Risher examines Chinese culture, adoption in new ebook

“Life has a way of playing jokes on you, doesn’t it?” wrote Jan Risher, popular columnist at The Daily Advertiser in Lafayette. She was emailing me to announce her ebook titled “Long Story Short: Year of the Water Goat, An American Mother Returns to China.”

“Finally, after a long time in the process, I’ve published a book!” she wrote. “The funny thing is, the book doesn’t look the way I always expected a book to look.”

And such is the world of publishing these days. On one hand, there’s no book to hold in your hands. On the other, it’s a great new way for writers to get their work out there. In Jan’s case, it’s available for Kindles through Amazon, or for those who don’t have a Kindle, through smashwords.com and for the Nook at Barnes & Noble. Jan has spent a week in Amazon.com's Top 20 reads in the adoption category and Top 10 in Kindle's.

Jan adopted her daughter Piper from China and the book takes place in the year after the adoption when Jan was struggling “to figure out all that stuff between my culture and the culture of my new daughter,” she wrote me by email. “Though the insights I gained only scratch the surface of China’s ancient heritage, they made me a different mother, wife and person.”

            As for the title, 2003 was the year of the water goat and the year Jan received her baby girl from China. Jan visited China to assist in starting an English program for the young adults too old to be adopted in the orphanage where her daughter lived as an infant. Just outside the orphanage, Risher witnessed a young woman run over by a truck and the shocking aftermath of the accident. She spent the next two weeks in the Chinese state-run Social Welfare Institute growing to love and understand more of her daughter’s heritage. The insights she gained helped shape her life as a wife, mother, friend and writer.

The book retails for $4.99.

Civil War title marks anniversary

This year marks the beginning of 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. For history buffs, re-enactors and those wanting to know more about war, there’s been a rush of new titles.

Lyons Press has published a handy “The Civil War 150: An Essential To-Do List for the 150th Anniversary” by the Civil War Trust, a non-profit battlefield preservation organization. The book is comprised much like a travel guide, with references to the battlefields open to the public throughout the United States. In Louisiana, there’s Port Hudson, for instance, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. Port Hudson fell after learning that Vicksburg surrendered after a 47-day siege by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. The Vicksburg National Military Park, naturally, is also included in the book. The book is not a comprehensive guide, however. The authors trimmed a list of more than 1,000 places to an essential 150. Mansfield State Historic Site, for instance, is not included.

“My ultimate goal was to assemble 150 things that every Civil War enthusiast should do encompassing a topical and geographic variety that would appeal to an array of people, and I hope I succeeded,” writes Gerry Adelman in the book’s introduction, director of history and education for the Civil War Trust.

Regardless, it’s an excellent reference guide, with a fun check-off list in the back for those who want to document their travels. There’s also a quick reference guide, a “books to bullets” section that explains the elements of the era and things you can do while visiting historic sites, and handy maps. The authors hope the book will help inspire visitors to these battlefields and monuments to help preserve them for future generations.

New Releases

Maya Seymour of New Orleans was named after her mother’s favorite author, Maya Angelou, a good sign if your ambitions are to be writer. This year Seymour has published her debut novel, a love story between a black attorney and a white judge with ties to the Klan, titled “Gray Love: A Black and White Affair.” The book is published by Booklocker Inc. and is available online from Amazon and www.barnesandnoble.com.

The skies are darkening and animal are heading to Noah’s Ark, but two snails are slowly inching forward in the children’s book “Why Snails Are Slow” by Lafayette’s Terry L. Bethea, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz. The book is published through Tate Publishing, www.tatepublishing.com, (888) 361-9473. For an autographed copy (and the only place to purchase a hard-back edition), visit the author's web site at www.thearkseries.com.

Ron Usry of Mississippi has set a captivating mystery in Louisiana, the first in his “Houseboat Thriller” series. In “Return to Justice,” Tool O’Bear leaves  Stonewood, Louisiana, after being framed for raping a rich girl. He is given the choice of going to prison or enlisting in the military. He chooses the latter and ends up a happy man in New Hampshire, until he gets a call 22 years later informing his sister has gone missing. Now Tool must face his past and solve a mystery. For information, visit http://houseboatthrillers.com.

Two new cookbooks incorporating fresh ingredients into fun, healthy dishes are “Cucina Povera: Tuscan Peasant Cooking” by Pamela Sheldon Jones and “Plum Gorgeous: Recipes and Memories from the Orchard” by Romney Steele. Both books offer a smaller, square format, complementing recipes with stories, anecdotes and beautiful photography. And both authors agree that it’s time to slow down and enjoy the pleasures of eating well with good company. Bon appetite!

FOW Contest

The Festival of Words student writing contest, open to Acadiana students in grades 6-12, is now on for poetry, fiction or creative nonfiction. Students may enter one piece from those three categories by Oct. 15. First, second and third place winners will receive certificates at an awards ceremony at the South St. Landry Parish Community Library at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 3. There will be readings by guest poets and an open mic that evening as well. For a copy of the guidelines and entry forms, visit http://festivalofwords.homestead.com/ or email me at chere@louisianabooknews.com.

Wordshops

The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library will host five creative writing WordShops at the State Library of Louisiana, the Capitol Park Welcome Center and the Capitol Park Museum on Oct. 28, the day before the eighth annual Louisiana Book Festival. WordShops focus on writing styles including memoir, poetry and creative nonfiction. Registration is $40 for half-day WordShops and $75 for full day. The fee for attending both a morning and afternoon WordShop is $75. To register, call Charlene Moore at (225) 219-0946 or download the registration form at www.LouisianaBookFestival.org.

Book events

The Writer’s Guild of Acadiana meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, at Barnes & Noble, 5707 Johnston St. in Lafayette.

The film “The Milagro Beanfield War” will be shown at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, at the South Regional Branch Library, 6101 Johnston St., as part of Hispanic Heritage Month. There will be a “Movie Coffee Break” at 8 p.m. to discuss the movie and the John Nichols book on which it was based.

Casa Azul Gifts in Grand Coteau will host a poetry reading by Nicole Poret, followed by an open mic, concluding with a dramatic reading of Jo Englerth’s and Bonnie Camos’ “The Gris Gris Sisters” performed by Patricia Cravins and Becca Begnaud at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29. This free event is appropriate for all ages, and is sponsored by The Festival of Words, Frederick L’Ecole Des Arts and the Thensted Center. For more information, contact Patrice Melnick at (337) 662-1032 or festivalwords@gmail.com.

Barkley, Secret Service Dog

There’s a new cartoon character in the White House — and no, this is not a political dig. A new chapter book series has been published involving Barkley, a secret service dog patrolling the halls of the White House. This charming series aimed at children ages 8-12 began this summer with “The Case of the Purple Diamonds.” The book, and those that will follow, contain an interesting cast of characters and Barkley’s high-tech Gizmo Gear, plus 12-year-old Gabby who teams up with Barkley to solve cases. The books are the creation of H.K. Gilbert of Shreveport and screenwriter Misty Taggert (“Scooby Doo,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”). Together they make up Gilbert & Taggert Entertainment Properties, with illustrations by Tim Davis. Coming out this fall will be “Invasion of the Ice Age,” where Gabby’s science teacher accidentally sets off his Ice-0-Matic Blaster just before the president arrives, and this winter it’s “The Mystery of the Ghostly Guest,” involving dead White House pirates who continue to hang around. For information on the “Barkley, Secret Service Dog” series, visit www.Barkley-ChapterBooks.com.

New releases

Preston Lauterbach discusses the Chitlin’ Circuit, an underground circuit of Southern musical clubs frequented by African American musicians, in “The Chitlin’ Circuit: And the Road to Rock ’n’ Roll.” Preston looks at musicians James Brown, B.B. King, Little Richard and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, as well as Chicago Defender columnist Walter Barnes and gambler Denver Ferguson.

Louisiana romance icon Jennifer Blake has published a new series involving three sisters and a curse titled “The Three Graces Trilogy;” any man betrothed to the three Graces of Graydon without love will be doomed to die. The first two books in the series are “By His Majestry’s Grace” and “By Grace Possessed” with “Seduced by Grace” arriving later this month. Sourcebooks has also reprinted Blake’s “Midnight Waltz,” set in Southern Louisiana in the 1850s and concluding with the hurricane at Isle Derniere, or Last Island, in 1856.           
Tom Piazza of New Orleans collects writings on American roots music, New Orleans, desperate times and more in “Devil Sent the Rain: Music and Writing in Desperate America.” Piazza is the author of “City of Refuge” and “Why New Orleans Matters.”

Todd-Michael St. Pierre has created a fun-loving, big-boned feline who loves to dance and enjoy life in New Orleans, but who longs for a mate in “Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras: La Chatte Noire” by Piggy Press. This adorable book has Chatte Noire going out on dates to places such as Cat O’Brien’s and St Louis CAThedral but no one stirs her fancy until she hears the sounds of Max playing "killer sax." Illustrated by Diane Millsap, the book is published in English and in French.

The Images of America series of Arcadia Publishing has released “K&B Drugs Stores” by John S. Epstein, with a foreword by Sydney J. Besthoff III, grandson of the founder with Gustave Katz of the Katz and Besthoff drugstore chain. The book showcases wonderful old photos of the 50 New Orleans stores, plus the others located throughout six states during the business’s 92-year span. The book also contains photos of old advertisements, fountain menus, K&B products (with their trademark purple) and even K&B LSU football schedules. For anyone who fondly remembers eating K&B ice cream at their counters, the purple paper bags or the “double checked” prescriptions, they will love this trip down memory lane.

100 Thousand Poets

On Sept. 24, several Louisiana poets will be part of the 100 Thousand Poets for Change, the largest poetry event in history involving more than 500 events in 350-plus cities in 80 countries. In Louisiana, two events will occur in New Orleans and one in Lafayette. Numerous poetry–related events will happen at the Acadiana Center for the Arts in downtown Lafayette, with the $6 admission being donated to non-profit organizations. Poets from Shreveport, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge and throughout Acadiana are scheduled to participate, and the ULL poetry group will perform a series of open-space musical and literary skits.  During the intermission, Webcasts of other 100 Thousand Poets for Change events will run in the AcA's James Devin Moncus Theatre. The Lafayette event will be webcast and recorded and archived by UC Stanford’s LOCKSS program. For more information, visit www.bigbridge.org/100thousandpoetsforchange.

September Book Events

Natchitoches author Danny R. Von Kanel will lead a “Get Published” seminar from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14, at the Causeway Branch of the St. Tammany Library system.

The Foundation for Historical Louisiana will sponsor a lecture and book signing with author Andrew Smith at noon Thursday, Sept. 15, at the Old Governor's Mansion in Baton Rouge. Smith will discuss his book Starving the South: How the North Won the Civil War. Admission is free for FHL members and $10 for guests.

Warren Perrin will sign copies of “Vermilion Parish” at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, at the Thriftway Pharmacy in Abbeville.

The Friends of the Lafayette Library Book Sale will be Tuesday through Thursday, Sept. 20-22, at the Heyman Performing Arts and Convention Center Ballroom in Lafayette. Friends members get a sneak preview from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 19, and you can join up at the door for only a small fee. Regular hours to the general public are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 21-22, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22.  This year’s silent auction, held in conjunction with the sale, will at the South Regional Branch Library, 6101 Johnston St. Titles available for auction can be viewed at the Friends’ website, www.friendsofthelafayettelibrary.org. For information, call 501-9209.

Casa Azul Gifts in Grand Coteau will host a Multilingual Open Mic at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, featuring poems, songs and stories performed in different languages. The free event is open to the public and appropriate for all ages. For more information, contact Patrice Melnick at (337) 662-1032 or email festivalwords@gmail.com.

The film “The Motorcycle Diaries” will be shown at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, at the South Regional Branch Library, 6101 Johnston St., as part of Hispanic Heritage Month.“The Milagro Beanfield War” will be shown at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, with a “Movie Coffee Break” at 8 p.m. to discuss the movie and the John Nichols book on which it was based.

Casa Azul Gifts in Grand Coteau will host a poetry reading by Nicole Poret, followed by an open mic, concluding with a dramatic reading of Jo Englerth's and Bonnie Camos' The Gris Gris Sisters performed by Patricia Cravins and Becca Begnaud at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29.

100 Thousand Poets for Change 

On Sept. 24, several Louisiana poets will be part of the 100 Thousand Poets for Change, the largest poetry event in history involving more than 500 events in 350-plus cities in 80 countries. One of those cities will be Lafayette. Numerous poetry–related events will happen at the Acadiana Center for the Arts in downtown Lafayette, with the $6 admission being donated to non-profit organizations. Jessica Bordelon of The Break Room Coffee Shop, Jonathan Penton of Unlikely Stories magazine and Rhonda Dean Robison and Lana Maht Wiggins of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette will perform a multi-generational, multi-approach poetry show and festival. Traditional poets such as former Louisiana Poet Laureate Darrell Bourque and LSU’s Laura Mullen will perform with the spoken word troupe Revolution Theory. Poets from Shreveport, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge and throughout Acadiana are scheduled to participate, and the ULL poetry group will perform a series of open-space musical and literary skits. An open mic will accommodate last-minute additions to the stage and local organizations will discuss what they’re doing for change in Louisiana. During the intermission, there will be 100 Thousand Poets for Change Webcasts in the AcA’s James Devin Moncus Theatre. The Lafayette event will be webcast and recorded and archived by UC Stanford.       Sponsors for the event are Acting Up (in Acadiana), BBR Creative, The Break Room Coffee Shop, The Festival of Words, Unlikely Books and the ULL English Department-Creative Writing. In addition to the Lafayette event, two events are planned for New Orleans. For more information, visit www.bigbridge.org/100thousandpoetsforchange. 

McFarland brings a fresh voice to mysteries

The recent New Orleans marsh fires that reached into Acadiana showed us how easily a wildfire can affect the local environment — and how widespread the damage can be. In California, where conditions are extremely hot and dry after months of no rain, wildfires and the areas they affect can be extremely fast-moving and dangerous.

Nora McFarland sets her latest mystery “Hot, Shot and Bothered” in the fictional town of Elizabeth Lake, just outside of Bakersfield, Calif., while a wildlife threatens to overtake the town and surrounding areas. Lilly Hawkins is a TV news photographer, known as a “shooter,” capturing B-film on the fire when a coroner’s van rushes past. She follows hoping for an exclusive, taking her within miles of the blaze. A woman has drowned on Elizabeth Lake and authorities don’t want to spend time investigating while the fire approaches the town — all hands are needed on the fire line — and at first Lilly assumes it’s one of many accidents that happen on the lake every year.

When Lilly realizes the victim is Jessica Eagan, an environmental activist Lilly knew from her reckless youth, her instincts kick in. Things are not adding up and what’s being said of Jessica doesn’t ring true. While the fire rages and the police have left the crime scene, Lilly investigates what she sees as Jessica’s murder, enlisting the help of her on-air boyfriend, her crazy uncle Bud and other colorful members of the KJAY staff.

All the while, the fire gets closer and closer.           

“Hot, Shot and Bothered” will keep you turning pages well into the night, enjoying McFarland’s clever writing, humorous anecdotes and style and an unrelenting heroine with traits everyone can relate to. She’s a fresh voice in mysteries and I hope we see more in this series.

Wilcox receives Louisiana Writer Award

Author James Wilcox will receive the Louisiana Center for the Book Louisiana Writer Award at a ceremony during the Louisiana Book Festival on Saturday, Oct. 29, in Baton Rouge.

The Louisiana Book Festival is a free, daylong event where authors such as Wilcox will hold workshops to discuss their works and careers, plus there will be book sales, food, entertainment and activities for children.

Wilcox, director of creative writing at LSU, is the author of nine novels, most of which are set in or feature characters from the fictional town of Tula Springs, La. His most famous novel, “Modern Baptists,” was released in 1983 and has been included in Harold Bloom’s “The Western Canon” and was listed in the GQ 45th anniversary issue as one of the best works of fiction published in the past 45 years.

Wilcox’s book reviews have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Elle. His eighth novel, “Heavenly Days,” was featured on the New York Times Notable Book list. Wilcox currently holds the MacCurdy Distinguished Professorship in the LSU College of Arts and Sciences.

The Louisiana Writer Award is given annually to recognize outstanding contributions to the literary and intellectual life of Louisiana. Past recipients include novelist and short story writer Tim Gautreaux; children’s author William Joyce; poets Yusef Komunyakaa and William Jay Smith; historian Carl A. Brasseaux; novelists James Lee Burke, Ernest J. Gaines, Shirley Ann Grau, Elmore Leonard and Valerie Martin; and scholar Lewis P. Simpson.

For more information about the Louisiana Book Festival, visit www.LouisianaBookFestival.org.