When I
did my usual first-thing-in-the-morning run through my email and Facebook this
morning I thought to myself that the world of books was really alive with news.
Let me
begin with the event that caused few ripples in that world but was a major celebration
for me: Saving Grace is now available in print and digital from Amazon
and in digital form from several other platforms. I know some people labor for
years over one book—I can’t quite claim that. Almost two years ago I wrote twenty-thousand
words about a young woman who was assistant to a TV chef in Chicago. I put it
aside, I suspect because the contract for The Second Battle of the Alamo came
through.
Last April,
frustrated with quarantine and the temporary closing of my western publisher,
which meant I had no projects, I picked up Irene’s story again. (Really it’s Henny’s
story.) Whichever, it struck me as not too bad, and thereafter I wrote daily
until I found myself at the end of a convoluted mystery, all told by Henny.
Here’s
what my longtime friend and mentor, Fred Erisman, said about the novel: “It's beignets versus bagels when
Julia Child wannabe Chef Irene and her loyal gofer [JA1] Henrietta ("Henny" to her
friends) cross ladles over the contents of a planned cookbook. What follows is
a nicely convoluted murder mystery and a glorification of America's diverse
cuisines, played out against the attractions of a lovingly drawn Chicago.—Fred
Erisman, In Their Own Words: Forgotten Women Pilots of Early
Aviation.
And
here’s the Amazon order link: https://tinyurl.com/yyffdr4t
Today I announced the book several places but
most thoroughly on the blog known as Killer Crafts and Crafty Killers. You can
read about Henny and Irene as they stir a stew of murder, kidnapping, and
French gossip—and you get a free recipe for Hamburger Stroganoff. Irene called
it peasant food, but Henny and I like it a lot. https://anastasiapollack.blogspot.com/2020/09/cooking-with-cloris-author-judy-alters.html
Other books also caught my eye this morning: One,
featured in a special Shelf Awareness email was Outlawed by Anne
North. How can y ou resist a first line like this: “In the year of our Lord
1894, I became an outlaw.” Yes, it’s a western but so different—a Feminist take
on Etta Place and the Hole in the Wall Gang. Set in an alternate-historical setting—the
U.S. government has collapsed and in its place are Independent Towns West of
the Mississippi-- with a determined and almost fearless heroine, the novel touches
on such themes as the politics of infertility and gender identity. Read more
about it here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46038742-outlawed
In 2002 (I
think) Leisure Books published my historical novel about Etta Place, Sundance,
Butch, and Me. It was and is nowhere as inventive as North’s version—the wildest
assumption I made was a long-term attraction between Etta and Butch. At the
time I thought sticking to the facts of her story was bizarre enough, but now I’m
anxious to read what Anne North has done with the material.
When I turned to the daily column of Shelf Awareness, an online newsletter
for booksellers, I found a lengthy piece on an
interview with controversial fighter for equality, Reverend Al Sharpton. I have
never been sure what I thought about Sharpton—a troublemaker? A publicity-hound?
A sincere fighter for racial equality? A devout man of God? I came away from
this article with respect for his sincerity. Sharpton’s had a long career and
was set to retire just about when trump was elected. He recalled saying to
himself, “Wait a minute … I better rethink that. A lot of what we fought for is
at stake.” He praised booksellers, saying they are in a unique position to help
our country make major changes.
Sharpton’s new book is Rise Up: A Country at
the Crossroads. Read about the interview here: https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3813#m49672.
So
many books, so little time!
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