Travis Mills (author of TOUGH AS THEY COME) is one of five soldiers to survive quadruple amputee injuries from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He discusses misconceptions others have about his experience, and why he doesn’t dwell in the past.
Thousands have been wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Five have survived quadruple amputee injuries. This is one soldier’s story.
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Thousands of soldiers die year to defend their country. United States Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills was sure that he would become another statistic when, during his third tour of duty in Afghanistan, he was caught in an IED blast four days before his twenty-fifth birthday. Against the odds, he lived, but at a severe cost—Travis became one of only five soldiers from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to survive a quadruple amputation.
Suddenly forced to reconcile with the fact that he no longer had arms or legs, Travis was faced with a future drastically different from the one he had imagined for himself. He would never again be able to lead his squad, stroke his fingers against his wife’s cheek, or pick up his infant daughter.
Travis struggled through the painful and anxious days of rehabilitation so that he could regain the strength to live his life to the fullest. With enormous willpower and endurance, the unconditional love of his family, and a generous amount of faith, Travis shocked everyone with his remarkable recovery. Even without limbs, he still swims, dances with his wife, rides mountain bikes, and drives his daughter to school.
Travis inspires thousands every day with his remarkable journey. He doesn’t want to be thought of as wounded. “I’m just a man with scars,” he says, “living life to the fullest and best I know how.”
TOUGH AS THEY COME by Travis Mills & Marcus Brotherton. Convergent Books (October 27, 2015). ISBN: 978-1101904787. 272p.
Comments Off on Misconceptions about being a recalibrated veteran | Nonfiction, Ramblings | Permalink Posted by Stacy Alesi
The International Thriller Writers (ITW) is proud to announce the most thrilling authors of 2016. The winners of this year’s ITW Thriller Awards are:
2016 THRILLERMASTER AWARD: Heather Graham is the bestselling author of The Cafferty and Quinn series, The Krewe of Hunters series, and the Bone Island Trilogy. Graham also launched books for Dell’s Ecstasy Supreme line, Silhouette’s Shadows, and for Harlequin’s mainstream fiction imprint, Mira Books. The award was presented by R.L. Stine,the2011 ThrillerMaster Award winner.
2016 SILVER BULLET AWARD: Lescroart, a founding member of ITW and a New York Times bestselling author of legal thrillers, has donated funds from character-naming auctions to support libraries, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and many others. He’s also been involved in the Authors on the Move fundraiser for the Sacramento Public Library Foundation. Lescroart was presented the award by Steve Berry, the 2013 Silver Bullet Literary Award winner.
The winners of the best hard cover novel, best paperback original, best first novel, best e-book original, best young adult novel and best short story are:
BEST HARD COVER NOVEL
Ian Caldwell, THE FIFTH GOSPEL (Simon & Schuster)
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL NOVEL
John Gilstrap, AGAINST ALL ENEMIES (Pinnacle)
BEST FIRST NOVEL
Brian Panowich, BULL MOUNTAIN (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
BEST E-BOOK ORIGINAL NOVEL
Chris Kuzneski, THE PRISONER’S GOLD (Chris Kuzneski)
BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
Michelle Painchaud PRETENDING TO BE ERICA (Viking Books for Young Readers)
BEST SHORT STORY
Joyce Carol Oates GUN ACCIDENT: AN INVESTIGATION (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine)
There’s only one event where you can find New York Times best-selling authors lurking around every single corner, literary agents actually appearing in broad daylight and fans openly plotting and conspiring with the most feared and revered names of the thriller genre. We hope that you join us in 2017 for ThrillerFest XII, the International Thriller Writers’ twelfth annual celebration of all things Thriller, the largest event of its kind in the world. The highlight of the festival is the gala ITW Thriller Awards Banquet during which a fresh batch of authors will be announced as the chosen heroes of suspense. www.thrillerfest.com
My favorite conference every year! Hope to see you there next summer.
Author Ben Ehrenreich (THE WAY TO THE SPRING: LIFE AND DEATH IN PALESTINE) discusses when he first began writing about the West Bank, and the ways in which Palestine surprised him.
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From an award-winning journalist, a brave and necessary immersion into the everyday struggles of Palestinian life
Over the past three years, American writer Ben Ehrenreich has been traveling to and living in the West Bank, staying with Palestinian families in its largest cities and its smallest villages. Along the way he has written major stories for American outlets, including a remarkable New York Times Magazine cover story. Now comes the powerful new work that has always been his ultimate goal, The Way to the Spring.
We are familiar with brave journalists who travel to bleak or war-torn places on a mission to listen and understand, to gather the stories of people suffering from extremes of oppression and want: Katherine Boo, Ryszard Kapuściński, Ted Conover, and Philip Gourevitch among them. Palestine is, by any measure, whatever one’s politics, one such place. Ruled by the Israeli military, set upon and harassed constantly by Israeli settlers who admit unapologetically to wanting to drive them from the land, forced to negotiate an ever more elaborate and more suffocating series of fences, checkpoints, and barriers that have sundered home from field, home from home, this is a population whose living conditions are unique, and indeed hard to imagine. In a great act of bravery, empathy and understanding, Ben Ehrenreich, by placing us in the footsteps of ordinary Palestinians and telling their story with surpassing literary power and grace, makes it impossible for us to turn away.
THE WAY TO THE SPRING by Ben Ehrenreich. Penguin Press (June 14, 2016). ISBN: 978-1594205903. 448p.
Comments Off on Writing about the West Bank and Palestine | Nonfiction, Ramblings | Permalink Posted by Stacy Alesi
My heart just broke when I heard about the Orlando shootings. I was at work when I got a news alert on my phone. Luckily, the library wasn’t open yet so I was able to jump online to find out what was going on. I sat at the desk just crying until I finally had to turn it off and open the library.
I am so appreciative that Crown Books for Young Readers reached out to me to work with Jazz Jennings during this very difficult Pride Month. I will be at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Orlando and Jazz is one of the keynote speakers. I’m hoping to get to meet her there and thank her personally for sharing her story.
Crown Books for Young Readers recently released BEING JAZZ: MY LIFE AS A (TRANSGENDER) TEEN by 15-year-old Jazz Jennings. The release of the book coincides with the second season of the TLC docu-series I Am Jazz, which started airing on June 8, 2016.
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BEING JAZZ is thestory of an ordinary teen living in extraordinary circumstances. As soon as she could talk, Jazz Jennings—who everyone assumed was a boy when she was born—let her family know that she was really a girl. Now one of the most prominent transgender rights advocates, Jazz Jennings is also the latest featured Author Ambassador on ReadProudListenProud.com.
In her memoir, Jennings shares her very public journey and reflects on how these experiences have helped shape the mainstream attitude toward the transgender community. Now in high school, Jazz also addresses the physical, social, and emotional upheavals of adolescence, complicated by the unique challenges of being a transgender teen. This is a story that has the power to make a difference in the lives of children, teens, parents and families nationwide.
ABOUT #READPROUDLISTENPROUD
Read Proud Listen Proud, a joint effort by Listening Library, Penguin Young Readers and Random House Children’s Books, is an online resource designed to spark discussion in the classroom and at home and to encourage understanding through storytelling, celebrating everyone for who they are. The website recommends LGBTQ books for young adults and provides kids and teens, parents, educators and librarians thought-provoking discussion guides, inspiring author interviews, and audio clips, all hosted at www.readproudlistenproud.com.
Read Proud Listen Proud was inspired by the work of the We Need Diverse Books movement. Since its launch in June 2015, Read Proud Listen Proud has received an enthusiastic response from the publishing community, educators, and librarians and was nominated for an Excellence in Marketing Award by the Audio Publishers Association.
Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen by Jazz Jennings. Crown Books for Young Readers (June 7, 2016). ISBN: 978-0399554643. 272p.
At 17, Author Terry McMillan (I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT YOU) composed her first unassigned piece of writing—a poem about a break-up. What it may have lacked in quality it made up for in honesty. Learn more about Terry’s writing here: http://bit.ly/1O64NfP
Today is my 35th wedding anniversary. I hope you will indulge me as I use this forum to honor my husband.
Larry and I met in 1977 at Dowling College in Oakdale, NY. I had just turned 17, he was 19, and fate and my high school guidance counselor brought us together.
I planned on graduating high school early but my parents refused to give me permission. I was already a year ahead in school, and my parents didn’t want me leaving home that young. My senior year I had two classes, Driver’s Ed and gym. And Driver’s Ed was only one semester. So they acquiesced and let me graduate mid-year. Because it was all so last minute, and my parents didn’t want me going too far, my guidance counselor, Pat Confrey, helped get me into Dowling College, a small, private college on Long Island. Mr. Confrey refereed lacrosse games there and had a good relationship with the school.
Larry and I hooked up a month later and have been together ever since. He played lacrosse (the team was undefeated that year) so I got to thank my old guidance counselor at one of the games.
I truly believe that Larry and I were destined to be together. There are all these weird coincidences that have run through our lives.
We both had planned on transferring to a school in Florida. I had to wait a year, per parental decree, so
approx. 1979
he waited for me. He went to the Florida Institute of Technology in Jensen Beach, and I headed for the University of Miami. We planned our schedules so that we never had classes on Friday. I didn’t have a car so he would drive down every Thursday night to pick me up and bring me back to Jensen Beach, where he shared a house with our closest friends from Dowling. Then on Sunday night he would drive me back to Miami. We are talking about a little more than 4 hours driving every Friday and again on Sunday. Every week.
Larry attended junior high school with my step-sister on my father’s side. He was a year ahead of Alan, my step-brother on my mother’s side, in high school, and had been to his house and had met my stepfather way before I ever did. They had mutual friends and still do to this day.
When I was in junior high, I used to hang out at Salisbury Park on Long Island. Larry worked there summers on the grounds crew. Did I ever see him? Who knows.
I grew up in Merrick, NY and my best friend’s parents owned a fabric store in Plainview. Occasionally I went with her to the store. Larry grew up in Plainview and his mother was quite the seamstress, so she was often in that store and so was he. I can’t help but wonder if we were ever there at the same time.
There are more coincidences, but you get the idea.
Our wedding was beautiful but almost didn’t happen. Not because of us or our relationship, but because of my crazy father. you’ll have to wait for the book to get all the juicy details!
Larry has always supported and encouraged me in whatever I wanted to do. When I started my own website back in the Geocities days, he bought me my own domain. I was in my 40’s when I decided to go back and finish college and he was thrilled for me. When I decided to go to library school at age 50, he was there for me, picking up the slack at home, driving me across the state when I had an occasional class in Tampa. When I was invited to speak at various conferences around the country, he was driving me to the airport and even came along on some trips.
Larry has stood by me and given me strength when I needed it most. When our son was born 6 weeks premature and I was freaking out about bringing home a 4 lb. baby on a heart monitor, he calmed me down and made me feel like we would be just fine. And we were. And when I couldn’t get pregnant the second time, and would burst into tears whenever I spotted a baby, he comforted me. And when we needed to go through all those infertility tests, and our crappy insurance didn’t cover any of it, somehow we managed. Eventually we had a beautiful daughter and our family was complete.
Larry has always made me feel special, and beautiful, and loved. He’s surprisingly romantic, caring, thoughtful and understanding. He’s an awe-inspiring father, and an outstanding son. I couldn’t ask for a better husband. I can only wish for thirty-five more years with this man.
Dave Hill, Malcolm Gladwell, & Dick Cavett in:
“Books Can Be Your Buddies”
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Dick Cavett hosts the first and last episode of “Books Can Be Your Buddies,” a chat show about books. In this episode comedian/musician Dave Hill and noted person Malcolm Gladwell angrily discuss Dave’s new book, DAVE HILL DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE. Read more about Dave’s work, including an excerpt: http://bit.ly/1sukiEi
Starring: Titus Welliver, Amy Aquino, Lance Reddick, Jamie Hector
First aired: February 2015
Where you can watch it: Amazon Prime
Two remarkable things happened in 1992 that will forever be intertwined in my mind; my daughter was born and so was Harry Bosch. The Black Echo won the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery Novel and remarkably, the series has continued to grow even stronger. For me, Michael Connelly is the finest crime fiction writer working today.
Connelly has had films made of The Lincoln Lawyer and Blood Work, and they were not memorable. Then the Bosch TV series was announced. I knew that Connelly had held out for someone who shared his vision, and he found that with Eric Overmyer (Treme, The Wire). I knew Connelly was going to be hands-on with the project, and I knew I would watch it—but what I didn’t know was if I would like it.
Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch is a Los Angeles homicide detective who loves his job, his city, and jazz. The series reflects all that, and the nuances that brought Harry to life on the page are now reflected on the screen in Titus Welliver as Harry Bosch. He’s younger and better looking than he is in the books, he’s a veteran of the Gulf War instead of the Vietnam War, and some of the timeline has changed, but the changes make sense. Best of all, this is a TV series so there is no need to solve a crime in 90 minutes.
Connelly says, “It has been an incredible experience being involved in telling these stories again. From writing to casting to choosing locations, my involvement is full and feels like a hyper-surreal replay of what goes on in my head when I’m writing a Bosch novel. But all the chess pieces so to speak are real and flesh and blood. It’s pretty wonderful to spend time in this alternate universe.”
I have had a 20-plus year relationship with Harry Bosch, and all I can say is Titus Welliver nailed it. I fell in love with Harry all over again. The rest of the cast is spot on as well, and some will be familiar to fans of HBO’s The Wire. Jaime Hector as Bosch’s partner, Jerry Edgar, and Lance Reddick as Irvin Irving are perfectly cast, as is Amy Aquino as the lieutenant.
Bosch is a smart police drama with compelling characters and interesting storylines that should appeal to fans of the books and fans of cop shows. The attention to detail really pays off, from shooting on location in Los Angeles to filming in the actual LAPD detective bureau.
The first season starts off with Harry involved in a civil suit after he kills a fleeing suspect. Meanwhile his new assignment comes when the old bones of a badly abused child are found in the woods, and there is a serial killer on the loose in Los Angeles. These stories all intertwine, and the superior writing and acting makes Bosch perfect for binge-watching.
There have been two seasons, 10 episodes each, produced so far, and a third season has been green-lighted.
April 28, 2016, New York, NY: Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce the winners of the 2016 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2015. The Edgar® Awards were presented to the winners at our 70th Gala Banquet, April 28, 2016 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City.
Billy Collins is one of my favorite poets. I adore his sense of humor and irony. I’d like to share a few favorites; this first is The Revenant. This is a video of Collins reading it at the Miami Book Fair a few years ago. Collins channels the spirit of a deceased dog and subverts the accepted relationship of man and his best friend. The poet somewhat playfully pokes fun at modern pet owners, and by extension modern people in general, by using the angry spirit of a dog to point out the various indulgent absurdities that they purchase.
This is another favorite, for obvious reasons.
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Books by Billy Collins
From the heart of this dark, evacuated campus
I can hear the library humming in the night,
a choir of authors murmuring inside their books
along the unlit, alphabetical shelves,
Giovanni Pontano next to Pope, Dumas next to his son,
each one stitched into his own private coat,
together forming a low, gigantic chord of language.
I picture a figure in the act of reading,
shoes on a desk, head tilted into the wind of a book,
a man in two worlds, holding the rope of his tie
as the suicide of lovers saturates a page,
or lighting a cigarette in the middle of a theorem.
He moves from paragraph to paragraph
as if touring a house of endless, paneled rooms.
I hear the voice of my mother reading to me
from a chair facing the bed, books about horses and dogs,
and inside her voice lie other distant sounds,
the horrors of a stable ablaze in the night,
a bark that is moving toward the brink of speech.
I watch myself building bookshelves in college,
walls within walls, as rain soaks New England,
or standing in a bookstore in a trench coat.
I see all of us reading ourselves away from ourselves,
straining in circles of light to find more light
until the line of words becomes a trail of crumbs
that we follow across a page of fresh snow; when evening is shadowing the forest
and small birds flutter down to consume the crumbs,
we have to listen hard to hear the voices
of the boy and his sister receding into the woods.
From the collection Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins
Finally, if you want to give your mother something really special for Mother’s Day, perhaps you can read her this poem:
The Lanyard by Billy Collins
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The other day I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room,
moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.
No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one into the past more suddenly-
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid long thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.
I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.
She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-clothes on my forehead,
and then led me out into the air light
and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.
Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift – not the worn truth
that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-toned lanyard from my hand,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.
From the collectionThe Trouble with Poetry by Billy Collins
In a touching and funny way, Collins identifies one thing I’m sure all children thought at some point, that we can “repay” our mothers in some sense for all that they do for us. Of course, that’s impossible, but that is, as Collins correctly notes, a “worn truth.” It seems blindingly obvious that we can never repay our mothers. The comic relief in which Collins throws this is wonderful. All the selfless, loving acts of motherhood answered with, “yes, I know, here’s a lanyard.” It’s often said that parenting is a thankless job, and the naivete of children when it comes to gratitude probably does not help.
While I am not a parent, I still think that most mothers (or fathers) would accept that lanyard with thankfulness and joy. I hope you think about selfless love, reader, and enjoy the humor of the poem. We can never repay our mothers, but that’s not important. Love is boundless, and knows no time frame. It makes the world go round, and even when our loved ones are gone, is still as present as that lanyard buried somewhere in a drawer in the house. (analysis courtesy of A Poem A Day)
Comments Off on April is National Poetry Month | Ramblings | Permalink Posted by Stacy Alesi
Posted by Stacy Alesi 
My heart just broke when I heard about the Orlando shootings. I was at work when I got a news alert on my phone. Luckily, the library wasn’t open yet so I was able to jump online to find out what was going on. I sat at the desk just crying until I finally had to turn it off and open the library.
Today is my 35th wedding anniversary. I hope you will indulge me as I use this forum to honor my husband.
BEST NOVEL
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