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Typewriter's Tale by Michiel HeynsTypewriter’s Tale by Michiel Heyns


 Thanks to Sarah Schoof of St. Martin’s Press, I am giving away one print copy of Typewriter’s Tale by Michiel Heyns.

Description of Typewriter’s Tale by Michiel Heyns


Combining fact with fiction, Heyns recreates the society in the little town of Rye around the celebrated author Henry James, ‘the Master’, as seen through the cool gaze of his typist, Frieda Wroth. Admiring of the great author, she nevertheless feels marginalised and under-valued, a mere typewriter, amidst the stolid servants and chattering guests. But when the dashing Morton Fullerton comes to visit, Frieda finds herself at the centre of an intrigue every bit as engrossing as the novels she types every day, bringing her into conflict with the flamboyant Edith Wharton, and compromising her loyalty to her employer. 

The urbane, long-winded Henry James, the suave, witty Morton Fullerton and the voracious, larger-than life Edith Wharton: caught in a triangle of which she only gradually comes to understand the nature, Frieda tries to obey the Master’s dictum: ‘Live all you can; it’s a mistake not to.’ But living, she finds, exacts a price: it takes place at the expense of other lives.

Michiel Heyns here uses his extensive knowledge of Henry James and his times as basis for a fiction in which the comic and the tragic are inextricably interwoven. Carefully researched and yet abundantly inventive, The Typewriter’s Tale brings to life a man and a period that have recently been the subject of renewed interest worldwide.

Praise for Typewriter’s Tale by Michiel Heyns


“Fascinating….Literary history blends masterfully with a plot of intrigue in this slim and delightful novel.”Kirkus Reviews

“Highly creative.…Faithfully re-created real-life individuals mix well with authentically drawn fictitious ones.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Anyone who loves Henry James will adore this…Heyns has given us something playful as well as thought-provoking.” – The Independent (UK)

About Michiel HeynsTypewriter's Tale by Michiel Heyns


MICHIEL HEYNS is Professor Emeritus in English at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Author of numerous academic works and radio adaptations of Henry James’s and Elizabeth Gaskell’s novels, Heyns wrote the chapter on Henry James for the Cambridge Companion to English Novelists.

He is winner of the Thomas Pringle Award for journalism 2007, and the Sol Plaatje Award for translation, 2008 and was winner of the Sunday Times Fiction Award 2012 for his novel Lost Ground.

Giveaway of Typewriter’s Tale by Michiel Heyns


This giveaway is open to Canada and the U.S. only and ends on March 17, 2017 midnight pacific time.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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Bandstand Diaries by Sharon Cutler, Arlene Sullivan & Ray SmithBandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963 by Arlene Sullivan, Ray Smith, Sharon Sultan Cutler


 Thanks to Marcy Manning of Winger Marketing, I am giving away 3 print copies of Bandstand Diaries.

Description of Bandstand Diaries by Sharon Cutler, Arlene Sullivan & Ray Smith


Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years, 1956-1963 shares the fascinating story of how Dick Clark’s American Bandstand and its millions of viewers catapulted its teenage dancers (called “the Regulars”) to fame. These teenagers became the nation’s first reality-TV stars–they received thousands of fan letters and were mobbed everywhere they went. Their adoring fans copied their fashions, fads, and dance steps. Then, when they turned 18, they disappeared from the public eye, except for occasional reunions and news stories.

Fans have long wondered whatever became of Arlene and Kenny, Bob and Justine, Frani, Pat, Carole, Frankie, Billy, and so many of the others dancers, who are now in their late 60s and early 70s.

Bandstand Diaries brings together all the stories, interviews, and rare photos in a full-color, nostalgia-filled book.

You’ll enjoy:

A poignant introduction by Bobby Rydell
Entries from Arlene Sullivan’s personal diary
Interviews with the living legends today
Following Dick Clark’s rise to fame
Special Tributes for Pat Molittieri, Carole Scaldeferri, Myrna Horowitz, and others
Information on special theme shows and reunions
Fan club experiences
Reliving the music and the performers including Annette, Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, Paul Anka, Danny and the Juniors. Charlie Gracie, Fabian, and more
Learning how American Bandstand made rock ‘n’ roll respectable

Bandstand Diaries features almost 700 photos from then and now in a coffee-table book. Purchase your copy of this Collector’s Limited Edition and take a nostalgic walk through those memory-filled days when rock ‘n’ roll became the soundtrack of a generation, when television was in grainy black-and-white, and when a 45 RPM record cost less than 70 cents. It’s back to the good old days with a modern interpretation.

About Arlene Sullivan, Ray Smith, & Sharon Cutler


Arlene Sullivan grew up in Southwest Philadelphia and was one of the most celebrated

Bandstand Diaries by Sharon Cutler, Arlene Sullivan & Ray Smith

Arlene Sullivan Sorts Through Fan Mail

Regulars on American Bandstand, appearing on the show from 1956 to 1960. She graduated from St. Monica’s Commercial School in South Philadelphia. Arlene worked at Dun & Bradstreet, and did a stint in the sales office of the Warwick Hotel. When gambling came to Atlantic City, Arlene became a blackjack dealer, and dealt cards for 31 years. Arlene has been featured in scores of magazines, and has been seen on many TV shows. 

Ray Smith was born and raised in Southwest Philadelphia. He graduated from John Bartram High School and attended Penn State as a Labor Management Major. It was not for him, so he moved to New York and studied dance and drama. He graduated from Hunter College Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Film Criticism. In 1967, he joined NBC News, and worked on the Today Show until his retirement in 2007. Ray won an Emmy as part of the show’s news writing team. He worked with Noche Flamenca Dance Company for many years, as well as Sachiyo Ito’s Japanese Dance Company. Ray is the co-author of Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, and attended American Bandstand from 1957 to 1959, though he was never a Regular. 

lBandstand Diaries by Sharon Cutler, Arlene Sullivan & Ray SmithSharon Sultan Cutler grew up on New York’s Long Island, and was an avid American Bandstand fan.  She remembers running home from middle school back in 1957 to watch the show on her black and white television set. Like 20 million other fans throughout the country, Sharon couldn’t get enough of Kenny and Arlene, Bob and Justine, and many more of the regulars who jitterbugged and strolled their way into teenage America’s hearts. Sharon is a journalism graduate of New York University, and has worked as a copywriter for Simon & Schuster. She ran a Nanny-Housekeeping agency, and created Long Island’s first “50 Plus Expos.” Sharon lives in Chicago.

Giveaway of Bandstand Diaries by Sharon Cutler, Arlene Sullivan & Ray Smith


This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on March 17, 2017 midnight pacific time.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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Healing of Howard Brown by Jeb Stewart HarrisonHealing of Howard Brown by Jeb Stewart Harrison


Publisher:  Create Space (August 16, 2016)
Category: Literary Fiction; Contemporary Fiction; Family Saga
Tour Date: January & February, 2017
ISBN: 978-1530900282
Available in: Print & ebook,  336 Pages

“This is your last chance to do something right, son. Don’t screw it up.”

With these words ringing in his 60-year old ears, Howard Brown, Jr., sets out from Kentfield, California to find his wayward and possibly psychotic sister and return her to their dying father’s bedside. The search leads him to the Brown family’s ancestral home near St. Francisville, Louisiana, where his Southern cousins have apparently conspired with his sister to bilk him out his inherited, potentially oil-rich property. At the same time, he discovers that a long dormant birthmark in his sternum is a portal to the land of the dead. His consciousness is suddenly inundated with terrifying visitations from a rogue’s gallery of twisted ancestors, until he fears that he is just as crazy as his sister and everybody else in their labyrinthine family. Wounded to his core, doped up and strung out, Howard discovers that his salvation is beating loud and clear, within his own weary heart, and that all he has to do is listen.

The Healing of Howard Brown is a capacious and energetic narrative of self-discovery, delivered with an authentic voice that is supple, smart, somber, witty, ironic, self-revealing, self-doubting, and wonderfully lyrical. Themes of family, trust and responsibility to others, the national as well as personal past, and the life of the spirit resound throughout, with a cultural resonance involving class and race, the North and the South, the definition of masculine identity, and, centrally, the nature of mature love in a multitude of relationships-husband-wife, brother-sister, father-son- in the face of a debilitating mental illness that runs like a poison vein through the family tree.

 My Thoughts Healing of Howard Brown by Jeb Stewart Harrison

This novel opens with the patriarch of the family on his death bed.  The family is around him but his daughter just ups and leaves, actually disappears.  As the man dying seems to have taken his last breath, he all of a sudden sits up and tells his son, Howard to go find his sister, Sisi,  Thus begins Howard’s journey of self discovery and family secrets.  

Howard starts out from California and goes to his cousin’s in Louisiana where he had heard Sisi had been. While there, Howard makes many discoveries including that his cousins were conspiring with Sisi to scam Howard out of his inheritance. There are many complex issues at play in this family drama, treated expertly by Jeb Stewart Harrison!

The Healing of Howard Brown is very unique in literary quality and humor.  I loved the writing, vivid descriptions, the quirky characters, and the laugh out loud moments!  I also enjoyed the pop culture tidbids, like the mention of ‘Lost In Space’. This is a moving meditation on life, self-discovery, and family.  I recommend it highly! I can’t wait to read more by Jeb Stewart Harrison!

5/5

I received the ebook version for my honest review.

About Jeb Stewart HarrisonHealing of Howard Brown by Jeb Stewart Harrison


Jeb Stewart Harrison is a freelance writer, songwriter, musician and painter in Stinson Beach, California. After many years as an ad agency copywriter, writer/producer, creative director, and director of marketing communications, Jeb now writes fiction and creative non-fiction, along with commercial works for hire.

Jeb’s debut novel, Hack, was published by Harper Davis Publishers in August 2012. In 2015 he received his MFA from Pacific Lutheran University at the tender age of 60, and followed up with the publication of “The Healing of Howard Brown” in August, 2016. He also records and plays electric bass guitar with the popular instrumental combo The Treble Makers, as well as Bay Area favorites Call Me Bwana.

Jeb was born and raised in Kentfield, California, and has lived in Boulder, CO; Missoula, MT; Hollywood, CA; Scottsdale, AZ; Indianapolis, IN and Ridgefield, CT.

Website: http://www.jebsharrison.com/
Blog: http://adventuresinlimboland.blogspot.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/babybingusbooks/
Twitter: @JebdeLimboman
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JebHarrisonVI
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jebhop/

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Giveaway of Healing Of Howard Brown by Jeb Stewart Harrison


There is still time to enter my giveaway to win a copy of this fantastic book for yourself!  This giveaway is for the choice of one print or ebook copy.  Sorry, print is open to the U.S. only however, ebook is open worldwide.  This giveaway ends on February 28. 2017 at midnight, Pacific time.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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Healing of Howard Brown by Jeb Stewart Harrison