The Writer's Life 5/8 - Aim

Sometimes clichés and stereotypes are apt in a work of art. Such is the case with Sarah Shankman’s novel I Still Miss My Man but my aim is getting better. Given the title, readers might guess the subject matter and where it is set. The heroine, a plump aspiring songwriter making her way in Nashville, is easy to root for. Unfortunately, the book fails to deliver on the promise of its irresistible title, although it elicits a few chuckles along the way. Fortunately, it is short, a mere 257 pages that read more like 225. The characters are colorful, although only two are interesting: an evil predator and a retired country legend living in obscurity under an alias. The plot is simple but relies on a myriad of coincidences, which seem unlikely in a city of more than 600,000, despite the fact that the action is concentrated in the music industry. There is also a supernatural element at play, the spirit of Patsy Cline representing good and Rahab -- no correlation to the biblical figure -- bad. The prose is solid and appropriate, especially the use of run-on sentences to keep the pace fast. The dialogue is what one would expect from stereotypical southerners. 12 users have rated the novel at Amazon, forging to a consensus of four stars out of five, way too high in my opinion. I say two. Shankman may not be a household name, but she is quite successful, having had many books published, including a series featuring female detective Samantha Adams. Several were issued by Simon and Schuster, one of the biggest houses in the world. I assume those works are much better than I Still Miss My Man..., which appeared in 1997.



Yesterday I neglected to mention a key factor in Sarah Geller’s fight to expose the most fanatical followers of Islam. In an op-ed piece in today’s NY Post, Jonah Goldberg points out that the Draw Mohammed event was privately funded, unlike many events that featured works attacking Christianity (Piss Christ and such), which were tax-payer funded. He mentions this to illustrate the selective outrage of the artists and pundits who are criticizing Geller, and notes that no property was damaged and no person killed regarding the so-called art that attacked Christianity. The left raised a big stink about conservatives trying to squelch free speech when what legislators were trying, and failed, to do was to stop public funding of such works.
My thanks to Daniel, who bought Killing and Rising Star, and to the other kind folks who bought books, and to the woman who donated ten in Russian. The Danielle Steel translations are not seeing much love. Only one sold today. The trunk of my Hyundai is stuffed. I'm hoping I don't get any donations for a while, but I won't refuse anyone who makes the effort to carry books to me.
Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/