Restaurant review: The 24 Market Restaurant

The first cup of coffee (sweetened with genuine “Dixie Crystals” sugar) got the morning off to a good start. It had also welcomed a nice reverie thanks to a great view of an historic building which had once housed the White Star Mills.

The dining room was elegant.
White table cloths and sparkling silverware.

Breakfast was presented in buffet style with three separate stations. Although there were no conventions in town and business was obviously slow, a complete and impressive array of dining choices were available.  One station had cold items including fresh fruit and cereal. Another station had hot choices with scrambled eggs and pancakes. It was also set up for an omelette and waffle bar had a chef been present and that happens on weekends. The last station was for sides with hash browns, grits, biscuits, bacon and sausage.

My test of breakfast buffets takes me to the scrambled eggs first.  Today, the eggs were neither too firm nor too runny -- just right -- and hot.  Nothing spoils a buffet quicker than for the hot foods to be cold and vice versa.  24 Market passed all my tests with flying colors! The biscuits were light and fluffy and hot enough to melt the room temperature butter. (I hate it when the butter is so cold that even a warm biscuit won’t melt it before you’re ready to eat.)

24 Market Restaurant is located in the historic Stonewall Jackson Hotel at 24 Market Street (surprise!), Staunton, VA 24401.  Weekday hours are 7:00 A.M. to 10:30 A.M on weekdays and 7:00 A.M. till Noon on Sunday.  The price tag for this morning feast? $9.95 on weekdays and $12.95 on Sunday.  The atmosphere and charm is worth half the price at least, so the food is a real bargain!

Speaking of prices, our room rate at the hotel was about $12 more than those cheap places right off the interstate.  It is well worth the mile or two drive that takes you from the busy highway into downtown and history.

My review of "Knockout!" by Emma Calin

My father’s sister was a prolific reader.  The librarian in my small hometown of Mangham, LA was a friend of hers and made sure that Aunt Maude got all the new releases.  Irving Wallace’s novels were a favorite -- with one caveat.  In my aunt’s vernacular, they were “racy.”  The more explicit tomes earned a special designation.  Aunt Maude would say, “I had to wear my ski mask when I read that one!”  She did most of her reading in the small neighborhood convenience store she ran and didn’t want people to see her reading that genre. But read them, she did!

A description on the cover of Knockout! by Emma Calin alerts readers that this is “A Passionate Police Romance.”  And it’s not talking about Law and Order.  Romance and romantic thrillers/mysteries are not genres with which I’m familiar.  But dear old Aunt Maude’s (R.I.P) bibliophilic legacy must be in the family genes. I decided to give it a go and Knockout! was my maiden voyage into the category.  I’m a virgin no more.

Readers learn early on that Calin’s protagonist, Anna Leyton is a detective inspector with Scotland Yard and is on special assignment for Interpol.  What appears to be a chance encounter with a man who eventually shares her cab (and her bed) turns out to be -- wait -- no plot spoilers here!  We do learn that it’s been “so long” since she’s had sex, that her hormones are primed and ready to boil over any minute.  Men have often been criticized, condemned, and complained about because they let their hormones affect their judgement -- and their ability to tell the truth.  Will that happen to Anna?  Perhaps the fact that her new boss on this special assignment is a former lover will be a clue. View the video book trailer HERE.

For readers familiar with romantic thrillers, Knockout! will be a treat!  It’s a fast, fun read and will certainly satisfy their desires.  Anyone not familiar with this genre will find Knockout! a representative introduction, and like me, may learn a few things about body chemistry and anatomy.  

One thing’s for sure, Aunt Maude would have loved it, ski mask and all! 

This is a man reading the e-book version on his computer. It could be me, but I can't tell because of the ski mask! I don't have a  portable e-book reader and no plans to acquire one.  

Follow the author's blog HERE.

Knockout! is available on Amazon worldwide.  Here’s the link for U.S. customers.

Murder in Print

A writer friend of mine and I were discussing a mutual friend of ours, also a writer, who would, when the action began to wane in his stories, just kill off a character.  As it turns out, this writer friend of ours likes to put a lot of characters in his books, so when he kills one off, that person isn’t often missed -- but it adds drama and, of course, action to the story.  Often times, writers do kill characters off to build interest or create a crime for someone to solve.

After that discussion, the question crossed my mind, “How does the murder rate in real life compare to that in fiction?”

According to WikiPedia, “The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) monitors both the number and type of books published per country per year as an important index of standard of living and education, and of a country's self-awareness.” That report indicates that for the last few years, the United States has produced over 250,000 books per year.  To be conservative, let’s say that in just 100,000 of those books, someone is murdered. Heck, even the Holy Bible has a significant number of murders.  And to continue with our conservatism, let’s say that in those 100,000 books, only one person gets murdered.  That’s still 100,000 murders per year.

The most recent data available from the U.S. government, (the FBI) is from 2008.  Their report published online by The Guardian, reveals over 14,100 homicides that year.  Add to that, over 300 “justifiable homicides” committed by law enforcement officials, and we have almost 14,500 deaths per year (I doubt that they are going down.).  Again, being conservative, let’s round that number down -- way down -- to 10,000 per year.

These numbers can be interpreted into an annual “Murder in Print” rate that is ten times the actual (real live) rate.   

What does all this mean?

Should we be concerned?

If the pen is indeed mightier than the sword, should supporters of the Second Amendment be concerned?  Should authors be wary of how many characters they kill off?

Does the N.R.A. have a position on this alarming statistic?

What about our liberal progressive friends on the left?  Are they concerned that the plethora of murders in novels have an impact on the real life murder rate?  Should they be?

Or is the First Amendment the one that’s more at risk?

In my first novel, The Tourist Killer, (to be released later this year by VentureGalleries) my main character is an elite professional assassin that has dispatched (that sounds so much better than “killed” or “murdered”) thirty-seven people in an incredible career that spanned thirty years. My low profile character would never be suspected of such a career in real life.  

But let a team of Navy S.E.A.L.’s take out a high profile target, and they not only get fame, but glory, too!  

Where do we draw the line?  Who decides who lives and who dies?  Are some targets of either private or government assassins deprived of a fair trial in exchange for expediency?  Are the answers to these questions easy to answer? Are they all black and white -- or does a gray scale exist?

One thing is for sure. If the murder rate in real life was the same as that in fiction, we’d be at risk of extinction a lot sooner than if we wait on global warming!

A Gift for My Father

"And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is better to give than to receive'." -- the words of the Apostle Paul, Acts 20:35.

In my lifetime, it has been a wonderful blessing to have given many gifts that meant as much, if not more to me, than to the recipient.

Few of those gifts can top the one arranged for my father’s birthday about 15 years ago.

Not sure where the idea originated, but it seemed like something worth trying. If it worked, it would be memorable. It did, and it was.

The research to find the author’s phone number was amazingly simple. In the late 1990’s he was a practicing physician. Why wouldn’t his number be published?

“Hello. Is this Dr. Ferrol Sams?”

“Yes. This is he.”

“I’m calling because your book, When All the World Was Young, is my father’s favorite book. He’s one of those veterans that never wanted to discuss the war. He convinced me to read your book and now I know why. It speaks for him.

“Getting me to read your book was his way of telling me about his experiences in World War II. Something he could never do. Today, December 7, is his birthday. If I give you his number, would you call him?”

Dr. Ferrol Sams replied enthusiastically, “Yes! I’d be happy to!”

It’s 2012 now. Dad died back in November of 2005, the day after Veterans Day. He was ninety-one. By the time of his death, I, too, had read When All the World Was Young several times. In my father’s last few years, we visited often. Sometimes by phone. Many times in person.

The eccentric and inspirational characters created by Dr. Sams had become regular topics of our conversations. Dad and I spoke of them as if they had been family members or friends from our small Northeast Louisiana town. After the birthday telephone call, that had been so meaningful for us both, Dr. Sams became part of the gang, too. Thinking back on setting up the phone call from Dr. Sams, I realize how much that gift to my father still means to me.

Dad and I referred to the men and women we had read about by their first names. They created an additional bond for father and son. Laughter often dominated our discussions and it was wonderful for him to be able to talk about the war in his own way.

Last week, I started reading our favorite book again. Spending time with such great mutual friends reminds me of what a wonderful man my father was, the great conversations we shared -- and how much I miss him.

Interview with author/publisher Stephen Woodfin

Social media is abuzz with interest on DIY publishing. What's a person at home with a computer, some creativity, and a desire to be read, to do?   We decided to turn to a man who spends a great deal of his time writing, reviewing books and helping authors.

Attorney and author Stephen Woodfin is in charge of the book division of Venture Galleries and Gallivant Press.  He was one of the top five graduates in Kilgore High's class of 1970. He attended Kilgore College (A.A. 1972) and obtained a B.A. in religion from Dallas Baptist College, magna cum laude, in 1974. He continued his education at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 1979. While at Southeastern, Woodfin received the Cullen Midler Award in Theology, which is awarded annually to the student who presents the best paper in Systematic Theology.

After working in Dallas for several years, Woodfin moved to Waco, Texas, to attend Baylor Law School. He took his law degree in 1985 and has practiced law continuously for the last 25 years. 

Venture Galleries has been established as a new marketing and publishing house that showcases, promotes, and markets the works of talented Indie authors and artists who are building a niche in the marketplace.

We caught up with this busy man earlier this week for a brief conversation.

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FCEtier: As an independent publisher at Gallivant Press how do you see the current world of publishing?

Woodfin: The digital world of independent (indie) publishing represents the biggest change in the publishing industry since the advent of the printing press. Today virtually any author can gain access to the whole world through the Internet. It is the best thing that has ever happened for writers.

FCE: How does that differ from the old model of traditional publishing (TP) which dominated the field for so many years?

Woodfin: The fundamental difference is that authors no longer have gatekeepers. In TP an author would finish a manuscript and submit it to an agent (if he could get one). The agent then would act as the go-between with a publishing house .  So, the agent was one gatekeeper, the publishing house another. Since paper books were so costly to print, distribute and market, the author had no freedom to self-publish his own work. 

With digital publishing the cost of paper is no longer a factor, and gatekeepers have lost their place in the publishing process.

FCE: What do you see as the relationship between print books and eBooks?

Woodfin: Ebooks are here to stay. Each year their sales grow exponentially.  This pattern will continue, fueled by the proliferation of cheap eBook readers and devices like the Kindle Fire, the iPad and the Nook. Paper books will suffer the same fate as vinyl records.  This is an emotional issue for a lot of people who love the experience of reading paper books.  But, it is simply a matter of a new technology, in this case eBooks, becoming the norm.

A related issue is pricing of eBooks versus paper. TP has tended to keep eBook prices high in order to protect paper books that are priced even higher. As eBooks take over the market, publishers will have to respond by adjusting the price of their eBooks.  No one yet knows where this price point will settle.

FCE: What are the greatest challenges for indie authors and publishers?

AWoodfin: What we see right now is a tremendous surge in the number of new eBooks in the market place. So the biggest challenge for an author in this climate is finding a way to stand out from the crowd.

FCE:  If an author can self-publish without any gatekeepers, why would he want to sign on with a publisher like Gallivant Press?

Woodfin: There are a lot of reasons.  Gallivant Press pays royalties and does not charge its authors for its services. On the front end, the author gets the benefit of editing, cover design and book formatting, all of which he would have to pay for out of his pocket if he chose to self-publish. Next he receives an immediate strong presence on the web through our world class website that will host his blog and display his work. Finally, he receives the benefit of Gallivant Press’s marketing efforts on his behalf.  In essence, Gallivant does some of the heavy lifting for him, which gives him more time to focus on his writing. If the author doesn’t make sales, Gallivant doesn’t make money from his work. It’s a great way to establish a partnership with author and publisher.

FCE: Tell us about THE INDIE TRUMPET.

Woodfin: THE INDIE TRUMPET is a publication of Gallivant Press, the imprint of Venture Galleries.  We have designed it to provide cutting edge information of interest to indie authors and the reading public alike. 

FCE: How does THE TRUMPET monitor all that information and collect it for its readers?

Woodfin: It is a daily newspaper that utilizes Paper.li to construct and deliver it. 

The process of putting the paper together is a study in the importance of social media in today’s publishing environment. 

The articles that appear each day come from links imbedded in tweets of a select group of Twitter accounts.  Gallivant Press decides which Twitter users are potential sources of articles for THE INDIE TRUMPET, and Paper.li’s algorithms extract the articles from the links and publish them. This gives us fresh content every day from a large number of hand-picked Twitter users.  When THE INDIE TRUMPET hits the digital newsstand every day, readers around the world see it and spread the word. It is fun for people to see their work featured on the front page, and Gallivant Press enjoys providing this service. 

Write to Life

“Can you do better with that price?” a woman asked the photographer selling his work outside Grand Central Station.
The matted print was marked $450.00.
“Yes, I can. How about $575.00?”
The expression on her face was her silent reply and the artist was inspired to continue.
“Look lady. I take pictures of places I’ve been and people I’ve met. My photography is a record of my life. My life has value. I won’t negotiate the value of my life.”

He didn’t make the sale, but he made his point.

For many artists, their tool is a pen (or keyboard) rather than a camera. Their inspirations come from life as well.
Observing others and living their own lives.
For many writers, it’s almost impossible to avoid some autobiographical influence in their work.

Writers do what they do because it’s their life.

Two years ago, I reviewed a 31 page essay entitled, Reading for Survival by John MacDonald. MacDonald extols the virtues -- and necessity of reading. We simply must read.

Those who are inspired to write, feel strongly that they simply must write.

Getting what you have written published typically was not easy. Today, you just need a computer and an internet connection. Could it really be that simple?

The transition from blogger to publishing a novel is not easy.

The marketplace is listening to those who want to get published and there are numerous resources available. A trustworthy and valuable source of information is The Indie Trumpet.

Caleb Pirtle, of VentureGalleries.com describes it,The Indie Trumpet was created and developed by Venture Galleries and Gallivant Press as a daily publication to provide articles, information, and  insight that are designed to help independent authors in their efforts to promote, brand, market, and sell their books in this new and growing age of indie publishing.”

Click HERE to subscribe now.

Watch for our interview soon with author Stephen Woodfin of Gallivant Press. We will discuss the opportunities of independent publishing.

Was the greatest generation colorblind?

Over sixteen million Americans served in World War II.

Some of the most memorable images that come to mind from that era, we remember in black and white. Most of us probably have a few favorites.

The sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square. (Image credit: WikiCommons)

I recently reviewed an interesting and important book: America at War in Color.

Fathers and grandfathers of baby boomers not only remember the war in color, they experienced it in color.

America at War in Color includes the story of one of the most memorable images from the war. It was taken near the end of the war on a small island in the Pacific. One of the men in that picture left autographed copies of it for his children. He chose to leave with with color prints.  Great story. 

(Image credit: WikiCommons)