Posts Tagged ‘ books ’

I’m Back!

Sunday, September 13th, 2015

Time has a way of slipping away, especially when you are the work-at-home mother of a busy 5-year-old, as well as being the editor of a weekly literary magazine (Wild Violet) and the head of Press Relations for Otakon.

I never intended it to be so long between entries, but I intend to get back in the game. In fact, I even have a plan.

When the Yahoo! Contributor Network closed its doors last year, the rights to all of the material I’d published with them reverted to me. I spent weeks laboriously downloading all of my articles, then left them in a folder, unsorted and forgotten.

This week, I began looking through them and discovered quite a bit of “evergreen” material which should still interest readers. My goal is to republish material in this blog related to writing, literature, pets, lifestyle and pop culture. I will republish material related to parenting in my book project blog, BelatedMommy.com.

Occasionally, I will also provide some insights on my latest writing project, a book of essays about my growing boy. If you’re interested in these topics, please consider subscribing to the blog, and you’ll receive a notification every time a new article goes online.

I’m looking forward to a more productive rest of the year!

Article: Fun Children’s Book Authors

Wednesday, June 18th, 2014

In one of my most recent stories, I shared some of our favorite children’s book authors.

Three Children’s Authors Who Make Reading Fun

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Promotion Fun

Friday, November 29th, 2013

Joy and happiness! It’s Black Friday, the day that retailers entice shoppers into their stores with deals, hoping to make up for the entire rest of the year.

Well, if you’re one of those shoppers, have fun and good luck! And when you’re done, put your aching feet up, pull out your laptop and hop on over to Amazon to pick up a Kindle copy of my book, “Dedicated Idiocy: A Personal History of the Penn State Monty Python Society,” at bargain basement prices.

(And if you don’t have a Kindle device, don’t worry. Just search for “Free Kindle Reading Apps” and download one of Amazon’s apps for smartphones and PCs.)

From today (Friday, November 29) through 6 PM (EST)/3 PM (PST) tomorrow (Saturday, November 30), you can nab a copy of that silly, colorful look at my shrimp salad days for just 99 cents. Then the price will step up incrementally to $1.99 and $2.99 before finally returning to the standard price of $3.99 on December 3.

The sooner you get there, the more you save! Give yourself the gift of laughter. You deserve it.

Review: “This Mobius Strip of Ifs”

Wednesday, December 5th, 2012

This Mobius Strip of IfsThis Mobius Strip of Ifs by Mathias B. Freese
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

How does one summarize an entire life of more than 60 years? When faced with this ominous task, too many self-published writers produce rambling, episodic narratives that fail to capture the true drama and beauty of their lives. Fortunately for author Mathias B. Freese, he is a gifted essayist who has been writing essays for decades. By collecting his favorite pieces, he gives readers insights into both his personal life (which is, sadly, full of tragedy) and his views on such topics as education, psychotherapy, blogging, and, of course, writing. The book, as a result, is one part personal memoir and one part intellectual analysis.

This combination elevates the book, but it also means it is a book best read slowly. Readers are likely to find themselves pausing to contemplate the message behind each essay. Freese is direct and opinionated, and he often takes an opinion counter to popular thinking. Take, for example, the essay “Teachers Have No Chance to Give Their Best,” where he begins by railing against students for their “puerile minds” and “vacuity.” But while these words are harsh, he lays the blame squarely on teachers. As a former teacher himself, he strongly suggests that schools need to do more to encourage creativity and self-reliance.

Just when it seems he has given up, labeling the educational system as “a great Arctic mammoth wandering aimlessly,” he offers up a glimmer of hope: “Take any five decent, well-intended, creative and committed teachers and administrators, people who care, people in passion, free men and women, and one could wreak a reformation in weeks.”

Such is the power of these essays: he sets up problems in stark language, but he also points to the possible positives that we, as a society, could reach for. Whether writing about the challenges of the current publishing scene or the historical record of the Holocaust, he shows readers both the ugliness and the beauty of each topic. He shares valuable insights from his time as a psychotherapist, and he waxes eloquent on some of his favorite movies and classic film actors.

The personal essays in the back of the book provide a look at his family’s trials and grief. From the tragic loss of both his first wife and his daughter, to coping with memories of a neglected childhood, he writes powerfully when he is at his most personal. In many ways, these essays might have been a better way to begin this collection, since it would have helped to provide a real sense of the writer, in a personal way, before the denser, academic pieces.

This is a book that will stay with the reader, that will occasionally pop up as an undercurrent to conversations. While it doesn’t quite reach the heights of his fiction masterpiece, The i Tetralogy, it is a thoughtful, compelling read.

View all my reviews

2012 Holiday Bazaar

Tuesday, November 20th, 2012

 

Welcome to the 2012 Holiday Bazaar! I did something like this on my personal blog a few years ago, and it went fairly well. You are welcome to participate and list your books, games, crafts, and other handmade gifts, as long as you follow the rules below.

RULES:

1) If you aren’t already following me, either follow my Twitter account (@alycewilson), or “like” my Facebook author’s page, or friend my personal blog on LiveJournal, or subscribe to this blog by typing your e-mail into the “subscribe” box on the right-hand sidebar.

2) Begin the comment by giving your real name and/or screen name and telling me how you’re connected to me (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc.). This is one of the ways I’m screening out spammers and will also help other visitors to connect to you. Feel free to list your home page in this section.

3) Give a brief description of what it is that you’re selling, i.e. book, hand-made crafts, artwork, CD, photography, etc. In order to qualify for the bazaar, it must be something you have a direct connection to. You can promote your friend’s book, if you like, but be certain to mention your connection.

4) Include one or, at most, two links to the place where your gifts can be bought. If you have an Etsy store, it’s best to include the link to the entire store than to link to multiple items. If your items are all in different locations, it would be best for you to create one blog post that has all the links, and then link to that post. That’s because my spam detection programming automatically flags posts with too many links.

5) Promote this post so that other people can shop, join and share! I’ve created a TinyURL you can use: http://tinyurl.com/cyonxb6

And that’s it! If you have any questions or if you think your post has accidentally been culled by the spam filters, e-mail me. I’ll post a sample comment below.

 


In other news, this is the final week (ending the close of Monday, December 3) of the America’s Next Author contest. I’m trying to at least break into the Top 10 this week, and hopefully grab the judges’ attention to be a possible Wild Card. I’m guaranteed a spot in the semifinals if I place 1st this week. Please read and vote for my story: http://www.ebookmall.com/author/alyce-wilson

The vote totals were zeroed out for the beginning of Round 8, so even if you already voted, please stop in and vote again. Voting for me is NOT a condition of being included in the Holiday Bazaar! In fact, I won’t even know whether or not you voted for me unless you tell me.