What readers say about St. Peter’s Monsters July 21, 2009

“I loved the flow of your book.  You jumped around in time so seamlessly.  Congratulations on a job well done!” — C.O.

“I absolutely loved your book and I read at least four novels a week!” — G.F.

“A great read. Peter and Wren had my heart from the beginning.” — V.H.

“I am becoming so absorbed in your book. I’m loving it!” — A.P.

“The book was very good. It read well.” — B.D.

“It was wonderful! I couldn’t put it down.” — D.C.

“Your book was great . . . waiting for the next one.” — S.B.

“You plot well. I was interested in the events of the story, and I knew, after I had read several pages, that you would keep me interested. I cared about the characters and wanted good things to happen to them.” — C.S.

“St. Peter’s Monsters is a very well written, very captivating and enjoyable book, and one of the very few books that I plan to reread. I have loaned it to three friends who all agree.” — D.B.

“The book was so well written! You are an excellent author and I hope you will continue to write and write and write some more.” — C.R.

“I thought the story was fantastic, cleverly presented, especially the way the chapters transitioned, and wonderfully written. I couldn’t put it down for more than a few minutes.” — C.M.

“It’s one of the best novels I’ve read that uses this area as the frame around the story. You captured the beauty of . . . Southwest Virginia in a love story filled with twists and turns, and an ending that, like a fine dessert, left the reader satisfied. Good work.” — M.A.

“It was a delight to read this book. The characters are well-defined. I hope [other readers] enjoy this book as much as I did.” — P.B.

“I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and I did not want it to end. Keep up the good writing, and I can’t wait until your next book will be published. Keep writing!!” — P.L.

“It is awesome; it was hard to put down.  You are a very gifted author.  I love to read and I will be looking forward to your next novel.” — C.R.

“I let a few of my friends read my copy and they are all CRAZY about it!!  They loved it and wanted their own copy and some even said they wanted to order one for family/friends.” — K.G.

“I enjoyed your book very much. I worked faster because I could hardly wait to get back to Peter and Wren.” — M.B.

Where to buy St. Peter’s Monsters July 10, 2009

St. Peter’s Monsters is available at these fine booksellers and retail stores: Joseph Beth, Lexington, KY; Family Drug, Lebanon, VA; Coffee Buy the Book, Pulaski, VA; Wise County Historical Society, Wise, VA; Zazzy’Z, Abingdon, VA; Coffee Depot, Christiansburg, VA; Binding Time Cafe, Martinsville, VA; Kraftin’ Korner, Lebanon, VA; Appalachian Arts Center, Wardell, VA; and Tales of the Lonesome Pine Bookstore, Big Stone Gap, VA.

It is available on-line at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million, Powell’s Books, and Target, as well as in some stores in the chains. It is available through nevabryan.com.

You may order a signed copy via snailmail. Send $14.00 (plus .70 tax if in VA) plus $3.99 for shipping and handling to: Brighid Editions, PO Box 1428, Saint Paul, VA 24283.

Books are always available during the author’s appearances. See her calendar for an event near you.

Publication Date: February 2009

Price: $14.00

Length: 294 pages

Cover Style: 6″X9″ Color Trade Paperback

ISBN: 978-0-615-26391-5

LCCN:  2008910946

St. Peter’s Monsters is the story of Peter Sullivan, a homesick college student teetering on the edge of alcoholism. He discovers bigger monsters than the bottle when a mysterious young woman enters his life. Wren has fled Peter’s beloved Appalachian hills and now he must find out why she is keeping secrets about her past.

As they turn to each other for comfort, they are linked together in a chain of love, tragedy, and murder . . . a chain that binds them when they find themselves back in the haunted shadows of the Virginia coalfields.

The downside of technology in literary criticism July 2, 2009

When author Alice Hoffman read Roberta Silman’s review of her novel The Story Sisters, the author was not pleased. The review wasn’t stellar but certainly it wasn’t crushing. Hoffman, however, chose to respond in less than gracious fashion.

She tweeted nasty comments about Silman and the Boston Globe, and published Silman’s e-mail and phone number. Apparently that last action was meant as a call to arms: Hoffman fans of the world, unite! Tell off this critic!

Having been a Hoffman fan for many years, I do not feel a sense of unity with any other fan who might have chosen to answer that call before the author withdrew the tweets and issued a tepid apologetic statement.

I’m more inclined to be less inclined to read any future Hoffman books. Had she played the proverbial wet duck, she would be a much more sympathetic figure. Instead, she comes off as a hothouse flower.

There’s a danger in using technology as reprisal. Sometimes it backfires. Anyone who’s ever made a drunken phone call to an ex in the middle of the night knows how it works. Technology used in the heat of the moment equals regret, regret, regret.

Book Signing – Coffee Buy the Book June 30, 2009

Saturday, July 4, 11 AM – 2 PM:

I’ll be signing books at Coffee Buy the Book in Pulaski, Virginia.

What Readers Say about St. Peter’s Monsters June 8, 2009

“It’s one of the best novels I’ve read that uses this area as the frame around the story. You captured the beauty of . . . Southwest Virginia in a love story filled with twists and turns, and an ending that, like a fine dessert, left the reader satisfied. Good work.” — M.A.

“The book was so well written! You are an excellent author and I hope you will continue to write and write and write some more. This was the first book I have read in a long time that kept my interest so well that I did not fall asleep after reading 4 paragraphs.” — C.R.

“It was wonderful! I couldn’t put it down. I was reading it every chance I got. The story left me with a great sense of hope. I missed reading it after I had finished.” — D.C.

“It was a delight to read this book. The characters are well-defined. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.” — P.B.

“I absolutely loved your book and I read at least four novels a week!” — G.F.

“It is awesome; it was hard to put down. You are a very gifted author. I love to read and I will be looking forward to your next novel.” — C.R.

“I am becoming so absorbed in your book. I’m loving it!” — A.P.

“I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and I did not want it to end. Keep up the good writing, and I can’t wait until your next book will be published. Keep writing!!” — P.L.

“The book was very good. It read well. The best phrase: ‘Home is not a place, it’s people . . . people who love you.’” — B.D.

“I enjoyed your book very much. I worked faster because I could hardly wait to get back to Peter and Wren.” — M.B.

“I loved the flow of your book. You jumped around in time so seamlessly. I also loved the way you used newspaper clippings to cover a broad period of time. Again, congratulations on a job well done!” — C.O.

“I let a few of my friends read my copy and they are all CRAZY about it!! They loved it and wanted their own copy and some even said they wanted to order one for family/friends.” — K.G.

Explain your book title June 3, 2009

The title came to me like phrases or entire lines of poetry sometimes come to me: it just popped into my head while I was driving. I get my best ideas at other inconvenient times, too, like when I’m in the shower, in a business meeting, or just at the edge of sleep.

I had played around with several other titles but none of them seemed to fit. I liked St. Peter’s Monsters immediately.

Peter, the title character, reminds me of the disciple we now name St. Peter. My character is a good person but all too human. He wants to do the right thing, wants to be the hero, and has good intentions, but he messes up often.

“Monsters” is fitting because Peter faces several kinds throughout the novel. He battles alcoholism and divorce. He fights homesickness for the Appalachian Mountains and the ugly stereotyping those of us from this region face. He encounters Wren’s monsters.

Some people have found the title confusing, supposing it means the book is a horror story. I guess that’s the downfall of letting my literary sense override my marketing skills.

So, writers, what’s your take on titles?

Nothing ever happens here June 1, 2009

My first book, St. Peter’s Monsters, is set in and around St. Paul and Castlewood, my home towns. When people from the area find out, they say “nothing ever happens here.”

I say, “Something is always happening.”

Your duty is to take the time to notice it.

Think about it. At any given moment, a woman is giving birth (or a man is working on the conception). Someone else is dying. Another person is lying or stealing or – not very often – killing. Down the street, couples are worrying about the kids and the bills. Families are enjoying dinner. Boyfriends and girlfriends are fighting. Businesses are making money . . . or losing it. A mother is crying. Teenagers are gossiping, texting, sexting. Children are playing. A wife has been hit. Another has been hugged. A man is praying. A baby is laughing. A young person is studying.

The very fact that we’re breathing means something is happening!

Yes, my book is fiction. The things that happen in it are not real. That doesn’t mean real life in my town is any less dramatic than the stories I’ve created.

It seems we believe that what happens to each of us every day is not noteworthy because it happens to US . . . EVERY DAY. We find our own lives boring.

I challenge you to take the time to notice what’s happening within you and outside you. Notice life!

My Town

This is my town. At St. Paul’s edge, ducks flank the downy banks of Oxbow Lake. Poplars, maples and cedars shade its mile-long trail. On this Friday evening, the sun touches only treetops. I find a rock outcrop and soak up its heat like a lizard. In late September, the mountains hunch down around us and spread their blue shadows until the air grows cold.

Summer’s weariness is apparent here. A drought has left foliage brown. A single withered leaf floats on the lake’s current, spinning in the wake of a line of ducks. They paddle by me, their tails jacked up in the air, their feet pumping the dark water. The leader quacks orders and the sound makes me think of old men laughing at a dirty joke.

The birds waddle toward a family perched on a bench. The man removes his baseball cap and shoos them away from his child. The little girl tosses a piece of bread to the ducks, screaming with delight when they gobble the treat. When her mother tries to pull her to the car, she cries.

“I’m going to drag you if you don’t come on!” the woman threatens. The father stumps up the wooden stairs swinging his arms slow and wide. For a moment, the scent of cigarette smoke lingers in the air, before a gentle wind whisks it into the mercury sky.

In the distance, a coal truck’s Jake brakes punctuate the air with a shrill ellipsis. The driver is shifting gears as he prepares to drop his last load. That coal will go out of Wise County’s hills on a train, the one I hear sounding its horn now. The clatter of its wheels drowns the chatter of a squirrel somewhere above me.

I cruise through St. Paul. Many of my town’s thousand residents appear outside. “Better enjoy these last warm days,” a heavyset woman calls out. I shiver at the thought of coal-blackened snow.

Three teenage boys rib each other as they walk toward the high school grounds. They look like a small army: black t-shirts, cargo pants and dog tags. The football field’s loudspeakers echo across town as the announcer prepares for the game.

Some of us forgo Friday night lights for other pleasures. An old man carries his guitar into a storefront church. Across the street, a woman sells apples from her truck bed. The golden fruit blushes, looking pretty in stiff white paper sacks. An old woman worries her collar as she negotiates price with the vendor. She rests her hand on her paunch as if she is pregnant.

I pass a clump of political signs posted in an empty lot. A discarded lottery ticket flutters in the street. On a backstreet, kids congregate in muscle cars. As I pass, I hear the low, lazy laugh of a young man. It’s a sound full of desire and life and audacity.

I wonder if he’s ever known defeat or the frailty of the soul at 2 a.m.

The Magic of Writing May 28, 2009

“So tell me about your current writing project.”

“What’s your next book about?”

Nothing breaks me out into a cold sweat faster than statements and questions like these. Why?

Superstition.

Normally I don’t subscribe to the nonsense of superstitions. However, I am a bit quirky when it comes to talking about my current and future writing projects. A dreadful feeling falls across me when I discuss what I haven’t finished. I’m certain that discussing works in progress jinxes them.

I heard author Silas House say that writing is a supernatural thing. I believe this. It’s a lot of hard work plus a little magic.

Magic transforms the writer’s words, gives them substance, imbues them with meaning. That transubstantiation is the completion of the spell. If you talk about your writing before the spell is complete, it loses its power.

So, if I seem evasive when you ask me about my next book, don’t dig. I’m trying to retain the mystery and the magic of the process. Believe me, the book will be better for it!

Plumb Alley Day May 22, 2009

Visit my tent at Abingdon’s Plumb Alley Day, Saturday, May 23, all day. I’ll be somewhere in the vicinity of Hurt & Associates and 159 W. Main Street.

Taylor Books – Author Meet-n-Greet May 18, 2009

I’ll be at Taylor Books in Charleston, WV, on Thursday, May 21, from 10 AM to 2 PM.

Tell your friends and family in the area to come chat with the author of St. Peter’s Monsters.