BOOK REVIEW: THE HIDING GAME by Gwen Strauss
March 22, 2022 by Veronica Jorge in category Book Reviews by Veronica Jorge, Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as book review, The Hiding Game
THE HIDING GAME
Gwen Strauss
illustrated by Herb Leonhard
Pelican Publishing Co.
2017
ISBN 978-1-455622658
A REVIEW BY VERONICA JORGE
Picture books, that welcoming world of imagery and words that capture the heart and the imagination. And most wonderful of all, when the story is true and reveals a hidden gem.
The Hiding Game, a work of creative nonfiction, is a moving account of the author’s great-uncle Daniel Benedite and Varian Fry, brave men who were instrumental in saving the lives of some of the most important scientists, artists, writers and thinkers of the day such as; Vlady Serge who fled to Mexico and became one of the country’s leading muralist, Max Ernst, a German painter, and artists Marc Chagall and Marcel Duchamp, among others.
Little Aube, daughter of the famous poet, Andre Breton,( known as the Pope of Surrealism), is forced to move from place to place with her family during the 1940s in Nazi-occupied France. They eventually find shelter in Villa Air-Bel, a hidden villa where Varian, with funds from the New York American Rescue Committee, works with Daniel to arrange passage for them, and others, out of war-torn Europe.
Sundays are Aube’s favorite day because, together with all of the “guests” in the house, she spends the day drawing, singing, and playing games. “Papa said that by singing, playing and laughing with the greatest joy, they would fight against fear.”
But most of the time, things remain secret, like the radio for listening to the war news, and the cow in the yard for giving milk. Aube also has her own secret hiding place; the old armoire in the kitchen, just in case “they” come.
Illustrations by Herb Leonhard draw the reader into the lives of the characters, turning a factual account into a personal encounter with time and history. Strauss also provides actual photos of the individuals, a brief history of the account, and links for further study and reading.
I leave you with a quote listed in the book’s endnotes attributed to Rosemary Sullivan’s book, Villa Air-Bel. “Andre Breton believed that surrealism and art must keep the playful child inside us alive. He believed that laughter was fundamentally the opposite of fascism.”
Veronica Jorge
See you next time on April 22nd!
Indie Author’s Guide to Indie Editors
March 21, 2022 by marianne h donley in category Ages 2 Perfection Online Class, Online Classes tagged as Aged to Perfection Online Class
Presented by: Jen Graybeal
Date: April 18 – 29, 2022 (two week)
Pricing: A2P Member fee: $10
Non-A2P Member fee: $25
About the Workshop:
Editors are the not-so-secret sauce that help authors take their book to the next level. Everyone knows you need one, but finding the right editor for your project can be a challenge. Jen Graybeal is a book coach and indie editor has worked with indie published romance authors for years. In this course she is sharing the top ten things you need to know about finding, hiring and working with freelance editors.
About the Presenter:
Jen Graybeal (she/her) is a book coach, freelance editor, and author cheerleader working exclusively with romance authors. Her encouraging feedback, creative approach to problem solving, and gently-applied tough love inspires clients to take their books and business to the next level. She has a degree in English, an ever-expanding TBR, and a furball assistant that is usually on her lap. Visit her website for client testimonials at www.jengraybeal.com or follow her on Instagram: @JenTheEditor.
The 2022 Book Buyers Best Contest
March 20, 2022 by marianne h donley in category Contests, Published Contest tagged as 2022 BBB, Book Buyers Best, OCRW, Orange County Romance Writers
Hurry! The 2022 Book Buyers Best (BBB) Contest, sponsored by the Orange County Romance Writers (OCRW), closes on March 31, 2022, but it’s not too late to enter if you act quickly. The BBB Contest is for published writers of traditional or indie romances that are novella- or novel-length and were published in print or e-novel format during 2021.
Non-refundable entry fee: $25 for OCRW members; $35 for entrants who are not OCRW members. We have nine categories. We invite you to submit to our contest (and tell your published writer friends about it, too).
Even if you’re not entering one of your books into the contest, you’re invited to be one of our judges. It’s a fun experience to be introduced to the writing of published authors you don’t know. Follow this link to learn about contest categories and rules, entry form and fee, past winners, and call for judges: http://ocromancewriters.org/contests/book-buyers-best/
Please email us if you have any further questions at bbbcontest@ocromancewriters.org.
Thanks, Nancy Brashear and Cathleen Armstrong, BBB Coordinators
Starting in the Right Place: Where Does the Story Begin?
March 18, 2022 by marianne h donley in category Ages 2 Perfection Online Class, Online Classes tagged as Aged to Perfection Online Class
Starting in the Right Place: Where Does the Story Begin?
Presented by: Beth Daniels, aka Beth Henderson, J.B. Dane, Nied Darnell
Date: April 1 – 30, 2022 (one month)
Pricing: A2P Member fee: $15
Non-A2P Member fee: $30
About the Workshop:
I have a friend who is a NYT bestselling author. Even after 70 some titles, she still says when she starts writing it is always in the wrong place. She doesn’t get to the point where her story actually begins until Chapter Two. Which means she has to not only kill Chapter One, but make sure anything of importance that did get mentioned in Chapter One shifts to a better location.
The problem is a common one. I have a story that I’ve written the opening scene to three times and it was only that final time out that the story finally started in the right spot.
However, every wrong spot I begin means I’m narrowing in on the right spot.
How do you know the right spot from the wrong spot though? Ahh, that can be tricky. But there are “flags” to look for that help distinguish the right start from the wrong start.
Help you hit the spot that will snag a reader’s attention – and editors are among the first readers you want to snag, aren’t they?
In four weeks, we’ll pin down what is the best spot to start your story and come up with a template to judge future manuscripts by as well. Under the microscope will be characters’ motivation, identifying backstory and too much backstory, action, and more!
About the Presenter:
Beth Daniels lends the expertise she gained as a professional novelist with 30+ years and over 35 published novels, plus novellas and short stories to her list of achievements. Add in a BA in History and a MA in English Composition and Rhetoric with an Emphasis in Creative Writing, over a dozen years as a composition instructor at the college level, numerous online genre fiction writing workshops at various RWA online chapters, and the stats add up. She knows her onions and can maneuver her way through nearly any genre or subgenre birthed. She is one of the founders of the writing group The Bards of Bardstown and a past president of the Louisville, KY, Sisters in Crime chapter. Currently she writes The Raven Tales, an urban fantasy PI mystery comedy series, as J.B. Dane and standalone historical romantic mysteries, contemporary romantic suspense, and cozy paranormal mystery as Beth Henderson. Find her at www.4TaleTellers.com or Facebook.com/Beth Daniels or @BethDaniels1 on Twitter.
Defining Default: it’s your choice
March 15, 2022 by Rebecca Forster in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster, Writing tagged as #amwriting, #writing, Craft, editing
I love the word default. It is so definitive. It is authoritative when you’re on the right side of it; terrifying if you’re on the wrong side. Default on your loan. Default the game. You have failed to live up to your promise. Over! Done! Fini— unless you do something to change the situation PDQ and get back on track.
Then came computers and the word default got a makeover. It’s softer. Helpful. Kind. The word became synonymous with a do-over. Default is now your safety net. Screwed up your settings? Default. Go back to the beginning. Get a do-over. It’s okay. We got your back.
Ah…
Well, don’t get too comfy with that default button, especially when you’re writing. I have a new book that I let lie fallow for two Covid-years because I took a creative hike, turning to manual hobbies like sewing and quilting, crafting and cooking. Now I’m back and making a sprint to complete the last 25%. I’m jazzed because it’s almost done. I proudly sent the first three quarters of the manuscript to my editor fully expecting the green light to cross the literary finish-line.
Sadly — and thankfully —her input was the exact opposite. I had dialed in my characters. I had been lazy with my red herrings. I had defaulted in the bad way, and not lived up to my promise to deliver my best work to my readers. On the other hand, she was offering me the chance to default in the kind way: reset, rethink, and rework. It was up to me to decide if I wanted to skate, shrug my shoulders, and publish a book that was ‘just okay’, or go back and make this the best book it can be.
I decided to go with option two. Reset. Rethink. Rework. That’s what author’s do. Thankfully, I have a great editor who is clear that how I define the word default — and how I respond to that definition— is up to me.
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