Event: Writers Discussion w/ Joshua Dagon, Brett Edward Stout, & John Riley Myers

When: Sunday, June 20, 2010
Time: 14.00 - 16.00
Place: Hamburger Mary's Cedar Rapids
222 Glenbrook Dr SE
Cedar Rapids, IA

Novelists Joshua Dagon, Brett Edward Stout, and John Riley Myers will be each be reading from their works and discussing the experience and process of writing, publishing, and promoting first novels.

The authors will be available after the discussion to sign books and chat one on one.

Demon Tears by Joshua Dagon
Paperback: 382 pages
Publisher: Breur Media Corporation (February 21, 2007)
ISBN-10: 097899552X
ISBN-13: 978-0978995522
Amazon: Demon Tears

Bishop Robert Patrick had no sympathy at all for the gang of stupid boys who'd befriended the demon. They'd been enthralled, to be sure, but that didn't entirely excuse their complacency. It had taken him years to track down the demon, the skotos, but he'd finally cornered it in Los Angeles. The city, Robert discovered, was positively teeming with hedonists and homosexuals, tweakers and twits, deviants and demons. Despite the attractive, human form the skotos had assumed, Robert recognized it. The time to act had come. The demon would be put back where it belonged, contained among the treasures of the Church for the rest of time. True, matters were complicated by the crew of stupid, stupid boys. Maybe they were clueless, and therefore innocent, but it didn't matter. Robert had everything he needed: the ancient vessel of brass, the enthusiastic support of the Church, and through obvious signs and inspiration the unquestionable direction of the Divine. The final confrontation was inevitable, sweeping aside the sinful and the sacred alike. Unfortunate about the boys. Robert would pray for them. In this startling and deeply moving conclusion to The Fallen, Joshua Dagon takes his characters and his readers on an exhilarating ride generously filled with humor, excitement, personal exploration, and often surprising wisdom. For three months, Nick, Darren, and their friends have been living it up with the generosity of the fallen angel, Marbas. But another ancient and powerful demon has been chasing Marbas, with plans of her own... Without compromising his clear compassion for every one of his characters, Joshua Dagon takes an unflinching look at the perils of blind faith, prejudice, and arrogance. Demon Tears leaves us with the hope that even the most desperate of us can ultimately become more than what we are.

Sugar-baby Bridge by Brett Edward Stout
Paperback: 362 pages
Publisher: Breur Media Corporation (August 4, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0981947417
ISBN-13: 978-0981947419
Amazon: Sugar-baby Bridge

When what's expected to be a one-night stand is followed by an offer to visit a lakeside cabin in Tahoe, Brad postpones his flight back home to Hawaii. After all, what's waiting for him back there except the vague prospect of life after the Marine Corps? Besides, he is curious about Ron, the wealthy older man making the offer, who seems to be both intelligent and competent-but also dangerously reckless. And so it is that Brad finds himself mingling with the very, very elite while bit by bit discovering more of Ron's unsettled past-and all the while pondering his own unsettled future.

Prince of the Pharisees by John Riley Myers
Paperback: 268 pages
Publisher: Breur Media Corporation (November 13, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0981947425
ISBN-13: 978-0981947426
Amazon: Prince of the Pharisees

Prince of the Pharisees is a raucous social satire on the current state of politics, religion, and sex in this country. The ensemble cast of characters includes the reigning queen of family values, a brassy black lesbian journalist, a charismatic conservative U.S. senator determined to be the Republican presidential nominee and a lonely drag queen searching for his biological family. Their lives intertwine in the days leading up to the Republican convention in 2012 with tragi-comic consequences. Disappointed by wedge politics used to sow hate, author John Myers has put into words a dream that came to him in the final days before the 2004 election. An active volunteer in Barack Obama's U.S. Senate campaign, Myers served as Chairman of the campaign's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Committee. Long before Sarah Palin used her Down Syndrome child as a political prop, long before John McCain attempted to ride his POW experience into the White House, long before Idaho Senator Larry Craig got caught cruising an airport men's room, and long before the religious right stormed Washington to protest George Bush's successor, John Myers brought to life a vivid tale that eerily foresaw the dark rumbling forces that threaten to destroy the social fabric of this nation.

Event: Writers Discussion w/ Joshua Dagon, Brett Edward Stout, & John Riley Myers

When: Sunday, June 20, 2010
Time: 14.00 - 16.00
Place: Hamburger Mary's Cedar Rapids
222 Glenbrook Dr SE
Cedar Rapids, IA

Novelists Joshua Dagon, Brett Edward Stout, and John Riley Myers will be each be reading from their works and discussing the experience and process of writing, publishing, and promoting first novels.

The authors will be available after the discussion to sign books and chat one on one.

Demon Tears by Joshua Dagon
Paperback: 382 pages
Publisher: Breur Media Corporation (February 21, 2007)
ISBN-10: 097899552X
ISBN-13: 978-0978995522
Amazon: Demon Tears

Bishop Robert Patrick had no sympathy at all for the gang of stupid boys who'd befriended the demon. They'd been enthralled, to be sure, but that didn't entirely excuse their complacency. It had taken him years to track down the demon, the skotos, but he'd finally cornered it in Los Angeles. The city, Robert discovered, was positively teeming with hedonists and homosexuals, tweakers and twits, deviants and demons. Despite the attractive, human form the skotos had assumed, Robert recognized it. The time to act had come. The demon would be put back where it belonged, contained among the treasures of the Church for the rest of time. True, matters were complicated by the crew of stupid, stupid boys. Maybe they were clueless, and therefore innocent, but it didn't matter. Robert had everything he needed: the ancient vessel of brass, the enthusiastic support of the Church, and through obvious signs and inspiration the unquestionable direction of the Divine. The final confrontation was inevitable, sweeping aside the sinful and the sacred alike. Unfortunate about the boys. Robert would pray for them. In this startling and deeply moving conclusion to The Fallen, Joshua Dagon takes his characters and his readers on an exhilarating ride generously filled with humor, excitement, personal exploration, and often surprising wisdom. For three months, Nick, Darren, and their friends have been living it up with the generosity of the fallen angel, Marbas. But another ancient and powerful demon has been chasing Marbas, with plans of her own... Without compromising his clear compassion for every one of his characters, Joshua Dagon takes an unflinching look at the perils of blind faith, prejudice, and arrogance. Demon Tears leaves us with the hope that even the most desperate of us can ultimately become more than what we are.

Sugar-baby Bridge by Brett Edward Stout
Paperback: 362 pages
Publisher: Breur Media Corporation (August 4, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0981947417
ISBN-13: 978-0981947419
Amazon: Sugar-baby Bridge

When what's expected to be a one-night stand is followed by an offer to visit a lakeside cabin in Tahoe, Brad postpones his flight back home to Hawaii. After all, what's waiting for him back there except the vague prospect of life after the Marine Corps? Besides, he is curious about Ron, the wealthy older man making the offer, who seems to be both intelligent and competent-but also dangerously reckless. And so it is that Brad finds himself mingling with the very, very elite while bit by bit discovering more of Ron's unsettled past-and all the while pondering his own unsettled future.

Prince of the Pharisees by John Riley Myers
Paperback: 268 pages
Publisher: Breur Media Corporation (November 13, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0981947425
ISBN-13: 978-0981947426
Amazon: Prince of the Pharisees

Prince of the Pharisees is a raucous social satire on the current state of politics, religion, and sex in this country. The ensemble cast of characters includes the reigning queen of family values, a brassy black lesbian journalist, a charismatic conservative U.S. senator determined to be the Republican presidential nominee and a lonely drag queen searching for his biological family. Their lives intertwine in the days leading up to the Republican convention in 2012 with tragi-comic consequences. Disappointed by wedge politics used to sow hate, author John Myers has put into words a dream that came to him in the final days before the 2004 election. An active volunteer in Barack Obama's U.S. Senate campaign, Myers served as Chairman of the campaign's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Committee. Long before Sarah Palin used her Down Syndrome child as a political prop, long before John McCain attempted to ride his POW experience into the White House, long before Idaho Senator Larry Craig got caught cruising an airport men's room, and long before the religious right stormed Washington to protest George Bush's successor, John Myers brought to life a vivid tale that eerily foresaw the dark rumbling forces that threaten to destroy the social fabric of this nation.

Behind the Cover: Glenn Harrington

The paintings of Glenn Harrington are recognized and collected internationally and have been featured in such publications as American Arts Quarterly, American Art Collector, International Artists Magazine, the covers of American Artist & US Art, New Art International, The New York Times, and Philadelphia Inquirer. He has had numerous solo exhibitions in New York, Japan, Charleston, South Carolina and Pennsylvania, and has exhibited at the Norman Rockwell Museum, The Museum of American Illustration and the USGA Museum.



( more pics )

Glenn’s paintings have been published on over 500 book covers including such classics as Room with a View, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, and two series of oils on the plays and poetry of William Shakespeare and W.B. Yeats.

His portrait work is highly regarded, having received the Honor Award in 2005 and Certificate Award in 2004 from the Portrait Society of America’s international juried show. Harrington’s portrait of Maria Callas was used to promote the Tony Award winning play “Master Class.”

Portraits of Payne Stuart and Ben Hogan hang at Murfield Village Golf Club and twenty others are in the permanent collection at the World Golf Hall of Fame; thirty oils, highlighting the career of Jack Nicklaus, were purchased by the Jack Nicklaus museum.

( more pics )

Harrington’s recent commissions include a portrait of Wilbur Ross and three murals highlighting golfers Greg Norman and Padraig Harrington installed at Doonbeg Golf Club, County Clare, Ireland in 2006.

http://www.glennharrington.com/



( more pics )

Amazon: Poetry for Young People: William Butler Yeats



Amazon: Poetry for Young People: William Shakespeare

Behind the Cover: Glenn Harrington

The paintings of Glenn Harrington are recognized and collected internationally and have been featured in such publications as American Arts Quarterly, American Art Collector, International Artists Magazine, the covers of American Artist & US Art, New Art International, The New York Times, and Philadelphia Inquirer. He has had numerous solo exhibitions in New York, Japan, Charleston, South Carolina and Pennsylvania, and has exhibited at the Norman Rockwell Museum, The Museum of American Illustration and the USGA Museum.



( more pics )

Glenn’s paintings have been published on over 500 book covers including such classics as Room with a View, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, and two series of oils on the plays and poetry of William Shakespeare and W.B. Yeats.

His portrait work is highly regarded, having received the Honor Award in 2005 and Certificate Award in 2004 from the Portrait Society of America’s international juried show. Harrington’s portrait of Maria Callas was used to promote the Tony Award winning play “Master Class.”

Portraits of Payne Stuart and Ben Hogan hang at Murfield Village Golf Club and twenty others are in the permanent collection at the World Golf Hall of Fame; thirty oils, highlighting the career of Jack Nicklaus, were purchased by the Jack Nicklaus museum.

( more pics )

Harrington’s recent commissions include a portrait of Wilbur Ross and three murals highlighting golfers Greg Norman and Padraig Harrington installed at Doonbeg Golf Club, County Clare, Ireland in 2006.

http://www.glennharrington.com/



( more pics )

Amazon: Poetry for Young People: William Butler Yeats



Amazon: Poetry for Young People: William Shakespeare

Robin and Ruby by K.M. Soehnlein

This novel follows Robin, from The World of Normal Boys, in that phase in life when you change from boy to man; only that Robin has already had that change, he is not a normal 20 years old guy, and so his summer spent waiting tables in an upscale Philadelphia restaurant is not careless and light as for any other normal boy.

I wondered why K.M. Soehnlein chose to set the story in the middle of the ’80, and other than the obvious reason that, being a sequel of a previous story set in the same period, it had to be, I think there are also not so obvious reasons, like, for example, the fact that 20 years old boys in the ’80 were maybe still “innocent”, or at least more than today. There are social tensions that now are almost non-existent, or at least not openly acknowledged; AIDS was still an almost unknown threat, still the “gay cancer”, if you were not gay it was not your problem; having a interracial relationship was still almost a taboo, something daring and brazen.

The story follows both Robin than Ruby, and they are at two different moments in life, but to both of them is asked to take a decision, an important one for their future. Robin is living an adult life, he has a steady boyfriend, plans for the future, and obligations; Ruby instead is on the brink of adulthood, still a teenager but with the urge, and the desire, to leave that part of her life behind. In a way Ruby wants to be an adult and Robin instead wants to re-catch his lost teen years. Robin is dumped by his grown boyfriend Peter, but I think he is not so much upset by that; he has George in his life, his long lasting best friend George, someone who was not ready to be something more when they were teenagers, but who is now all grown up, and a living temptation. Robin wants to have another chance with George, but not in a serious way, he wants the carelessly feelings of having a boyfriend, of going and making out, without the oppressive weight of “adult” sex, with the danger of the virus.

In a way, this is not a coming of age story, since Robin doesn’t want to take that step into adulthood, he wants more time, he wants to enjoy the thoughtlessness of having a relationship with someone like George, someone he can trust, since George was always there, always a good friend, and for sure not someone who wants from Robin more than Robin is ready to give. Even with sex, Robin and George are behaving more like teenagers than adults, while the real teenager, Ruby, is testing the water with real sex. At some point Robin will be ready to go further on, maybe with George, maybe with someone else (I hope not, I think George is good for Robin), and maybe Ruby will regret those years when everything was still so scaring and unknown.

http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/finditem.cfm?itemid=16460

Amazon: Robin and Ruby

Series:
1) The World of Normal Boys
2) Robin and Ruby

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading+list&view=elisa.rolle

Robin and Ruby by K.M. Soehnlein

This novel follows Robin, from The World of Normal Boys, in that phase in life when you change from boy to man; only that Robin has already had that change, he is not a normal 20 years old guy, and so his summer spent waiting tables in an upscale Philadelphia restaurant is not careless and light as for any other normal boy.

I wondered why K.M. Soehnlein chose to set the story in the middle of the ’80, and other than the obvious reason that, being a sequel of a previous story set in the same period, it had to be, I think there are also not so obvious reasons, like, for example, the fact that 20 years old boys in the ’80 were maybe still “innocent”, or at least more than today. There are social tensions that now are almost non-existent, or at least not openly acknowledged; AIDS was still an almost unknown threat, still the “gay cancer”, if you were not gay it was not your problem; having a interracial relationship was still almost a taboo, something daring and brazen.

The story follows both Robin than Ruby, and they are at two different moments in life, but to both of them is asked to take a decision, an important one for their future. Robin is living an adult life, he has a steady boyfriend, plans for the future, and obligations; Ruby instead is on the brink of adulthood, still a teenager but with the urge, and the desire, to leave that part of her life behind. In a way Ruby wants to be an adult and Robin instead wants to re-catch his lost teen years. Robin is dumped by his grown boyfriend Peter, but I think he is not so much upset by that; he has George in his life, his long lasting best friend George, someone who was not ready to be something more when they were teenagers, but who is now all grown up, and a living temptation. Robin wants to have another chance with George, but not in a serious way, he wants the carelessly feelings of having a boyfriend, of going and making out, without the oppressive weight of “adult” sex, with the danger of the virus.

In a way, this is not a coming of age story, since Robin doesn’t want to take that step into adulthood, he wants more time, he wants to enjoy the thoughtlessness of having a relationship with someone like George, someone he can trust, since George was always there, always a good friend, and for sure not someone who wants from Robin more than Robin is ready to give. Even with sex, Robin and George are behaving more like teenagers than adults, while the real teenager, Ruby, is testing the water with real sex. At some point Robin will be ready to go further on, maybe with George, maybe with someone else (I hope not, I think George is good for Robin), and maybe Ruby will regret those years when everything was still so scaring and unknown.

http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/finditem.cfm?itemid=16460

Amazon: Robin and Ruby

Series:
1) The World of Normal Boys
2) Robin and Ruby

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading+list&view=elisa.rolle

Mr. Newby's Revenge by Ruth Sims

With this story Ruth Sims achieved something almost unheard of; she wrote an entire novel in only 15 pages. The story of Mr. Newby who is seeking vengeance for a life of abuses lasts more or less 40 years, from his childhood spent in an orphanage, to his carefully planned life to achieve only one goal, to teach a lesson to a particular boy, now man, who Mr. Newby identifies with all the men and women who did him wrong.

This story has an ancient feeling, it reminds me the classics, like Dickens or Fielding, but it’s indeed a contemporary story; the character of Mr. Newby is at the same time someone you can feel pity for, but also being scared of: he is not a likeable man, I think that, if you meet him in real life, he is probably someone you will not be able to make friend with. Mr. Newby is eaten alive by hate and he has not time for being friendly, not until his vengeance is accomplished.

This is probably the first time when I was not so sure to want for the main character to find his happily ever after, since it meant for someone else to be plunged in hell; I wondered if the guilty of being an unpleasant boy was enough to be fated to a life of unhappiness, but then, the adult man was not better than the boy. In any case, the hate was eating alive Mr. Newby, and hate is always a bad character.

In any case, as I said, the accomplishment of this story is to be as compact as a pamphlet, but full of events as an encyclopaedia. How the author managed that is a mystery for me, probably the sign of a real and huge talent.

http://www.untreedreads.com/?page_id=1305

Amazon Kindle: Mr. Newby's Revenge

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading+list&view=elisa.rolle

Mr. Newby's Revenge by Ruth Sims

With this story Ruth Sims achieved something almost unheard of; she wrote an entire novel in only 15 pages. The story of Mr. Newby who is seeking vengeance for a life of abuses lasts more or less 40 years, from his childhood spent in an orphanage, to his carefully planned life to achieve only one goal, to teach a lesson to a particular boy, now man, who Mr. Newby identifies with all the men and women who did him wrong.

This story has an ancient feeling, it reminds me the classics, like Dickens or Fielding, but it’s indeed a contemporary story; the character of Mr. Newby is at the same time someone you can feel pity for, but also being scared of: he is not a likeable man, I think that, if you meet him in real life, he is probably someone you will not be able to make friend with. Mr. Newby is eaten alive by hate and he has not time for being friendly, not until his vengeance is accomplished.

This is probably the first time when I was not so sure to want for the main character to find his happily ever after, since it meant for someone else to be plunged in hell; I wondered if the guilty of being an unpleasant boy was enough to be fated to a life of unhappiness, but then, the adult man was not better than the boy. In any case, the hate was eating alive Mr. Newby, and hate is always a bad character.

In any case, as I said, the accomplishment of this story is to be as compact as a pamphlet, but full of events as an encyclopaedia. How the author managed that is a mystery for me, probably the sign of a real and huge talent.

http://www.untreedreads.com/?page_id=1305

Amazon Kindle: Mr. Newby's Revenge

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading+list&view=elisa.rolle