’ve never heard one say that the mere fact of its
having been edited has ever made the difference between a no and a yes. But a
better manuscript—a tauter plot, more vividly fascinating characters, more
depth, a stronger voice, and a polished style—will certainly be more likely to
sell. It will also teach the author how to do better with the next project from
the start.
With so many services
and freelance editors out there, how does a writer choose the right editor for
his/her work?
Research. Websites that cater to writers often have
discussion groups and even ratings. If you know writers who have used an
editor, ask them for recommendations pro or con. I also think it helps to talk
to the prospective editor and get a feel for how your personalities and
sensibilities will mesh.
What's more difficult,
editing the new writer or editing the established writer?
Interesting question. In a way, it’s easier to edit a newbie
because there’s so much low-hanging fruit, like no plot, unconvincing
characters, stiff dialogue, amateurish style. For those writers, it’s a steep
learning curve, by which I mean they learn a lot of basic stuff very quickly.
For the established writer, the task is more difficult. The
basics are almost always in place. The manuscript is better than 95 percent of
what you normally read. But the author doesn’t think it’s quite right yet, and
you have to agree … but what’s wrong? It takes detective work. Where did the
story sag a little? Where did attention start to wander? What was unsatisfying
about the end, and where did that problem start?
Sometimes the key clue lies chapters
before the problem arises: Why did the protagonist do that? There’s always an
ah-ha moment or two, and you know you’re right when the author says, “Oh my
god, why didn’t I see that?”
You are so right! I've been
there myself. Thank you so much for answering our questions, Peter. Folks,
Peter will be back on MB4 Wednesday May 7th, discussing the challenges of being an
editor, the balance between editing and writing, and what matters in writing today.
Don't miss it!
****
Peter Gelfan has been editing and ghostwriting both
fiction and nonfiction for the past 20 years. His clients range from beginners
to published and bestselling authors and celebrities. He also edits screenplays
and has sold two he wrote under his own name, one of which was produced and
recently released in France. His novelFound Objects was published
in May 2013.
Dora Machado is the award-winning
author of the epic fantasy Stonewiser series and her newest novel, The Curse Giver, available from Twilight
Times Books. She grew up in the Dominican Republic, where she developed a
fascination for writing and a taste for Merengue. After a lifetime of
straddling such compelling but different worlds, fantasy is a natural fit to
her stories. When she is not writing novels, Dora also writes features for Murder By Four, an award-winning blog for people interested in reading and writing, and Savvy Authors, where writers help writers. She lives in Florida with her indulgent husband and three very
opinionated cats.
Stephanie Dagg wrote this amazing review, and I'm sharing it with you today with no humility whatsoever. ;o) Writers live to receive reviews like this!
A Perfectly Presented Piece of Fiction
Lady
Blues: forget-me-not is a Gus Legarde mystery, the tenth in the series.
Although part of a series it works perfectly as a standalone book, although you
will inevitably want to read more of these novels. This book is probably best
described as a cozy mystery, although that might not do it full justice.
There’s genuine tension and threat, edge of the seat stuff, and the characters
have depth and interest to them, rather more than in some cozies. Yet our hero,
Professor Gus Legarde, is such a comforting sort of person that we feel safe
and secure in his hands, and that’s where the coziness comes.
Gus
is fifty-something, a professor, and lives with his second wife, his step-daughter,
his ex-wife’s brother Siegfried, a variety of dogs, and his daughter and
grandchildren are in the house too at the start of this story. There’s a strong
supportive family atmosphere. Another guest, Lily, arrives, a Korean woman,
after Gus and Siegfried pull her out of her burning house above the shop she
runs with her brother Thom. He’s badly injured in the fire. And Lily has
secrets to hide. That’s one strand of the mystery, and another stems from an
octogenarian Gus meets when playing the piano at a nursing home. Music helps
him remember, as do drugs, although possibly only temporarily, and one of the
memories that comes back is of Bella, the woman he loved, his Lady Blues. Gus
is determined to help him recapture his past before it’s all too late.
It’s
hard to describe the story without giving away too much, but suffice it to say
it’s intelligently and tightly written. I’ll turn my attention to the writing.
This is beautiful – evocative, startling, teasing, terse, soothing and
suspenseful in turns. Author Aaron Paul Lazar has a wonderfully readable style,
empathetic and gentle, but also frank and realistic. The characters he creates
are fully rounded, flaws and all, and it’s hard not to be drawn deep into their
world with them. Good food and music are recurring motifs throughout the story
and so is the Genesee valley. There is so much to admire artistically in this
book, and with a catchy cover and a very high standard of presentation, it is a
perfectly presented piece of fiction. Very, very highly recommended.
Thanks for letting me brag a little today. We writers live for reviews like this, where the readers really "get" us and say nice things about our books!
Aaron Paul Lazar writes to soothe his soul. An award-winning,
bestselling Kindle author of three addictive mystery series, writing books, and
a new love story, Aaron enjoys the Genesee Valley countryside in upstate New
York, where his characters embrace life, play with their dogs and grandkids,
grow sumptuous gardens, and chase bad guys. Visit his website at
http://www.lazarbooks.com and watch for his upcoming SPIRIT ME AWAY (2014), DEVIL’S
LAKE(2014), and VIRTUOSO (2014).
Lady
Blues: forget-me-not is a Gus Legarde mystery, the tenth in the series.
Although part of a series it works perfectly as a standalone book,
although you will inevitably want to read more of these novels. This
book is probably best described as a cozy mystery, although that might
not do it full justice. There’s genuine tension and threat, edge of the
seat stuff, and the characters have depth and interest to them, rather
more than in some cozies. Yet our hero, Professor Gus Legarde, is such a
comforting sort of person that we feel safe and secure in his hands,
and that’s where the coziness comes.
Gus is fifty-something, a professor, and lives with his second wife,
his step-daughter, his ex-wife’s brother Siegfried, a variety of dogs,
and his daughter and grandchildren are in the house too at the start of
this story. There’s a strong supportive family atmosphere. Another
guest, Lily, arrives, a Korean woman, after Gus and Siegfried pull her
out of her burning house above the shop she runs with her brother Thom.
He’s badly injured in the fire. And Lily has secrets to hide. That’s one
strand of the mystery, and another stems from an octogenarian Gus meets
when playing the piano at a nursing home. Music helps him remember, as
do drugs, although possibly only temporarily, and one of the memories
that comes back is of Bella, the woman he loved, his Lady Blues. Gus is
determined to help him recapture his past before it’s all too late.
It’s hard to describe the story without giving away too much, but
suffice it to say it’s intelligently and tightly written. I’ll turn my
attention to the writing. This is beautiful – evocative, startling,
teasing, terse, soothing and suspenseful in turns. Author Aaron Paul
Lazar has a wonderfully readable style, empathetic and gentle, but also
frank and realistic. The characters he creates are fully rounded, flaws
and all, and it’s hard not to be drawn deep into their world with them.
Good food and music are recurring motifs throughout the story and so is
the Genesee valley. There is so much to admire artistically in this
book, and with a catchy cover and a very high standard of presentation,
it is a perfectly presented piece of fiction. Very, very highly
recommended.
- See more at: http://www.booksarecool.com/2014/perfectly-presented-fiction/#comment-1168
Lady
Blues: forget-me-not is a Gus Legarde mystery, the tenth in the series.
Although part of a series it works perfectly as a standalone book,
although you will inevitably want to read more of these novels. This
book is probably best described as a cozy mystery, although that might
not do it full justice. There’s genuine tension and threat, edge of the
seat stuff, and the characters have depth and interest to them, rather
more than in some cozies. Yet our hero, Professor Gus Legarde, is such a
comforting sort of person that we feel safe and secure in his hands,
and that’s where the coziness comes.
Gus is fifty-something, a professor, and lives with his second wife,
his step-daughter, his ex-wife’s brother Siegfried, a variety of dogs,
and his daughter and grandchildren are in the house too at the start of
this story. There’s a strong supportive family atmosphere. Another
guest, Lily, arrives, a Korean woman, after Gus and Siegfried pull her
out of her burning house above the shop she runs with her brother Thom.
He’s badly injured in the fire. And Lily has secrets to hide. That’s one
strand of the mystery, and another stems from an octogenarian Gus meets
when playing the piano at a nursing home. Music helps him remember, as
do drugs, although possibly only temporarily, and one of the memories
that comes back is of Bella, the woman he loved, his Lady Blues. Gus is
determined to help him recapture his past before it’s all too late.
It’s hard to describe the story without giving away too much, but
suffice it to say it’s intelligently and tightly written. I’ll turn my
attention to the writing. This is beautiful – evocative, startling,
teasing, terse, soothing and suspenseful in turns. Author Aaron Paul
Lazar has a wonderfully readable style, empathetic and gentle, but also
frank and realistic. The characters he creates are fully rounded, flaws
and all, and it’s hard not to be drawn deep into their world with them.
Good food and music are recurring motifs throughout the story and so is
the Genesee valley. There is so much to admire artistically in this
book, and with a catchy cover and a very high standard of presentation,
it is a perfectly presented piece of fiction. Very, very highly
recommended.
Pic from author’s website
Do check out this impressive and prolific author’s website: http://www.lazarbooks.com/
And don’t forget to buy the book from all branches of Amazon. The amazon.com link is here.
- See more at: http://www.booksarecool.com/2014/perfectly-presented-fiction/#comment-1168
Lady
Blues: forget-me-not is a Gus Legarde mystery, the tenth in the series.
Although part of a series it works perfectly as a standalone book,
although you will inevitably want to read more of these novels. This
book is probably best described as a cozy mystery, although that might
not do it full justice. There’s genuine tension and threat, edge of the
seat stuff, and the characters have depth and interest to them, rather
more than in some cozies. Yet our hero, Professor Gus Legarde, is such a
comforting sort of person that we feel safe and secure in his hands,
and that’s where the coziness comes.
Gus is fifty-something, a professor, and lives with his second wife,
his step-daughter, his ex-wife’s brother Siegfried, a variety of dogs,
and his daughter and grandchildren are in the house too at the start of
this story. There’s a strong supportive family atmosphere. Another
guest, Lily, arrives, a Korean woman, after Gus and Siegfried pull her
out of her burning house above the shop she runs with her brother Thom.
He’s badly injured in the fire. And Lily has secrets to hide. That’s one
strand of the mystery, and another stems from an octogenarian Gus meets
when playing the piano at a nursing home. Music helps him remember, as
do drugs, although possibly only temporarily, and one of the memories
that comes back is of Bella, the woman he loved, his Lady Blues. Gus is
determined to help him recapture his past before it’s all too late.
It’s hard to describe the story without giving away too much, but
suffice it to say it’s intelligently and tightly written. I’ll turn my
attention to the writing. This is beautiful – evocative, startling,
teasing, terse, soothing and suspenseful in turns. Author Aaron Paul
Lazar has a wonderfully readable style, empathetic and gentle, but also
frank and realistic. The characters he creates are fully rounded, flaws
and all, and it’s hard not to be drawn deep into their world with them.
Good food and music are recurring motifs throughout the story and so is
the Genesee valley. There is so much to admire artistically in this
book, and with a catchy cover and a very high standard of presentation,
it is a perfectly presented piece of fiction. Very, very highly
recommended.
Pic from author’s website
Do check out this impressive and prolific author’s website: http://www.lazarbooks.com/
And don’t forget to buy the book from all branches of Amazon. The amazon.com link is here.
- See more at: http://www.booksarecool.com/2014/perfectly-presented-fiction/#comment-1168
Lady
Blues: forget-me-not is a Gus Legarde mystery, the tenth in the series.
Although part of a series it works perfectly as a standalone book,
although you will inevitably want to read more of these novels. This
book is probably best described as a cozy mystery, although that might
not do it full justice. There’s genuine tension and threat, edge of the
seat stuff, and the characters have depth and interest to them, rather
more than in some cozies. Yet our hero, Professor Gus Legarde, is such a
comforting sort of person that we feel safe and secure in his hands,
and that’s where the coziness comes.
Gus is fifty-something, a professor, and lives with his second wife,
his step-daughter, his ex-wife’s brother Siegfried, a variety of dogs,
and his daughter and grandchildren are in the house too at the start of
this story. There’s a strong supportive family atmosphere. Another
guest, Lily, arrives, a Korean woman, after Gus and Siegfried pull her
out of her burning house above the shop she runs with her brother Thom.
He’s badly injured in the fire. And Lily has secrets to hide. That’s one
strand of the mystery, and another stems from an octogenarian Gus meets
when playing the piano at a nursing home. Music helps him remember, as
do drugs, although possibly only temporarily, and one of the memories
that comes back is of Bella, the woman he loved, his Lady Blues. Gus is
determined to help him recapture his past before it’s all too late.
It’s hard to describe the story without giving away too much, but
suffice it to say it’s intelligently and tightly written. I’ll turn my
attention to the writing. This is beautiful – evocative, startling,
teasing, terse, soothing and suspenseful in turns. Author Aaron Paul
Lazar has a wonderfully readable style, empathetic and gentle, but also
frank and realistic. The characters he creates are fully rounded, flaws
and all, and it’s hard not to be drawn deep into their world with them.
Good food and music are recurring motifs throughout the story and so is
the Genesee valley. There is so much to admire artistically in this
book, and with a catchy cover and a very high standard of presentation,
it is a perfectly presented piece of fiction. Very, very highly
recommended.
Pic from author’s website
Do check out this impressive and prolific author’s website: http://www.lazarbooks.com/
And don’t forget to buy the book from all branches of Amazon. The amazon.com link is here.
- See more at: http://www.booksarecool.com/2014/perfectly-presented-fiction/#comment-1168
Lady
Blues: forget-me-not is a Gus Legarde mystery, the tenth in the series.
Although part of a series it works perfectly as a standalone book,
although you will inevitably want to read more of these novels. This
book is probably best described as a cozy mystery, although that might
not do it full justice. There’s genuine tension and threat, edge of the
seat stuff, and the characters have depth and interest to them, rather
more than in some cozies. Yet our hero, Professor Gus Legarde, is such a
comforting sort of person that we feel safe and secure in his hands,
and that’s where the coziness comes.
Gus is fifty-something, a professor, and lives with his second wife,
his step-daughter, his ex-wife’s brother Siegfried, a variety of dogs,
and his daughter and grandchildren are in the house too at the start of
this story. There’s a strong supportive family atmosphere. Another
guest, Lily, arrives, a Korean woman, after Gus and Siegfried pull her
out of her burning house above the shop she runs with her brother Thom.
He’s badly injured in the fire. And Lily has secrets to hide. That’s one
strand of the mystery, and another stems from an octogenarian Gus meets
when playing the piano at a nursing home. Music helps him remember, as
do drugs, although possibly only temporarily, and one of the memories
that comes back is of Bella, the woman he loved, his Lady Blues. Gus is
determined to help him recapture his past before it’s all too late.
It’s hard to describe the story without giving away too much, but
suffice it to say it’s intelligently and tightly written. I’ll turn my
attention to the writing. This is beautiful – evocative, startling,
teasing, terse, soothing and suspenseful in turns. Author Aaron Paul
Lazar has a wonderfully readable style, empathetic and gentle, but also
frank and realistic. The characters he creates are fully rounded, flaws
and all, and it’s hard not to be drawn deep into their world with them.
Good food and music are recurring motifs throughout the story and so is
the Genesee valley. There is so much to admire artistically in this
book, and with a catchy cover and a very high standard of presentation,
it is a perfectly presented piece of fiction. Very, very highly
recommended.
Pic from author’s website
Do check out this impressive and prolific author’s website: http://www.lazarbooks.com/
And don’t forget to buy the book from all branches of Amazon. The amazon.com link is here.
- See more at: http://www.booksarecool.com/2014/perfectly-presented-fiction/#comment-1168
Lady
Blues: forget-me-not is a Gus Legarde mystery, the tenth in the series.
Although part of a series it works perfectly as a standalone book,
although you will inevitably want to read more of these novels. This
book is probably best described as a cozy mystery, although that might
not do it full justice. There’s genuine tension and threat, edge of the
seat stuff, and the characters have depth and interest to them, rather
more than in some cozies. Yet our hero, Professor Gus Legarde, is such a
comforting sort of person that we feel safe and secure in his hands,
and that’s where the coziness comes.
Gus is fifty-something, a professor, and lives with his second wife,
his step-daughter, his ex-wife’s brother Siegfried, a variety of dogs,
and his daughter and grandchildren are in the house too at the start of
this story. There’s a strong supportive family atmosphere. Another
guest, Lily, arrives, a Korean woman, after Gus and Siegfried pull her
out of her burning house above the shop she runs with her brother Thom.
He’s badly injured in the fire. And Lily has secrets to hide. That’s one
strand of the mystery, and another stems from an octogenarian Gus meets
when playing the piano at a nursing home. Music helps him remember, as
do drugs, although possibly only temporarily, and one of the memories
that comes back is of Bella, the woman he loved, his Lady Blues. Gus is
determined to help him recapture his past before it’s all too late.
It’s hard to describe the story without giving away too much, but
suffice it to say it’s intelligently and tightly written. I’ll turn my
attention to the writing. This is beautiful – evocative, startling,
teasing, terse, soothing and suspenseful in turns. Author Aaron Paul
Lazar has a wonderfully readable style, empathetic and gentle, but also
frank and realistic. The characters he creates are fully rounded, flaws
and all, and it’s hard not to be drawn deep into their world with them.
Good food and music are recurring motifs throughout the story and so is
the Genesee valley. There is so much to admire artistically in this
book, and with a catchy cover and a very high standard of presentation,
it is a perfectly presented piece of fiction. Very, very highly
recommended.
Pic from author’s website
Do check out this impressive and prolific author’s website: http://www.lazarbooks.com/
And don’t forget to buy the book from all branches of Amazon. The amazon.com link is here.
- See more at: http://www.booksarecool.com/2014/perfectly-presented-fiction/#comment-1168
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