San Francisco Book Review - August 2014

BOOK AND GAME REVIEWS

WRITING TIPS AND ARTICLES

AUTHOR INTERVIEWS

Lance Olsen, [[there]], and Theories of Forgetting Q & A with screenwriterturned-author Abdi Nazemian Books to End Your Summer With a Bang!

An Interview with David Handler, Author of The Coal Black Asphalt Tomb

Jay Lake is dead.

Long live Jay Lake!

Plus reviews and many more articles!

182

Reviews Inside!

AUGUST 2014 COVER PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL ROBISON

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Humor - Fiction

Kate’s Escape from the Billable Hour

By Petula Parker Bookbaby, $0.99, 192 pages, Format: eBook ««««.5 Kate Billings leads a fast-paced, busy life as a second-year attorney in a big law firm. With a huge salary and a nice home, Kate’s life should be unbelievably good; she’s even managed to lose the excess weight that made her childhood and young adulthood miserable. After spending most of the last year logging lots and lots of billable hours (and neglecting herself in every possible way), she is devastated when her annual performance review focuses instead on the amount of time spent on a charity case (too much) and her “childish” freckles; her bonus, which she was counting on to help pay down her law school debt, instead turns out to be only a smoked ham and a container of cheap concealer. After a mental breakdown, Kate ditches her job and flies to Barcelona, where she is determined to reunite with her childhood crush. It’s time to stop waiting for happiness to find her!

I don’t know what I was expecting from Kate’s Escape from the Billable Hour, but what I found was a fun, well-written read about what happens when lawyers go wild. Kate embodies the success-

ful career woman who has it all - except happiness, that is. Her wild night after the performance review is all kinds of fun to read (especially since she faces no repercussions from most of her actions; who doesn’t dream of that?!), and her endearing and slightly creepy obsession with the foreign exchange student who once lived with her family makes for a surprisingly great story. Along the way to finding out the truth about Diego, Kate’s experiences with modeling and dating rich celebrities make for a movie-worthy adventure.

This novel is a page turner for sure, and readers are certain to enjoy every minute of Kate’s “sanity break.”

Reviewed by Holly Scudero

Humor - Fiction

Labor Pains

By C.A. Huggins Captain of My Ship Publishing, $4.99, 371 pages, Format: eBook «««.5 In Labor Pains, Kevin Taylor is the absolute worst employee ever.

His high school counselor tells him, “You’re not that smart. You’re average. … You can easily get through life by fading into the background and just being good enough. No one will notice you and that’s a good thing. … Be you. And you are average.”

Fifteen years later, Kevin is exactly that. He’s maintaining, but remains far from successful. He slacks off at his job in human resources while failing job interview after job interview. His mediocrity at work bleeds over into his personal life. He has a girlfriend that’s way too hot for him and wants more commitment. His best friend is a carny. He’s got a condo he can’t afford, bills out the whazoo, and keeps getting passed over for promotion at work because, well, he’s a terrible employee. But things seem to be turning around for Kevin when new management arrives and employees start getting fired. Is this the opportunity Kevin has been looking for?

Labor Pains is a bit of a slow starter. It’s easy to get annoyed with Kevin, because he’s obviously the source of his own problems. “If he’d get off his butt…” you think. “If he wasn’t always so negative…”

But just when this gimmick starts to stale, Kevin’s proposal to his girlfriend sets off a tailspin into something deeper, increasingly funny, and headshakingly wrong (as in reading along and laughing, shaking your head, and saying “that is so wrong”), but seriously funny.

While Labor Pains is irreverently funny, it also contains pearls of insight about the dichotomy of work. It’s a glorious celebration of half-ass-ism and mediocrity, terrific for readers who recognize the ridiculousness of the struggle to get ahead and appreciate the irony of having to work harder to buy more things that one has to work harder to maintain.

Reviewed by Axie Barclay

Modern Literature

The Arsonist: A novel

By Sue Miller Knopf, $25.95, 320 pages, Format: Hard

«««« Sue Miller presents us with Pomeroy, NH, a small, peaceful town.

A few thousand people are in residence, year-round. A similar number arrive in June, to summer at their country retreats. Frankie Rowley has come home to the US, weary and dispirited after fifteen years as a health worker in East Africa. Her parents, Sylvia and Alfie, have just retired from their college teaching jobs and moved into their Pomeroy home. Frankie’s sister Liz and her family are building themselves a cottage on the family land. Bud Jacobs, a former DC political reporter, is running the local weekly newspaper, still on the trail of big stories.

Modern Literature

FEATURED REVIEW

Sustenance Through Starvation

By Mabel Blair Steering Duxbury & Gloucester, $17.95, 576 pages, Format: eBook «««« Reviewed by Claire Lejeune

A

As our modern, “developed” societies sank into individualism, as our economies took up the tenets of the crudest of capitalisms, something odd and somewhat distressing occurred: the “others”, who not so long ago were flesh and bone human beings - the neighbour we warmly greeted on setting off to work every morning, the lady on the till at the convenience store across the road who systematically buttonholed us for a half-hour chat, the postman who smilingly took off his cap as he passed by on his bicycle - morphed into faceless ghosts. The circle of human beings that actually exist for us suddenly shrank to a close-knit bunch of friends, and a few members of family. Yet at the same time another “other,” abstract, aloof, estranged, surfaced: this other “other” has the features of a little African boy, in rags, stomach bloated by malnutrition, eyes brimming with tears: the unshakable symbol of the human misery next to which we build our shiny skyscrapers. And in the exact same way as banks, factories, or oil exportation companies sprouted up, innumerable charities, human rights organizations, multifarious foundations emerged, so as to exploit the white man’s need to help that poor little African boy –in the exact same way we exploit offshore oil.

This is the cynical picture of the world that Sustenance Through Starvation paints. Through the tale of Gwendolyn, the guileless daughter of the head of the world’s largest charitable organization, we are led to coming to terms with the grim reality of our 21st century world. Our young heroine, selfless and brave as well as being somewhat naïve, is decidedly driven by the will to help the real other, not by slipping on a suit, attend-

Q&A with screenwriter-turned-author

Abdi Nazemian Author of The Walk-In Closet Step into a world where glamour, money and family honor – no matter the cost – reign supreme. Hilarious, heartbreaking and edgy, with a shocking twist, Abdi Nazemian’s fiction debut, The Walk- In Closet, provides a glimpse into the lives of the IranianAmerican elite. As we get to know the screenwriter of The Quiet, Celeste in the City, Beautiful Girl, and the short film Revolution, we find out what sparked the inspiration behind his characters.

SFBR: How have your personal experiences affected your writing?

Abdi Nazemian: My personal experiences find their way into everything I write, often subconsciously. Part of the fun of storytelling is seeing how my experiences shift into new stories through the creative process.

SFBR: What is usually on your nightstand?

AN: A stack of unread issues of The New Yorker. A book. A journal. An iPhone. Klonopin. A glass of water, which will inevitably be knocked over and help rid me of some of those unread New Yorkers.

SFBR: Which character in your book is most like yourself?

AN: Superficially, Bobby is most like myself. We are both gay Iranian screenwriters living in Los Angeles. That said, Bobby is a funhouse version of myself, in which every bad habit and neurosis is magnified.

SFBR: Which authors have most influenced your writing?

AN: Billy Wilder and Armistead Maupin.

SFBR: What do you think is your lead character’s best trait?

AN: Like many residents of Los Angeles, Kara is a dreamer who strives to make her life special. I love that about her.

Popular Fiction

My Wish List: A Novel

By Gregoire Delacourt, Anthea Bell, Translator Penguin Books, $15.00, 163 pages, Format: Trade ««««.5 This is the story of an ordinary woman with either extraordinarily good luck or bad luck. Who knows? Sometimes life chooses to transform one through adversity or beneficence. The author, who previously made his living in advertising, is gifted in writing from a female perspective. The narration by the main character, Jocelyn Guerbnette, manages to sound authentically female. Jocelyn, or Jo, runs a fabric shop, blogs about it, and is happily, but uncertainly, married to a factory worker who dreams of a fancier life.

“I LOVE WORDS. I LOVE LONG SENTENCES, SIGHS THAT GO ON FOREVER. I LOVE IT WHEN WORDS SOMETIMES HIDE WHAT THEY’RE SAYING, OR SAY IT IN A NEW WAY.”

Popular Fiction

pair have an obligation to record only the exact and precise truths of a given subject; whereas in fiction, a writer has the latitude to combine life elements from several patient-subjects into one character, who, in turn, illuminates them all.

In the novel My Life in a Nutshell, the fictional sufferer is Brian Cunningham. Like many Anxiety Disorder sufferers, he has chosen jobs that reduce the amount of interaction he has to have with other people. In a sense, Brian is not unlike Linus in the old Peanuts cartoon who proclaims, ‘I love humanity, it’s people I can’t stand!’ So he works nights as a custodian and an IT specialist at an elementary school. Night is a great place to hide.

However, as all novels are journeys, and we, as readers, seek redemption for characters, Brian does find it eventually. He finds it in a beautiful mutual friendship founded with a Foster Child named Abigail. She has abandonment and trust issues, and so it is that these two outsiders form their own pact of mutual assistance. It is one which is quite lovely to read.

Reviewed by Hubert O’Hearn

Send three sample book reviews (175-200 words) to: reviews@1776productions.com

Books to End Your Summer With a Bang!

Now that summer is coming to a close, you’re running out of time to get all those books checked off your summer reads list. Here are 10 books that are the perfect end-of-summer selections.

1. WILD WITHIN BY MELISSA HART Melissa Hart, a desperately lonely young divorcée and L.A. transplant, finds herself stranded in rainy Eugene, Oregon, working from home in the company of her two cats and two large mutts. At the local dog park, she meets a fellow dog owner named Jonathan: a tall, handsome man with a unibrow and hawk-like nose. When he invites her to accompany him on a drive to Portland to retrieve six hundred pounds of frozen rats and a fledgling barred owl, sparks fly! Every page sparkles with vivid imagery and wit in this beautifully written memoir of parallel pursuits. Wild Within is, above all, about the power of love—romantic, animal, and parental—to save lives and fulfill dreams.

2. CURSE OF VAN GOGH BY PAUL HOPPE Tyler slides into a simple life of bartending in New York City, living his life day to day. And then at the hottest art opening of the season he meets Kommate Imasu, a Japanese billionaire and famed art collector, who seems to know more about Tyler than his own mother does. With serious threats against his family and friends, Tyler has to decide how much risk he’ll take to protect them. He quickly learns that gambling against a billionaire is never a good idea. Tyler plunges headfirst into a world of art forgers, hit-men, Yakuza, a femme fatal named Chanel #5, and the legendary curse of Van Gogh, in order to pull off the greatest art heist in history.

Mystery, Crime & Thriller

All Day and a Night: A Novel of Suspense (Ellie Hatcher)

By Alafair Burke Harper, $26.99, 368 pages, Format: Hard

««««« Looking for a summer read that will have you riveted to your beach chair as much as to the pages? Pick up Alafair Burke’s tenth novel: All Day and a Night. A serial killer is in jail for murdering a half-dozen women. Decades later, Helen Brunswick is murdered in New York and her body has been treated in the same manner as the long-ago deceased. It would seem a case for wrongful conviction—was Anthony Amaro falsely imprisoned? All the murders seem to be linked, but it will take Detective Ellie Hatcher and JJ Rogan, her partner, to unravel the complicated and confusing cases and give Brunswick’s murder—and the others--a fresh look.

A brash, celebrity lawyer is all over the police and the cases, hoping to get Amaro released from prison. She has Carrie Blank, a key associate, working with her, but Carrie’s involvement is complicated. Carrie is interested in solving her half-sister’s murder, but her pivotal role will have more repercussions than even she expected. All Day and a Night is an enthralling suspense novel. Burke’s characters, even the ones playing for the same teams, seem to be working against each other.

Reviewed by Elizabeth Humphrey

Summer House with Swimming Pool: A Novel

By Herman Koch Hogarth, $24.00, 400 pages, Format: Hard

Mystery, Crime & Thriller

«««« Told through the unreliable narration of Dr. Marc Schlosser, Herman Koch’s latest novel compels readers to evaluate human nature in a grotesque and jarring manner. Schlosser is a practitioner in the Netherlands who is on trial after the mysterious death of his former patient, famous actor Ralph Meier. As he prepares himself for court, Schlosser recounts the tragic and unforgettable summer he spent with Meier and his family, and realizes that the truth will not remain hidden forever.

Summer House With Swimming Pool is compelling and psychologically intriguing, all due to the clarity of Koch’s writing. With a convoluted plot full of despicable characters, it would be easy for the novel to turn to a dark, confusing place, but Koch writes simply and concisely enough that it remains thrilling. Though none of the characters are particularly relatable, they present a unique form of depth that is uncommon in most mystery novels. It is not an easy read, but Summer House With Swimming Pool will not disappoint; its insights and psychological probing will satisfy readers looking for a complex mystery/thriller.

Reviewed by Bailey Tulloch

Mr. Mercedes: A Novel

By Stephen King Scribner, $30.00, 448 pages, Format: Hard

«««« Retired cop Bill Hodges is haunted by his failure to capture Mr. Mercedes, the monster who ran over a crowd of people in a stolen car and got away scot-free. But when Mr. Mercedes sends Hodges a taunting letter, hoping to provoke the ex-cop into suicide, he instead reawakens the man Hodges used to be, creating his own worst enemy. As Hodges hunts the hunter, trying to lure Mr. Mercedes out, he realizes that the monster has a new horror in store for the city, one that could claim far more innocent lives.

An Interview with

David Handler

Author of The Coal Black Asphalt Tomb Interviewed by David Marshall David Marshall: With regret, since this is a publication based in California, we have to start with the question of why you abandoned this fine state to live somewhere else. No pressure.

David Handler: Not a problem. I have very fond memories of my boyhood in Los Angeles. In fact, my first two novels, Kiddo and Boss, were nostalgic coming of age tales set in Southern California. I left L.A. when I was 21 to attend the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. I fell in love with the city’s energy and passion. And I especially loved the idea of not having to spend four or five hours every day in a freaking car. So I stayed put after I finished school and ended up landing a dream job as New York cultural correspondent for the Scripps-Howard News Service, which meant that I spent my evenings going to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows and my days interviewing authors and performers. A couple of years later I became a member of the writing staff that launched the Emmy Award-winning sitcom Kate and Allie with Jane Curtin and Susan St. James. Those were very exciting years for me. I’ve always been very, very happy that I decided to stay in New York. And if I were you I wouldn’t ever refer to it as “somewhere else” again. You’re liable to say that to the wrong sort of person and get slugged.

DM: Thank you for that advice. So now that we’re past the elephant-inthe-room question— DH: I wouldn’t classify that as an elephant. A gerbil at most.

DM: Fine. Thank you for that, too. Let’s talk about the series featuring Mitch Berger and Desiree Mitry. I greatly enjoyed The Coal Black Asphalt Tomb,the tenth in the series. The latest book seems to be a good blend between history and contemporary elements in the cold case tradition — it’s a forty-year-old murder. Did you find it difficult to focus so much attention on the older characters in your fictional village?

DH: Not really. I always find older characters interesting to write because they tend to have more insights and regrets than younger characters do. The difficult part was figuring out how to dovetail in a present day murder that would give the events of 40 years ago urgency

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Jay Lake is dead. Long live Jay Lake!

I want to spend a few moments to celebrate the life of Jay Lake, who died June 1, 2014. He has been a flaming star passing all too fleetingly through the fantasy and science fiction firmament. He may have delayed the launch of his career until 2000 but, once he engaged the writing gear, he produced more than 300 short stories and some outstanding novels. Why, you might ask, should we celebrate this man?

Well, he was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2008, so a significant part of his published work was written after he began the fight for life (more work will be published over this year and 2015). Even though he had been through multiple rounds of surgery and chemotherapy, he remained prolific. Again, you ask, why should we care?

His work has been nominated for Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon Memorial Awards. The quality of his work as an author is undeniable. But more importantly, he broke the cone of silence that often surrounds those who have cancer. To say he has been outspoken as a cancer survivor is an understatement. He joined his voice to those few brave souls who are prepared to talk publicly about the disease and how to cope with it. Indeed, over the last twelve months, he was followed by a documentary film-maker. The resulting work is due to be released later this year.

I confess to having a personal stake in this. As a reviewer, it has been my sad duty to write negative reviews of the work of two authors whom I knew to be dying. Jay’s reaction epitomized the man. He respected me for being honest in my opinions.

In fact, we were able to acknowledge our differences in worldview without embarrassment. He was a consummate professional when it came to the craft of writing, and a lovely man to exchange views with. I will miss him.

Why should I care? Because, like Jay, I’m also dying of cancer and hope I can remain as active as he did during the few months left to me. All of which leads me to a final thought. Jay never gave in, and became a campaigner for a better approach to cancer. In many societies, the discussion of cancer remains taboo. Those who suffer it can even be the victims of discrimination. Only when we openly discuss this disease can we, and the governments who represent our interests, improve outcomes for individuals and the communities in which we live. Governments should put policies in place to break the cycle of fear and encourage people to go for early screening. We need to talk about cancer, improve treatments, and celebrate the lives of people like Jay Lake, who went proudly to his grave as a cancer survivor.

- David Marshall

Science Fiction & Fantasy

The Wurms of Blearmouth: A Malazan Tale of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach

By Steven Erikson Tor, $14.99, 208 pages, Format: Trade

««««« What is it that makes Steven Erikson’s writing so compelling? For me, it’s the ability to craft a dark, brutal, horrific world and still find a thread of ludicrous humor in it.

Enter the intrepid necromancers Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, unofficial champions of disorder, with their luckless manservant, Emancipor Reese. The trio has been shipwrecked on a hostile coast inhabited by wreckers who pick their living from shattered ships. The nearest town offers shelter, but its inhabitants, their improbably-named lord, and an assortment of other travelers pulled along in the wake of our anti-heroes might just be more than they

William Shakespeare’s The Jedi Doth Return

By Ian Doescher Quirk Books, $14.95, 168 pages, Format: Hard

««««« A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (actually, it was just last year), Quirk Books released Ian Doescher’s William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope. To an English nerd and a Star Wars geek, the idea of imagining Star Wars as though Shakespeare had written it as a play hit all the right buttons, blending all the classic cinematic moments of the movie with Shakespearean stagecraft and iambic pentameter. In short, it was just about perfect, and the sequel, The Empire Striketh Back, did not disappoint either.

Science Fiction & Fantasy

“FIE,’TIS A TRAP!” Today, it is time to wrap up the original trilogy with The Jedi Doth Return. It is everything you might expect. Jabba the Hutt looks quite dapper in his plumed hat, the Emperor and Vader delve deep into their own psyches with long monologues, the Ewoks dance and sing in carefully rhyming jibberish, and R2-D2 surveys everything with a knowing eye.. Doescher’s analysis of the trilogy and Return of the Jedi in particular in the afterword is equally fascinating.

It’s a great conclusion to a great idea. The only question is – will he now do episodes I, II, and III? Reviewed by James Rasmussen

Tales of the Hidden World

By Simon R. Green Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy, $14.99, 240 pages, Format: Trade

««« Hidden worlds are what Simon R. Green’s stories are all about.

Whether it’s a dangerous and curious supernatural world lurking just beneath our own, or the hidden worlds we represent ourselves with all the concealed thoughts, secret stories, and disguises we wear just to get through the day. Tales of the Hidden World is a tour of these secret worlds, and Green serves as both tour guide and ringmaster to unexpected wonders and perils within.

Tales of the Hidden World is a fantasy-heavy collection of stories featuring rogues and outcasts of all sorts. Whether it’s a street wizard in London or a pirate on a quest, a soldier in a mechsuit or Christ in the desert, these stories are rich in style and offer a curious perspective on some intriguing personalities in history and pop culture.

The Prime of Ms. Paula Guran Interviewed by David Marshall

David Marshall: Let me start by welcoming you to the SFBR and thanking you for taking time out of a busy schedule to answer a few questions. How does it feel to be at the editorial helm of one of the best small presses?

Paula Guran: I can’t say that I’m really at the helm of Prime Books. Sean Wallace is publisher and owner and, ultimately, he makes the final calls. But that is pretty much the same for most editors with any size publishing company: there are other people involved in making the decisions on what you publish.

In Prime’s case it only involves the two of us, but I’m more of “the editorial crew” rather than “the publisher-captain.”

Otherwise, I love editorial work. If there is such a thing as a “born writer,” then I think I’m a “born editor.” I appreciate the imagination and skill of writers and hope I can contribute positively to their vision. Or, if I’m compiling an anthology, I do so with a great deal of care. I hope I’m making the whole even better than the sum of its excellent parts—the stories.

DM: You’re considered one of the leading anthologists working in the science fiction/fantasy/horror field, responsible for producing two annual Best of volumes and an impressive array of other collections and anthologies.

PG: I’m not sure you could say I was a leading anthologist—that adjective tends to apply to editors who do more original anthologies than I’ve had the chance to do so far. Nor, compared to the true stars like Ellen Datlow and Gardner Dozois, am I very prolific. But for a latecomer to the field, I’ve made up for lost time with twenty-seven anthologies 2006-2014—and more to come.

DM: How does the editorial process change with the length of the work? Is it easier to deal with shorter fiction than novels?

PG: Short fiction is probably more enjoyable. When I am working with original short fiction, it’s with a different mindset than novels—not quite as intense.

You aren’t dealing with a much longer story arc, sustained pacing, multiple subplots and timelines, a bevy of characters…or simply the length.

That being said, when soliciting short fiction for an original anthology, you are more challenged with word counts, deadlines, and the possibility of authors’ stories that may not work at all.

Founding Fathers

By Christian Leonhard, Jason Matthews Jolly Roger Games, $65.00 Format: Board Game

«««« Reviewed by James Rasmussen

Contents: 1 Game Board 5 Player Reference Boards 12 Articles 55 Delegate Cards 12 Voting Chits 5 Scoring Markers 16 Debate Tokens 40 Influence Markers

Based on the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia 1787, The Founding Fathers board game lets players take a hand in the shaping of the Constitution. Brimming with historical detail, the game lets players take the role of one of five Planners (James Madison, William Paterson, Roger Sherman, Charles Pinckney, and Alexander Hamilton) and guide the other delegates, each of whom is represented by a card, in forming the American constitution.

The game is quite dynamic – between debating, voting, and playing special abilities, there are many ways to score points. Each delegate card can be used to vote, debate, or be played to utilize its unique and potentially game-changing special ability. However, each delegate belongs to one of four factions – federalist, antifederalist, large state, or small state – and cannot vote against the interests of his faction, so players may need to manipulate both sides of a vote.

The game is played in four rounds – each round determines the outcome of two of twelve Articles of the Constitution (the game starts with four already resolved). Every article has a historical side, representing the article that was actually voted into the Constitution, and an ahistorical side, with an alternative article representing the opposing viewpoint. This can result in a constitution where the weight of Senators’ votes is in proportion to the population of their state, where small states might get no representation in the house, and where Presidents get seven year terms and cannot be impeached or otherwise brought to court while in office. Which side of each article is passed determines how points are allocated for debating at the end of the game.

Wish You Weren’t

By Sherrie Petersen Intrepid Publications, $2.99, 150 pages, Format: eBook

Tweens

««««« Marten, eleven years old, is at a difficult time. He is old enough to take care of his annoying little brother, Aldrin, six. His family is about to move from California, where all of Marten’s friends are, to Texas.

The family takes a trip to Texas before their move and invite Marten’s best friend, Paul, along. While there, Mom takes all the kids out one night to lie on the lawn and watch the Perseids meteor shower.

Aldrin has somehow gotten one of Marten’s collectible Star Wars action figures, and won’t give it back. They tussle and the head comes off. How annoying can he get? Marten is so angry he can hardly see, but he sees a huge meteor streak across the sky and makes a wish. He wishes that his annoying brother weren’t here. Of course, nothing happens. Not immediately, that is. The next day, the family visits s science museum. Marten’s parents, both scientists, have a meeting with someone at the museum. Of course, they ask Marten to watch Aldrin. Not long after his parents are gone, Aldrin disappears right before Marten and Paul’s eyes. The boys search everywhere and end up in the restroom. There they meet a strange guy called Tör, who claims he is there because of a wish someone made on a star. The boys decide he might be able to help them.

Paul and Marten discover everyone in the museum is frozen. Tör, it seems, is quite capable of time travel and other kinds of magical things. They leave the museum and find themselves at an airport.

Marten’s parents are there with a little kid. They finally figure out they have traveled to a time before Aldrin was born. The little kid is Marten! His parents can’t see or hear Paul or Marten, but little Marten can. Tör gives Marten something like a stopwatch and leaves them on their own. The boys travel through time and through space, sometimes with Tör and sometimes without him, but things really seem to fly out of control when Tör starts to fade. It seems his star is dying and, short of a miracle, so is Tör. The boys find themselves in California and aren’t sure how to get back to Texas or what they will find if they do. There is only one thing they can figure out to do, and it means they will have to break into a science lab at the university.

Sherrie Petersen has written a real page-turner of a middle-grade novel. Contemporary fantasies are not particularly easy to write.

The writer really needs to keep the real world in place while convincing the reader to buy into important insertions of fantasy into the real world, but Ms. Petersen pulls it off beautifully. This one is fun, exciting, has some very worrisome moments, and is a perfect summer read. The kids will love it, but parents might want to borrow it as well.

Reviewed by Rosi Hollinbeck

“SHAMPOO, DRAIN CLEANER, HYDROGEN PEROXIDE, AMMONIA, HAIR SPRAY, NAIL POLISH REMOVER, MOUTHWASH. MY BROTHER HAD DUMPED IT ALL INTO THE TOILET AND CONCOCTED HIS OWN LITTLE SCIENCE EXPERIMENT.”

An Interview with

Sherrie Petersen

Author of Wish You Weren’t Interviewed by Rosi Hollinbeck Rosi Hollinbeck: Wish You Weren’t is a book many people will relate to. Almost anyone who has a sibling has wished them away at some time or other. Did you grow up with siblings? Is Marten a lot like you?

Shellie Petersen: I have a younger brother who I would have loved to wish away on more than one occasion, so I could definitely relate to Marten from that perspective! But his character isn’t like any one person that I know. When I create a character, even if I start from a real person, they tend to take on a life of their own.

RH: What did you do to prepare for writing Wish You Weren’t? Did you need to do any research?

SP: I adore research. I have a ridiculous number of supporting files for every book I write because I tend to over-research my stories. For this one I researched everything from the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History, to Pasadena neighborhoods, to supernovas, to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. I actually went to JPL during their annual open house, and then a second time for a private tour so that I could get all the details right. That was LOT of fun.

RH: How did you discover your fictional characters? Are they based on real people?

SP: All of my stories, my characters, are a mix of reality and imagination. The explosion in chapter 7 – my niece and nephew did that very thing while they were home one afternoon with their grandma. Totally freaked her out. They’ve never lived it down. So it’s fun to take these bits and pieces from real life and weave them in with the parts that come from my imagination.

RH: How do you find your story ideas? Do they just come to you or do you spend a lot of time trying to think of ideas?

SP: I’m terrible at forcing story ideas. I can only write when inspiration strikes.

Fortunately, I haven’t had a hard time coming up with ideas. I’m a sci-fi/ superhero junkie so most of my stories have some element of that in there.

I’ve been inspired by real life, by news stories, by questions of my own, that whole idea of “what if.”

Art, Architecture & Photography

By Rail and By Sea

By Scott Conarroe Black Dog Publishing, $34.95, 144 pages, Format: Hard

«««« There was a time when the most common transports for both people and goods were rails and ships. North America, with its wide-open spaces, was built to its present greatness on the backs of rail cars and ships of various kinds. And the use of seaways and railways carries with it a kind of romantic adventure. The mournful wail of a train whistle or the lament of a ship’s horn deep in fog can transport one to a different time and place.

“ALL AROUND THE WORLD, THOUSANDS OF MILES OF COAST-HUGGING RAIL LINES STILL EXIST— SUCH THAT OVER UNTOLD MILES, SLIDING ALONG BETWEEN SEA AND LAND, BETWEEN SHORE AND MOUNTAINSIDE, IS THE ENDLESS PASSING OF TRAINS.”

Biographies & Memoirs

FEATURED REVIEW

Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business - and Won!

By Emily Arnold McCully Clarion Books, $18.99, 288 pages, Format: Hard ««««« Reviewed by C.D. Quyn

“HUMAN AFFAIRS SEEMED TO ME TO BE HEADED FOR COLLAPSE...WHAT I MOST FEARED WAS THAT WE WERE RAISING OUR STANDARD OF LIVING AT THE EXPENSE OF OUR STANDARD OF CHARACTER.” - IDA TARBELL

M

McCully admits in her Author’s Note that Ida Tarbell remains a controversial figure with regard to women’s rights: “...Ida Tarbell, a woman who made it in a man’s world by working hard and remaining inoffensive, was one of my few models for how to succeed. No more would women have to insinuate themselves into a world made by men; the world itself would have to change. Or so we dreamed. Ida can still be admired, but she also has to be explained.”

In the process of trying to “explain” Ida Tarbell, the author gives us more than we bargained for in what can only be called a biography of a culture.

Born before the Civil War, Ida witnessed the Age of Industrialization first hand when John D. Rockefeller created his own octopus monopoly with Standard Oil. McCully seasons the high gloss pages of this collector’s edition with black and white pictures of the period, including some of Rockefeller in various stages of his life. Without the yawning textbook style, McCully breathes new life into history by weaving personal details of Ida’s family, her masculine education, and her stay in Paris.

Ida’s life changed when Sam McClure discovered her literary prowess.

“Her clear, readable analysis made dry, complicated subjects not only accessible but also immediately relevant to the general public - those to whom that dream had been promised.”

Ida won acclaim and increased McCall’s circulation radically with her book length series on Lincoln and Napoleon, earning her a place among her contemporaries: Joseph Conrad, Bram Stoker, Jack London, and Ru-

Business & Investing

The Risk-Driven Business Model: Four Questions That Will Define Your Company

By Karan Girotra, Serguei Netessine Harvard Business Review, $30.00, 231 pages, Format: Hard

«« Putting aside the incomprehensible writing style of these authors, there is a basic problem with this book and many such business books. Risk is inherent, to some degree, in any endeavor. The business model would reduce risk while increasing profits. The authors of The Risk Driven Business Model are both management professors who apparently have little understanding of what comprises the value chain. Specifically, they seem to have little understanding of marketing as an essential feature of the value chain. Their thesis is that business risk can be lowered by an analysis of what they call the four w’s; what, when, who and why. Over fifty years ago, the four p’s (product, price, place and promotion) were considered an essential tool to frame risk in product introduction. By renaming and reclaiming this idea, the authors have not advanced any new theory or business analysis. There are many current business books which put less emphasis on market planning because of the increasing volatility of the marketplace. However, this book does attest to the fact that there will always be a prime place for classic marketing methodology no matter by what name it is called and reframed.

Reviewed by Julia McMichael

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Cooking, Food & Wine

Cooking Light Dinnertime Survival Guide: Feed Your Family. Save Your Sanity!

By Sally Kuzemchak Oxmoor House, $24.95, 256 pages, Format: Trade

««««« If you are the family cook, raising a family and tremendously busy, Dinnertime Survival Guide is the perfect cookbook for you. Backed by testing and perfecting Sally Kuzemchak’s recipes by Cooking Light’s test kitchen staff, this is going to be your daily cooking bible.

Kuzemchak’s writing is wonderful, with a great sense of humor and many useful tips on nearly every page as sidebars (Smart Strategy; Real Mom-Smart Mom; Crazy Tricks).

“THE FOOD YOU LOVINGLY PREPARE MATTERS BECAUSE IT NOURISHES AND BRINGS YOUR FAMILY AROUND THE TABLE FOR A SHORT 20 MINUTES.”

Sheana Ochoa

Author of Stella! Mother of Modern Acting Interviewed by Hubert O’Hearn

Interview not playing? Click here to listen on Audible Authors

Sheana Ochoa received a Masters in Professional Writing at the University of Southern California. She has published widely in such outlets as Salon, CNN.com and the Los Angeles Review of Book’s affiliate, The Levantine Review.

Ms. Ochoa inaugurated the One-Act Play festival at the Stella Adler Academy where she directed her one-act play, The Masterpiece. In 2012, she became a founding member of Freedom Theater West, co-producing their premier production.Ms.Ochoa is the author of Stella!

Mother of Modern Acting, the first biography on legendary actor and acting teacher Stella Adler. She is presently mounting “Harold and Stella: Love Letters.”

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