October 14, 2016

Podcast: A Father Reads His Stories to His Daughter

Podcast: A Father Reads His Stories to His Daughter

Michael Larrain is a poet and novelist whose poetry has appeared before in the Fictional Café. We welcome him back, this time as a storyteller in the Podcast section of the Café. Our October offerings are devoted to three of Michael’s stories, created especially for his darling daughter Wilder Kathleen The Rage of Paris Larrain – yes, that is her real name – which he not only wrote but which he has recorded for her, and our, listening pleasure. The first is entitled “The Girl With The Loom In Her Room.” Click on the arrow to listen. * Michael Larrain was born in Los Angeles in 1947. He is the author of four collections of poems: The Promises Kept in Sleep, Just One Drink for the Diamond Cutter, For One Moment There Was No Queen, and How…

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October 13, 2016

Galerie ZonZon Presents The Fine Art of Isabelle Zutter

Galerie ZonZon Presents The Fine Art of Isabelle Zutter

We’re delighted to have Daniele Maguet and her wonderful Galerie ZonZon in Brest, France, as an art partner with the Fictional Café. Every so often, Dany will suggest an artist whose work is going on display at her gallery for us to present here in the Café, and it is our pleasure this month to welcome Isabelle Zutter. She lives and paints in Montpellier, France, which is 10 kilometers inland from the Mediterranean Sea. Although the city has roots back to the 1300s, it is a very hip place, home to three universities and a vibrant community of the arts. Isabelle has shared her artist’s statement with us: “My Mediterranean is in Montpellier, but it might as well be in Athens, Casablanca and Barcelona. The light and contrasts I play with rely on odors, sounds that we share…

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September 16, 2016

Podcast: “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis, Episode 2

Podcast: “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis, Episode 2

Here we continue our September podcast of the Amazon/Audible audiobook, “It Can’t Happen Here,” with thanks to Amazon, Blackstone Audio, Inc. and the excellent narration by Grover Gardner. In this segment we see how Senator “Buzz” Windrip insidiously works toward becoming president from the perspective of Doremus Jessup, editor of a small-town Vermont newspaper. In case you missed last Friday’s first episode, it’s here. If you have any concerns about the sentiment of the American people or their feelings about the current presidential candidates, you owe it to yourself to listen to, or read, this novel. The Audiobooks version is available here on Amazon for a very reasonable price, or free if you take a one-month subscription.

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September 14, 2016

When Ghosts of the City’s Past Linger: A Review of “The Appearance of Annie Van Sinderen,” by Simran P. Gupta

When Ghosts of the City’s Past Linger: A Review of “The Appearance of Annie Van Sinderen,” by Simran P. Gupta

Editor’s Note: With this book review, we take great pleasure in introducing Simran P. Gupta, a new and talented contributor to Fictional Café. Learn more about Simran at the end of her review. We hope to be seeing a lot more of her writing here at the Café! When Ghosts of the City’s Past Linger: A Review of “The Appearance of Annie Van Sinderen,” by Simran P. Gupta Katherine Howe’s YA novel, The Appearance of Annie Van Sinderen, is a perfect combination of spooky and romantic. The result is an equally enthralling and chilling story. Perhaps most impressive is the fact that Howe has written a love story in which one half of the equation is a ghost– yet she never says the word. As summer eases into autumn, this is a perfect book to…

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September 9, 2016

Podcast: “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis, First Episode

Podcast: “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis, First Episode

In 1935, a well regarded novelist named Sinclair Lewis published a book entitled It Can’t Happen Here.  The story concerns a senator who is perceived as a man of, for and by the people. But when elected president, he reveals himself as a dictator and turns the United States into a totalitarian police state. This is a story which, 81 years later, still makes Americans cringe. Yet as we look toward the 2016 presidential elections, it’s hard to escape the fact that the Republican candidate frequently rings this bell. For further evidence of this view, read this op-ed from the Boston Globe by Joan Wickersham, “An eerily familiar fiction.” Once a stage play, the novel was never made into a movie. Fortunately, it was made into an Audible Audiobook, which we are excerpting here with…

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August 29, 2016

Emily Harstone says Writers Must Be Readers

Emily Harstone says Writers Must Be Readers

There are essentially two schools of thought about how to become a writer. The older European school says read, read, read. The newer American school says, go to college – in particular a graduate creative writing program – and study to be a writer. Emily Harstone (a nom de plume) wrote the following article, “Why Writers Need To Read To Be Writers” for the AuthorsPublish website [if you’re a writer and you aren’t a member, you should be]. Following AuthorsPublish guidelines, here is an excerpt from Emily’s article. Go to the article link above to read it in its entirety. “When I was a child I read one book every day. And by a book, I mean a one hundred to two hundred page novel. Usually it was part of a series. Often it was nothing that would…

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August 26, 2016

Podcast: “Confessions of a Troll” Part 4

Podcast: “Confessions of a Troll” Part 4

Here’s the last excerpt from Artemis Greenleaf’s delightful coming-of-age novel/podcast. If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve listened to over the past four weeks, please visit Podiobooks to download the entire novel [or the remaining chapters – you get to choose!]. When you visit Artemis’s site or podcast, please remember to praise and reward the author’s work with a review and a tip. Thank you. We really do appreciate it. Please click on the arrow below to listen to Part 4 of “Confessions of a Troll.”

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August 18, 2016

Partners in Caffeine: The Best Coffee This Side of Arcturus

Partners in Caffeine: The Best Coffee This Side of Arcturus

We’re partners in caffeine-imbibing with a real coffee shop, the Cafe Monte Alto in Plymouth, New Hampshire. It’s a very cool place on Main Street, across the town green and down the street from Plymouth State University. They grow and sell fair trade coffees from their plantations in Peru, and boy, it’s a great coffee! We’re fortunate that their various roasts are not only outstanding, not only 100% Arabica shade grown, not only reasonably priced, but also available by mail order from their website. I never want to be without Monte Alto’s Dark Roast, so I order it in five-pound bags! We have a link to Monte Alto on our Home page. The owners are not only artistes in coffee roasting, but also love to have artists hang their work on the cafe walls and exhibit on their…

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August 11, 2016

Book Review: “Secrets Can’t Be Kept Forever” by Stephen Seitz

Book Review: “Secrets Can’t Be Kept Forever” by Stephen Seitz

I recently attended “Bookstock 2016,” the Woodstock, Vermont, annual book festival. Many of us authors had our published works on display, for sale, and it was there I met author Stephen Seitz and his wife Susan. He’s written quite a few novels in the mystery genre and as we talked I became more interested in reading his work. I bought this one, Secrets Can’t Be Kept Forever, in paperback. The story begins innocently enough, focusing on the trials and tribulations of Ace Herron, the crime reporter for a small local newspaper that’s been bought by a media conglomerate. In the course of his work he learns of a father who has embezzled a large sum from his employer, kidnapped his son, and taken off for parts unknown. Ace pursues the story, which takes many surprising twists…

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