Undawnted Presents: A WordCrafter Blog Tour, My Backyard Friends, Meet Charlie Chickadee & Review of "Charlie Chickadee"

Introduction

Charlie is a young chickadee who finds himself homeless and alone when he gets separated from his parents during an invasion by violet-green swallows. On his own he finds a new friend in Nicholas Nuthatch, who teaches him about the other birds in his neighborhood and he learns how to survive on his own, and uses his own ingenuity to build a new nest for himself.

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Mini-Interview with Charlie Chickadee
[Interview with Charlie Chickadee]

How did it feel to fly around for the first time?

I felt really proud of myself, especially when my mother fussed over me about it. I usually hate it when she fusses, preening my feathers and making a big deal, but that day, I didn’t mind so much. Of course, now I fly all the time, as a matter of getting from one place to another, but that first time was pretty special.

What was it like having invaders chase you out of your home?

I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. But I did what my mother said, and pecked out a new hole to escape through, but then, when the hole gave way, I was lost in the detritus under the tree.

How did it feel when your parents left you alone?

That was kind of scary, too. I knew they had to flee to get away from the swallows, and I never doubted that they would return for me. The question was what to do until they returned. I was out in the forest alone and it was cold and getting dark, and the swallows were still swarming , you can above me. The first night, I was scared to come out of hiding. But, the next morning, hunger drew me out and I learned to fend for myself a little.

What did it feel like to make your first friend?

You’re talking about Nick? I mean Nicholas Nuthatch, right? Yeah, Nick turned out to be a really good friend. In fact, he’s my best friend, even though he’s older than me. But at first, my mother and father had warned me about talking with strange birds who I didn’t know, so I wasn’t sure if I could trust him. But he was really nice, and he showed me around my neighborhood and kind of looked out for me. And besides, since I’d never been out of the nest before, that strange bird thing covered just about everybody. Nick turned out to be a cool guy and now days, we hang out together a lot.

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My Review

My Backyard Friends, Charlie Chickadee edition, is a cute read for adults and children alike. Charlie goes on his own adventure when his home is attacked by other birds. He is separated from his parents, but along the way he meets interesting animals. 

Beautiful and insightful, this book guides readers on a path toward wisdom only found with a wildness full of backyard friends. 

Be sure to Pre-Order your copy below.

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Fun Facts About Chickadees

• Chickadees are known to hide food, and they have good memories to remember where they hid it even days later.
• Chickadees have the unique ability to lower their body temperature during colder nighttime temperatures, in a torpor state, similar to that of hummingbirds.
• They are curious, and often friendly. It is said they can be trained to eat out of a person’s hand. (I put birdseed in the brim of a sombrero one day and sat very still and they lit on the hat and ate the seed from it, but I don’t know if I’d call it training. I do consider them to be very brave, though.
• In addition to their distinctive chick-a-dee-dee-dee, from which they get their name, this small birds have a variety of whistles and trills, and they are considered to be songbirds.
• Chickadees are partial to sunflower seeds. They are one of their favorite foods. They also eat a variety of other seeds, nuts and insects.
• Chickadees mate for life.
• Chickadees build cozy, well insulated nests from leaves, grasses, moss, bark, lichen and/or feathers.

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Support Great Artists 

Order My Backyard Friends books here:

Heather Hummingbird Makes a New Friend (Ages 3-5): https://books2read.com/u/471vzj

Timothy Turtle Discovers Jellybeans (Ages 3-5): https://books2read.com/u/3LL5K7

Charlie Chickadee Gets a New Home (Ages 6-8): https://books2read.com/u/md2YLO

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About Kaye Lynne Booth

Kaye Lynne Booth is a freelance writer, editor, multi-genre author and independent publisher. She holds dual MFA in Creative Writing – Genre Fiction and Screenwriting, and an M.A. in Publishing. To earn her publishing degree, she worked under the mentoring of International Bestselling author, Kevin J. Anderson on the Gilded Glass: Twisted Myths & Shattered Fairy Tales editorial team from Western State Colorado University and WordFire Press and she compiled and edited Weird Tales: The Best of the Early Years 1926-27, under Jonathan Maberry.

 

About Robbie Cheadle

South African author and illustrator, Robbie Cheadle, has written and illustrated sixteen children’s books, illustrated a further three children’s books, and written and illustrated three poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels and a collection of short stories published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

Find out more about Robbie Cheadle on her blog here: https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/

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Undawnted's DL Mullan can be booked for your online Blog Tour, Book Event, Book Review (w/ARC), Interview, Writing Conference, or Genre Convention. Ms. Mullan has years of experience in public speaking, readings, presentations, events, and tours.

Book a quality author and presenter with Undawnted: Bookings online form.

Undawnted Presents: A WordCrafter Blog Tour, My Backyard Friends, Meet Timothy Turtle & Review of "Timothy Turtle"

Introduction

Timothy Turtle is like every other young turtle, except for one thing. Timothy has a sweet tooth. One day, on his way to the raspberry patch, his discovers some small colored eggs which Katy Cat says are jellybeans. He tastes them and finds them sweet and delicious, so he eats them all up. But Timothy quickly learns that you can get too much of a good thing and when you do, it may not be such a good thing.

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Mini-Interview with Timothy Turtle
[Interview with Timothy Turtle]

What is it like talking to a cat?

I’m not sure what you mean. Katy has lived in the house near the pond for all as long as I can remember. I knew her when she was a kitten and I was a hatchling. Why wouldn’t I talk to her?

What is it like talking to a beaver?

Becky is kind of hard to talk to sometimes, because she is so busy and she’s always in a hurry. I mean, you can talk to her if you can get her to stop long enough to have a conversation. But she’ll always take time to help out a friend if she can, and she took the time to help me. I was really in a pickle.


What was your favorite tasting jellybean? Was it different from your favorite color?

They were all really sweet and juicy. I couldn’t decide on a favorite. And the colors were all pretty, too, but honestly, I hope I never see another jellybean. My mom says it’s because I had too much of a good thing.


Will you ever eat another weird thing again?

I think I’ll stick to snails and bugs. And I’ll eat raspberries if I want something sweet. But really, no jellybeans.

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My Review

My Backyard Friends, Timothy Turtle learns a good lesson about moderation. Having too much of a good thing, like jellybeans!, can have unpleasant consequences. With the help of other animals, he understands that candy can make you sick!

Beautiful and insightful, this book guides readers on a path toward wisdom only found with a wildness full of backyard friends. 

Be sure to Pre-Order your copy below.

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Fun Facts About Turtles  

• A turtle’s shell is actually part of its skeleton. (This fact actually makes a part of Timothy’s story an impossibility, but I think it helps make the story more fun to include a little fantasy.)Turtles are one of the oldest reptile groups, dating back millions of years, even before dinosaurs. Timothy is a freshwater turtle.
• Some freshwater turtle species can live for over 50 years.
• Freshwater turtles play a crucial role in maintaining the ecosystem by controlling insect populations.
• Freshwater turtles have a unique ability to absorb oxygen through their skin while underwater.
• Freshwater turtles are known for their diverse shell patterns and colors.
• Freshwater turtles submerge themselves under water to eat with a diet of duckweed, young crayfish, algae, dragonfly larvae, water cress, water lilies, cattails, insects, frogs, and tadpoles. They also eat berries or other fruit when an opportunity presents itself.

_____

Support Great Artists 

Order My Backyard Friends books here:

Heather Hummingbird Makes a New Friend (Ages 3-5): https://books2read.com/u/471vzj

Timothy Turtle Discovers Jellybeans (Ages 3-5): https://books2read.com/u/3LL5K7

Charlie Chickadee Gets a New Home (Ages 6-8): https://books2read.com/u/md2YLO

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About Kaye Lynne Booth

Kaye Lynne Booth is a freelance writer, editor, multi-genre author and independent publisher. She holds dual MFA in Creative Writing – Genre Fiction and Screenwriting, and an M.A. in Publishing. To earn her publishing degree, she worked under the mentoring of International Bestselling author, Kevin J. Anderson on the Gilded Glass: Twisted Myths & Shattered Fairy Tales editorial team from Western State Colorado University and WordFire Press and she compiled and edited Weird Tales: The Best of the Early Years 1926-27, under Jonathan Maberry.

 

About Robbie Cheadle

South African author and illustrator, Robbie Cheadle, has written and illustrated sixteen children’s books, illustrated a further three children’s books, and written and illustrated three poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels and a collection of short stories published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

Find out more about Robbie Cheadle on her blog here: https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/

 

 

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Undawnted's DL Mullan can be booked for your online Blog Tour, Book Event, Book Review (w/ARC), Interview, Writing Conference, or Genre Convention. Ms. Mullan has years of experience in public speaking, readings, presentations, events, and tours.

Book a quality author and presenter with Undawnted: Bookings online form. 

Undawnted Presents: A WordCrafter Blog Tour, My Backyard Friends, Meet Heather Hummingbird & Review of "Heather Hummingbird"

Introduction

Heather Hummingbird is a busy little hummingbird bird who earns the nickname Hyperactive Heather which her forest friends have given her. She’s constantly on the move, gathering insects and nectar, chasing bees, or migrating from her winter to her summer home and back. But she always finds time to help out her friends, even when her help is only grudgingly accepted.

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Mini-Interview with Heather Hummingbird
[Interview with Heather Hummingbird]

Forgive me if I don’t perch for very long. You see hummingbirds have lots of energy, so if I zip away suddenly, don’t worry. I’ll be right back. I’ll just be working up energy that is building up, like this .Zwippp.

Ziiing.

Were you afraid to speak to an eagle?

Well, no. I’d seen Ethan around the forest. He’s a big bird, but he’s a fledgling. I might even be older than him, so I wasn’t scared of him. Zwiiiipp.

Ziiiiiing. I couldn’t help but notice his curious behavior and when I realized I could help him, I did.
 

How did it feel to make a friend?

Well, I was glad to have him as a friend that autumn, when I couldn’t fly south on my own. That’s for sure.
 

How did it feel when you had to part with your new friend?

The trip south was a long one, and I felt really close to Ethan by the time we arrived. I knew he had to go back to the forest he knew, but it was sad watching him go. But I didn’t let it keep me down because I knew I’d see him again the next spring, and I did. Zwiiip.

Ziiiing

Thanks for having me here today, but I need to go find some flowers to recharge. You’d be amazed by how much nectar is required to keep up this pace. Bye. Zwiiiiip Zwing.

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My Review

My Backyard Friends, Heather Hummingbird edition, is a cute read for adults and children alike. Heather goes on her own adventure as she zips around the landscape. She meets other animals to be her friends.

Beautiful and insightful, this book guides readers on a path toward wisdom only found with a wildness full of backyard friends. 

Be sure to Pre-Order your copy below.

_____

Fun Facts About Hummingbirds

• Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly forward, backward, sideways and upside-down. They are also the only birds that can hover in mid-air.
• They have the highest metabolism of any bird species. They consume twice their weight each day.
• Hummingbirds can beat their wings 70 times per second, and 200 times per second when diving. The males do elaborate aerial acrobats during the mating seasons to attract the females, traveling high up into the air and looping around to dive back down toward the ground, making a high-pitched whistling.
• Some species of hummingbirds migrate up to 2,000 miles twice a year.
• Their hearts can beat up to 1,260 times per minute.
• Hummingbirds migrate great distances from their summer to winter homes and back, up to 3000 miles each trip, 6000 miles per year.
• Hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world, averaging 8.5 cm long and weigh between 2.5–20 grams.
• Hummingbirds have forked tongues and have tiny hairs on the tips of their tongues to help lap up nectar.
• “On most hummingbirds, the coloring of the feathers does not come from pigmentation, but instead from prism-like cells within the top layer of feathers.
• The colors you see depend on the angle of the light when it hits the feathers.
• When hummingbird feathers reflect light, which make the gorget (throat patch) look like it’s glittering from certain angles, but at other angles will make the feathers look dull.” (Southwest Audobon. “Fun Facts About Hummingbirds”. 
• https://southwest.audubon.org/conservation/fun-facts-about-hummingbirds)
• When they are low on energy and no food source is available, hummingbirds go into a torpor state to conserve their reserves.

_____

Support Great Artists 

Order My Backyard Friends books here:

Heather Hummingbird Makes a New Friend (Ages 3-5): https://books2read.com/u/471vzj

Timothy Turtle Discovers Jellybeans (Ages 3-5): https://books2read.com/u/3LL5K7

Charlie Chickadee Gets a New Home (Ages 6-8): https://books2read.com/u/md2YLO

_____

 

About Kaye Lynne Booth

Kaye Lynne Booth is a freelance writer, editor, multi-genre author and independent publisher. She holds dual MFA in Creative Writing – Genre Fiction and Screenwriting, and an M.A. in Publishing. To earn her publishing degree, she worked under the mentoring of International Bestselling author, Kevin J. Anderson on the Gilded Glass: Twisted Myths & Shattered Fairy Tales editorial team from Western State Colorado University and WordFire Press and she compiled and edited Weird Tales: The Best of the Early Years 1926-27, under Jonathan Maberry.

 

About Robbie Cheadle

South African author and illustrator, Robbie Cheadle, has written and illustrated sixteen children’s books, illustrated a further three children’s books, and written and illustrated three poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels and a collection of short stories published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

Find out more about Robbie Cheadle on her blog here: https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/

_____

Undawnted's DL Mullan can be booked for your online Blog Tour, Book Event, Book Review (w/ARC), Interview, Writing Conference, or Genre Convention. Ms. Mullan has years of experience in public speaking, readings, presentations, events, and tours.

Book a quality author and presenter with Undawnted: Bookings online form. 

Literary Masters Videos Inspires Creepy Hollywood Addiction to Necrotomes

Last year, Undawnted's DL Mullan embarked on experimenting with Artificial Intelligence (AI) software to bring literature to life. She brought forth Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, Emily Dickinson, and Alexander Dumas to read their own works as part of her Literary Master's YouTube series. She wanted to inspire people to read their creative, literary writings.

This year, Hollywood decided to use her idea to exhume dead celebrities for audiobooks. These corporate film giants rather disinter than hire actual living human voice actors. Is the unalive population the new definition of cheap, slave labor? 

What? Is the open southern border not good enough? Now, we are desperately seeking necroentertainment?

With the economy in shambles, the creative community, including actors and voice actors, need the wage from a good paying job. Don't look to the people who feed you propaganda. They are looking somewhere else for their meal ticket:

“An estate will get a considerable amount of money from licensing and agreements,” Gunkel added...

It appears that corporations are less involved in the labor market and more concerned with cutting corners. A licensing agreement can lead to the disavowing voice actors. Unless you are a big name celebrity and/or dead, Hollywood has no use for you:

“We don’t know yet the supposed market for these types of things but you can already see with audiobooks that ones read by recognizable voices and celebrities are a hot commodity,” Gunkel said. “If there’s a way to have a celebrity do all kinds of content and not voice it themselves, that could open up the market even wider.”  

What a horror show.  

Here is an idea. Remove identity, social justice, and other politics from the entertainment created for the public. Revenues are down, and ticket sales are at an all-time low, because corporations want to tell the average person what to think, how to vote, when to feel, where to riot, and who to blame.

How's that going for you guys? 

Oh, wait... you're digging up the dead in order to salvage what is left of your dynasties. 

The AI revolution is becoming the go-to arena to replace human interaction and employment. Kiosks, voice overs... when will the madness end? Or is that the reason corporate governance has been pushing work from home and basic income checks? 

They just don't need or care about you anymore. 

The reality is: they never did. 

Original posting on Undawntech.

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Sources:

Literary Masters: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAIlLget9twMkKQB3MhJlOSc4zBF9iGZM

CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/03/tech/elevenlabs-ai-celebrity-voices/index.html

Breitbart: https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2024/07/07/necromancy-ai-company-resurrecting-classic-hollywood-stars-to-read-audiobooks/

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A writer at heart, Undawnted's own creative spark, DL Mullan, began writing short stories and poetry before adolescence. Over the years, Ms. Mullan has showcased her literary talents by self-publishing several collections of her poetry. She also writes novels, designs apparel, and creates digital art. Ms. Mullan‘s creative writing is available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. As an independent publisher, she produces her own book cover designs as well as maintains her own websites. She is an award-winning digital artist and poet.

Currently, she has embarked on writing her multi-book Legacy Universe, Supernatural Superhero Series.

For news and updates, subscribe to the Undawntable Newsletter.

12 Angry Dead Accepted into The Hanging Tree Anthology

Great news! 

Undawnted received word that DL Mullan's short story, 12 Angry Dead, has been accepted into WordCrafter's The Hanging Tree anthology. Due out this September 2024, this publication will be the home to several authors' rendition of the hanging tree motif. 

Imagine if you were hung unjustly...

12 Angry Dead explores such a travesty of justice: 

When the souls of the wronged rise to avenge their premature deaths, is there anyone who can stand against them? 

 

Marilla Gibbs, an heiress and a director of the historical museum, is a descendant of Aida Worthington, a victim of one of these unjust homicides. The mid-1800s was a tumultuous time, especially with figures like Josiah King, who took lives with impunity. 

 

In the afterlife, his victims came together to form a jury. On All Hallows Eve, when the veil separating the living from the dead is at its thinnest, Aida and eleven other spirits took control of their descendants to confront their killer, who is now a seven-year-old boy.

 

With the aid of her assistant, Shaun, and Justin, the child's father, Marilla seeks to outmaneuver the twelve angry dead. Yet, will their combined efforts be sufficient to redirect the course from vengeance to authentic justice? 

 

The trio soon realizes that no one can escape a past life.

Join this collection of writers in sharing their nightmare scenario with you... not all of them have happy endings. 

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A writer at heart, Undawnted's own creative spark, DL Mullan, began writing short stories and poetry before adolescence. Over the years, Ms. Mullan has showcased her literary talents by self-publishing several collections of her poetry. She also writes novels, designs apparel, and creates digital art. Ms. Mullan‘s creative writing is available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. As an independent publisher, she produces her own book cover designs as well as maintains her own websites. She is an award-winning digital artist and poet. 

Currently, she has embarked on writing her multi-book Legacy Universe, Supernatural Superhero Series.

For news and updates, subscribe to the Undawntable Newsletter.

 

Summer Time of a Writer's Life

After a health scare that landed me in the emergency room, I have been convalescing by catching up on some creative endeavors: digital art and short story writing. That nasty stomach flu that put Oprah Winfrey in the hospital did me in as well. IV fluids, two rounds of antibiotics, and almost eight weeks later... I feel like my old disabled-by-illness self again. 

There is nothing like being ill, then catching a virus that sets off dehydration and a painful infection to make a sickie feel right at home with their disability! All joking aside, the last month and a half has been unfun to say the least, but I am back now... 60% of me anyway. Until my mold illness is cured, I will always be 60% or less of an able-bodied person. 

Thems the breaks. 

As I gathered my strength, I have focused on my creative to-do list. I have written and submitted two short stories that I hope you will enjoy. First is: Kurst. The second is: 12 Angry Dead. Each are under 6550 words. If accepted, then these two will be given the extended version treatment and will become Novelettes or Novelas.

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Kurst: Karen Kurst inherits her grandmother's cabin in Salt Pines, Arizona. She learns that all is not what it seems in the quaint mountain village. A creature lurks in the woods. This cross between a cryptid, Sasquatch, and a Skinwalker can only be caged by a magical spell written by her ancestor, Ralph Wallen. With the help of the local indigenous sheriff, Karen sets her sights on ending the family curse. 

But will she have to give up her own life in order to save her newfound community? 

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12 Angry Dead is a story that I have wanted to write for years. With the original story combined with the guidelines of The Hanging Tree anthology, this narrative blossomed into a true tale of vengeance versus justice. It is also a paranormal, supernatural re-imaging of the film: 12 Angry Men.

I hope you enjoy these short fiction selections available this year through WordCrafter Press's anthologies: Dark Fiction and The Hanging Tree. 

Have a great rest of your day. 

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You're invited to Undawnted's newsletter, Undawntable, for our Release Party for The Story of Excalibur. Join our substack. It's free. We have parties, contests, and prizes. This month DL Mullan presented to her creative community an exclusive Undawntable Members Only version of Legendary: Summer Time, the public version will drop in August 2024. This Special Edition gave her readers free access to prose and poetry. 

Parties and freebies? Merch! What isn't there to love about Undawntable? 

Become a member today! 

Undawntable the Official Newsletter of Undawnted

Undawntech: Weaponized Technology for the Growing Mind is Available on Writing to be Read

Another delicious segment of Undawnted that fuses real world knowledge with the courage to tell truth to power is available.

Do you believe? Or, do you know? 

Undawnted's DL Mullan explores how technology can free and enslave depending on how it is used, as well as how creative thinkers, like writers, can weaponize their quantum, organic brain to outwit the dystopian power grabbers and make your imagination yours again.

Find out the epic citations and conclusion in June's installment of Undawntech: Weaponized Technology for the Growing Mind! 

Undawnted's Publications are now on Fable

DL Mullan's books have another publisher: Fable.

• 
  The Town Santa Forgot  
• In the Name of Blood: Vampires are Relatives
• The Jonah Collector
• Saint in the Devil You Know 
• The Descent 
• Eclipse: Cloaked in Totality 
• Saint in Communion
• The Reality Hackers 
  
• Saint in the Big Easy  

 

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Support Great Artists  

 

If you have Fable, then lookup Undawnted's publication for you and the community can discuss. 

We can't wait to see your reviews!

Team Undawnted

 

Thank you to Joseph Carrabis and RoundTable 360°

March 28th, I was invited to participate in a Roundtable 360° discussion about creativity and the imagination. Joseph Carrabis and other creative personalities from music, art, theater, and writing wanted to answer the question have you ever wondered what makes creative people creative? 

Each participant in the round had their own perspective about what makes creative people creative. 

Summary

Being with a group of talented people - regardless of their chosen media - and listening to them discuss their work, how their work choice has shaped their lives, their goals for their work, et cetera, has been a dream of mine since my college years.

Now that dream has a name and place - RoundTable 360°. We get together the last Thursday of each month, share how our disciplines have shaped and changed us, and explore how one discipline can inform another. For example: What can authors learn about setting scenes from photographers? What can dancers learn from painters about expression?

What do you think? Is everyone creative in their own special way? Left brain or right brain, it doesn't really make a difference? Architects are creative with specs and drawings of a building. Biologists are creative in developing new methods to research cells and diseases. Artists are creative in how they use color and geometry to create paintings. 

Humanity sets itself apart from the animal kingdom by being creative for entertainment and developing a culture.

Creative people have to learn to shut off the outside world and cultivate their inner stirrings. The present moment is the time that supports the creative function. 

It was a nice talk. I enjoyed the informal debate and dialogue between the Roundtable members. I even got to throw in my two cents worth. 

If you would like to be a participant, then please contact Joseph Carrabis. 

Thank you for inviting me!

Have a great and creative day.

_____

Undawnted's DL Mullan, can be booked for your online Blog Tour, Book Event, Book Review (w/ARC), Interview, Writing Conference, or Genre Convention. Ms. Mullan has years of experience in public speaking, readings, presentations, events, and tours.

Book a quality author and presenter with Undawnted: Bookings online form. 

 

 

Undawnted Presents, Eclipse: Cloaked by Totality Available Online

An eclipse-inspired chapbook full of humanity's curiosity and culture that has surrounded solar and lunar eclipses for centuries.

This total eclipse dives deep into the heart of the matter. Eclipse is a themed chapbook with mythological, meteorological, astrophysical, and literary aspects weaved throughout the poetry to create a one-of-a-kind reading experience.  

Some reader acclaim about various poems are:

"Excellent."
"More like cloaked by powerful words!"
"Love this."

The Wide Release Party is starting on Undawnted's Official Newsletter, Undawntable, this evening. Don't miss your chance to celebrate the solar eclipse, this chapbook, and the poet herself. 

Find your totality with Eclipse.

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Support Great Artists  

Never miss another release, follow DL Mullan on Books2Read.

 

 

 

Undawnted Presents: a WordCrafter Blog Tour for Northtown Angelus by Robert T. White

On the path of great resistance, Raimo Jarvi, private investigator, searches for answers. Northtown authorities no only lack those answers, but empathy. Without anyone to turn to, P.I. Jarvi tries to discover what really happened to Johnny Dillon for his widow, Cora. With an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, will Raimo Jarvi succeed where others have failed? 

If you like crime-drama and private investigators, then Northtown Angelus is for you. Enjoy the dynamic characters and plot lines in this novel. 

 

Robert T. White offers readers an adventure of the mind and senses with his writing style. 

 

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Style in Crime Fiction, What Value?
Robert White

There are some words in the English-speaking world that can still stop conversation cold. Murder, Kill, Rape—to name three. Unfortunately, given the prominence of vulgarities in our society from top to bottom, one cannot even name the dreaded words that stand-up comedians alone risked using in public without fear of reprisal. The all-too-frequent f-bomb and most racial epithets still have clout but nothing like what they used to possess. Style is one of those ambiguous words that seem to have shed power and meaning rapidly in our time. Like “beauty,” style today is deemed to exist in the eye of the beholder. If you like Linda Fairstein’s or Lisa Scottoline’s fiction, you say that those authors have great style and you can point to the volumes that stretch from one end of a public library’s shelves to the other. “Count ‘em,” you say, and there’s your evidence. Or check the Times bestsellers list and there you find the usual suspects like James Patterson and Clive Cussler. 

At some point the notion of style as being more than personally argumentative becomes necessary if you are to be inclusive in your definition and you find yourself veering helplessly toward the metaphysical. If a physicist hands you a red ball and asks, “What color is it?” and your reply is immediately to say, “Red”; you feel the rightness of your response without demur. If that physicist places the ball in the yard at midnight and asks you the same question, can you so confidently answer “red” when you can’t see anything out there at all? 

That’s the problem with “style,” it seems to me. It becomes personal extremely fast and you are tempted to become overly assertive in your particular defense of the word. No one wants to go on record to say Shakespeare’s has no style. But how far would you get arguing for that lush Elizabethan prose in our slang-riddled, monosyllabic era? Is there a TikTok or Instagram influencer who doesn’t think everything is “awesome”? That word used to be restricted to quaking-before-the-throne-of-God circumstances only. Today it flutters from every teenager’s tongue. Not that word choice and word meanings are the essence of style. (I once read Roland Barthes’ analysis of Balzac’s Sarrasine, and I beg you, do not open up that can of structuralist worms.) 

So how do we get such a critical term away from the flotsam and jetsam of criteria that issue from personal subjectivity? Not for the sake of mere semantics but to get a better understanding of why certain writers from the dilettantish drabble writer through the pedantic critics and scholars with their weighty tomes to the writers we read for pleasure in all genres. There’s no yardstick I know of that applies in all cases and situations. 

A better way to start is by example. I recently came across a passage in Martin Cruz Smith’s Havana Bay who described the sluggish water flowing beneath a Moscow bridge in turgid brown folds. The imagery of that brief, incisive description stopped me short and it stays with me, even though I can’t quote the exact words he used. I remember savoring it before continuing. In fact, it’s a rare page of his in any novel that doesn’t have at least one example of that kind of striking blend of the familiar grappled to the exotic in such a way you know exactly where you are in time and space. Does that move the plot? Not incrementally but it holds you in the author’s grasp and, unlike so many bestsellers we could all name, doesn’t allow you to wander off to the next sentence or skip like a goat to keep the plot moving in your head. Less is more.

Smith’s ability to toss a passing glance like that, one of many taken by the seeing-eye narrator, held me in its grip throughout the novel and every one of his Renko books. The accretion of those diamond-sharp images hits some chord in the neocortex, or wherever delight comes into contact with cognition, that enables me to pass a value judgment: Damn, I say to myself, this guy is good . . . But assessing the great from the good and the good from the mediocre isn’t as formulaic as I and other readers would like it to be. There are so few descriptive references to Arkady Renko that you could cut-and-paste them in a paragraph: he’s too thin, smokes like a chimney, is dismissed by cretins and his enemies too easily, loves with passion. It’s not him we need; it’s the mind behind him. 

So, to sum up with a fatuous cliché, we know what we like, we say, to our opponents who champion other writers or, worse, are blind to the greatness in style we see so plainly. Shakespeare certainly had that, even though his contemporary Ben Jonson, who claimed to love him ”this side of idolatry,” wished his greater contemporary had revised “a thousand times” when told Shakespeare never revised a line of his plays. He didn’t like Shakespeare’s mixing of clowns and kings. He had a “magic touch” but he lacked “art.” 

When we talk about the contemporary murder mystery, we are talking more clowns than kings. But if “art” is to be equated with “style,” how can anyone claim that the best writers in the genre do not have it because they deal mainly with clowns/murderers? Of course, murderers can be well-spoken, possess degrees from an ivy league college, but those are minor features of killers and victims alike unless you insist on an all-egalitarian approach of killers, victims, and gumshoes alike. 

I can’t settle the argument but I can offer three criteria for a definition of good contemporary style across the board. My first criterion is simple: a writer can’t use ten words when one or two suffice. Second, a writer cannot violate the boundaries he or she establishes at the outset that include point of view’s restrictions on mind-hopping. 

When I first began reading the Henning Mankell series, I thought the translator had taken too much Ambien at night. Then I got hooked on the catalog of the mundane and the seemingly trivial. I couldn’t wait to grab my next Wallander volume from the shelves. My knowledge of Nordic crime-fiction writers is too thin to allow a comparison other than a brief contrast with the grim landscape in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy. (Note to David Fincher, director of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Casting Daniel Craig was not breaking a rule to avoid the awkward; it sacrificed verisimilitude for the bottom line.) Two hugely different styles albeit in translation from one language. 

Which brings me to that third rule about greatness in style, something I lifted from a freshman handbook on composition, The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White. simple word title: Style. It offered rules for everything in good writing and concluded with this rule, which I’m paraphrasing: “Break any rule rather than say something awkward.” It seems to me that the best writers know exactly where and when to break rules, when to follow them, and to do so in a way that creates their own unique signature as writers. Of one thing I am sure, no writer writes not to be read, no matter how skimpy, precious, or elitist the readership. All writers need it the way fish need oxygen passed through their gills. When I ran this essay through the grammar checker, it told me to eliminate a couple uses of “very,” which I did. I did, however, draw the line at ejecting “flotsam and jetsam” for the substituted “miscellaneous items.” There’s a hill I’ll die on. Jonson was right about Shakespeare: he had the magic touch. He could make you see a red ball in a black night.

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Giveaway

Each stop where you leave a comment,

you get another chance to win one of five digital copies,

and one signed print copy of Northtown Angelus.

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Author Bio

Robert T. White writes from Northeastern Ohio. He has published several crime, noir, hardboiled novels and genre stories in various magazines and anthologies. He’s been nominated for a Derringer. “Inside Man,” a crime story, was selected for Best American Mystery Stories 2019. His second hardboiled p.i. series (after the Thomas Haftmann mysteries begun in 2011 with Haftmann's Rules) features Raimo Jarvi in Northtown Eclipse (Fahrenheit Press, 2018) and Northtown Blitz (2020). British website Murder, Mayhem & More cited When You Run with Wolves (rpt. 2018) as a finalist for Top Ten Crime Books of 2018 and Perfect Killer in 2019. “If I Let You Get Me” was selected for the Bouchercon 2019 anthology and The Russian Heist (Moonshine Cove, 2019), another crime thriller, was selected by Thriller Magazine as winner of its Best Novel category. "Out of Breath" and Other Stories is a mixed collection of mainstream and noir fiction (Red Giant Press, 2013). 

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Undawnted's DL Mullan can be booked for your online Blog Tour, Book Event, Book Review (w/ARC), Interview, Writing Conference, or Genre Convention. Ms. Mullan has years of experience in public speaking, readings, presentations, events, and tours.

Book a quality author and presenter with Undawnted: Bookings online form. 

 

Extra Extra! The Descent is a Horrorific Good Read

Genre poetry, especially The Descent's: darker breed of poetry, is often overlooked by poetry lovers. This Autumn Cider Seasonal Reads staple here on Undawnted is a great way to vibe with the change of seasons.

On Writing to be Read's Treasuring Poetry column by Robbie Cheadle, she not only delves into my Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, paranormal inspired chapbook, but she enjoyed it as well.

Treasuring Poetry, 2024: Introducing the poetry of DL Mullan and a review is available to read. In this interview, I discuss my inspiration and journey into writing poetry. The classics are a beautiful influence and help me ground my creative pieces. My interview also exhibits three poems from other chapbooks. Transcendence is in my upcoming Impetus. The Flower Within lives in Effloresce, which is being expanded for a future release. Weather and Asymptote reside in Phantastic.

I hope poetry lovers read my upcoming chapbooks as I re-release these poetry books from one platform onto another. This year, I plan on publishing at least two chapbooks, Eclipse being one of them. I cannot wait to share my lyrical visions with an expanded audience. 

My Long Form Poetry will be published in an upcoming collection, but most individual poems are available in my Special Editions Store.

Thanks again, Robbie Cheadle, for your kindness and review of my poetry. 

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Support Great Artists 

 

Purchase your copy from our fine retailers: 

books2read.com/TheDescentChapbook

 

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DL Mullan has been writing award-level poetry for thirty years. Recently, she has showcased her literary talents by self-publishing several collections of her poetry. She also writes novels, designs apparel, and creates digital art. Ms. Mullan‘s creative writing is available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies.

As an independent publisher, she produces her own book cover designs and video presentations, as well as maintains her own websites. She is an award-winning digital artist and poet. 

Join her Undawntable Newsletter for everything Undawnted. Be sure to enroll in her Substack writing program, RhymeScribe, which focuses on the form and function of poetry. Become a YouTube subscriber for her Poetry Slam updates.

http://www.undawnted.com

http://www.undawnted.com/p/poetry.html  

http://www.undawnted.com/p/long-form-poetry.html

Novelette Review: The Town Santa Forgot from Writing to Be Read

Writing to Be Read's Kaye Lynne Booth published her review of The Town Santa Forgot. 

"Not to give too much away, but The Town [Santa Forgot] : A tale that will tickle the whole family’s fancies. The perfect holiday gift, but would be fun to read year round. As with most Christmas stories, this one is filled with love and hope." 

This Yuletide Carol is a history-mystery tale with added supernatural occurrences and a love-lost romance. Move over holiday romcoms, The Town Santa Forgot has arrived!

For the rest of the review and quill rating, visit Writing to Be Read. 

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The Town Santa Forgot is available as an eBook at Amazon, Barnes&Noble, AppleBooks, Smashwords, and other fine retailers.   

Grab your copy today! 

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A writer at heart, Undawnted's own creative spark, DL Mullan, began writing short stories and poetry before adolescence. Over the years, Ms. Mullan has showcased her literary talents by self-publishing several collections of her poetry. She also writes novels, designs apparel, and creates digital art. Ms. Mullan‘s creative writing is available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. As an independent publisher, she produces her own book cover designs as well as maintains her own websites. She is an award-winning digital artist and poet.

Currently, she has embarked on writing her multi-book Legacy Universe, Supernatural Superhero Series.

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