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This Month's Featured Books Throwback by Frank C. Strunk Jordon's Wager by Frank C. Strunk Jordon's Showdown by Frank C. Strunk Rachel by Rachel Reeves Forever Free! by Maria Goodsell Poems of the Fantastic by Glenn Robert Swetman John D. MacDonald Bibliophile Edited by Prof. Ed Hirshberg Schott at Sunrise by Carol Schott Martino

 

Guidelines for submitting material to The Book Mart As a service for book authors and magazine publishers, Write On Magazine offers The Book Mart where for a nominal fee, writers can market their work worldwide, complete with photo and description of the book, photo and bio of the author, optional first chapter and information on how to order. Books by new and unknown authors are of special interest, as well as self-published books and those published by small literary presses. We offer a number of payment options. For a limited time, your first chapter will be printed online free of charge with a one-year agreement. Please e-mail us at webmaster@writeonmag.com (type The Book Mart in the subject line) or write for a listing of our advertising rates. Mail inquiries to: Write On Magazine, c/o The Book Mart, P.O. Box 3039, Spring Hill, FL 34611-0960. We will need to have a copy of your book or magazine, along with your 350-word book description, short bio and color head shot of the author, first chapter if you would like it printed online and ordering information for the book. Include the cost of the book and the address where order requests can be sent. Photos and art must include name, address, phone number and e-mail attached by label to the reverse of each image. Mail information if possible on a 3 1/2-inch floppy disk with a clean hard copy (preferably laser printed). All files on disk should be converted to ASCII text, along with another version of your files saved in your original word processor application. Specify whether the disk is PC or Mac and the name of your software. Make sure to label the disk and all your pages with your name, phone number, fax, e-mail and address. A self-addressed, stamped envelope is required for the return of materials. Authors and artists retain copyright. It is suggested that you register your copyrights in your work. Write On Magazine does not authorize reproduction without permission with the exception of downloading for offline viewing and cannot be held liable for any copyright infringements by readers. For answers to frequently asked questions, please see our FAQ. We would be happy to advertise your book here in our Book Mart section. Contact us for additional details.

Throwback by Frank C. Strunk a suspense thriller set in the Appalachian Mountains HarperCollins Publishers Cole Clayfield is called a throwback by those who know him. He's a Kentucky mountain man lost in modern times, more comfortable alone in his isolated cabin, hunting with his dogs, or teaching his ten-year-old granddaughter Shelby how to understand nature and respect the earth. Since the death of his beloved wife, though, Clayfield hasn't felt much of anything, except sorry for himself. When Shelby is suddenly kidnapped at gun point by a sociopath named Darnell, all of Clayfield's tracking instincts are shocked into action. But Shelby's other grandfather, a rich lawyer and political wheeler-dealer named Stockton, has his own ideas. Both men are desperate to get their granddaughter back alive, but each has very different ways of going about it. While Stockton uses his money and hidden influence to trace Darnell's mad murderous scramble across three states with Shelby and Darnell's girlfriend Hayley, Clayfield scales the rough mountain trails and walks the mean city streets himself, trying to trap Darnell where he least expects it. Only Clayfield is a little older than he used to be, and Darnell is as dangerous and as sharp as they come. He never hesitates to shoot first, and he doesn't care who gets in the way as long as he gets out. As the pressure surrounding Darnell mounts and the search for the trio grows more violent and intense, Clayfield inches closer and closer to the madman who is holding his granddaughter -- praying that it's not too late to save her, and that Darnell pays with his life's blood for what he's done. In his riveting new novel, Throwback, (HarperCollins Publishers, New York;August 1996; $20) Frank C. Strunk has set a deftly-plotted thriller in an unconventional locale--the wild and sparsely-inhabited mountains of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. Himself a native of this rustic paradise, Strunk infuses his page-turning narrative with a lifelong love and appreciation for this untamed land and the nonconformist people who inhabit it. Comments from reviewers about Strunk's novel: "There's a term used in publishing, 'breakout book.' It means a book just that much better or more noticeable than previous ones, a book that propels an author off the mid-lists and onto best seller lists. Frank C. Strunk's Throwback just out from HarperCollins is that kind of book. there's a rich layering of thought and emotion to this book that takes it beyond the thriller genre. Its depth of passion, its examination of relationships, its ideas about traditional values versus contemporary ones that Strunk weaves into his story place it about the genre. . .Throwback has been given a beautiful jacket and printing by HarperCollins. Looks like a 'breakout' book to me. And why not a movie? I can see Clint Eastwood playing Clayfield." --Maureen Conlan, The Cincinnati Post "Throwback is the best novel Frank Strunk has written so far. . .(His book) develops into much more than simply a novel of suspense. . .(His characters) are intensely interesting and you want to find out what happens to them. Any novelist who does that to you is well on his way to success." --Ed Hirshberg, The Tampa Tribune "(A) tightly focused crime thriller. . . Strunk knows how to tell a story. . .(and) this is one smooth story, as clean and swift as the cleave of a Bowie knife through mountain air." --Publishers Weekly About the author . . . Frank C. Strunk was born and raised in Eastern Kentucky, where Throwback is mainly set. He worked for a number of years as a newspaper and magazine reporter and editor and later as head of his own advertising and public relations firm in the Washington, D.C. area. He now lives in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Frank C. Strunk is the author of two previous crime novels, Jordon's Wager and Jordon's Showdown, both published by Walker and Company, New York. Read a profile of Frank C. Strunk and learn some of his writing techniques in Celebrity Author Spotlight, as he talks about the craft of writing and his new suspense thriller. How to order the book . . . To order a personally autographed copy of Throwback, send a check for $22 (which includes postage and handling) to Frank Strunk, 15107 Madeira Way, Madeira Beach, FL 33708. Please include a note specifying how you would like the author to sign your book. back to top Jordon's Wager by Frank C. Strunk a Berkley Jordon Mystery Walker and Company, New York In the mountains of Eastern Kentucky in 1933 people owe a fearful loyalty to whoever provides work, especially in a company town such as Buxton. When Deputy Sheriff Berkley Jordon questions "Young Harry" Buxton, the Buxton Corporation heir, about the murder of Bitsy Trotter, a working girl employed by the Buxton Corporation, he's stonewalled by everyone, including his boss. Retiring Sheriff Noble Treadway wants Berk to close the case with the arrest of Bitsy's boyfriend, Sal Manochio, a Civilian Conservation Corps recruit from New Jersey. Sal admits to knowing what an autopsy has only just revealed to Berk -- that Bitsy was pregnant -- but Berk has heard from the proprietress of the local night spot that Young Harry also spent the odd night with Bitsy. Never one to back off, Jordon wagers the new job he wants -- to be elected county sheriff -- on his ability to bring the right man to justice. Ignoring the warnings of Sheriff Treadway and the advice of his lover, Cassie, who'd like to see him settled in another line of work, Berk pursues his low-key questioning of Bitsy's friends and family. From Lenarue Wooten, a close confidant of Bitsy's since childhood, he learns that, although Young Harry would never acknowledge the likes of Bitsy publicly, Bitsy had a secret plan to make her way up in the world. Berk thinks Rachel Blackwell, an old woman reputed to be both a witch and an abortionist, may be able to shed light on Bitsy's plan. But the case proves not to be as straightforward as Berk had thought. Before he can get answers from Rachel, new clues lead in a different direction, taking him to Cincinnati and finally, to a confrontation with a wily killer. Praise for Jordon's Wager: "An authentic, colorful, and highly readable story. . .with a shrewd investigation and a surprise twist. The Appalachian atmosphere of the era is all very real. JORDON'S WAGER is a good crime novel, maybe a better book about 1930s Eastern Kentucky. Both ways, it makes good reading." --Garry Barker, Author of Mountain Passage & Other Stories "The mountain people in this distinctive first novel live by their own customs and codes. . . and express themselves in vivid vernacular." --Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review "Strunk's atmospheric, evenly paced debut pays fitting tribute to the strength and unique traditions of the people of Appalachia." --Publishers Weekly "A whizbang first novel. . .Will a sequel to JORDON'S WAGER be welcome? You bet!" --The Drood Review of Mystery "It is refreshing to read a book that is not an imitation of someone else's warmed over plot or somebody else's writing style. . .I want to see Berk back. . .This one is not to be missed." --Mystery News "Jordon is a complex, interesting character, and so are the people he encounters. The plot is both clever and credible. Frank C. Strunk has crafted a masterly first novel." --West Coast Review of Books "A remarkable debut. . .as a period piece of the 1930s in rural Kentucky and as a study in character, Strunk's novel shines." --Lexington, Ky., Herald-Leader "A vividly authentic picture of what life in Appalachia during the Depression was like." --Kiki Olson, St. Petersburg Times About the author . . . Frank C. Strunk was born and raised in Eastern Kentucky, where his novels take place. He worked for a number of years as a newspaper and magazine reporter and editor and later as head of his own advertising and public relations firm in the Washington, D.C. area. He now lives in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Read a profile of Frank C. Strunk and learn some of his writing techniques in Celebrity Author Spotlight. How to order the book . . . To order a personally autographed copy of Jordon's Wager, send a check for $22 (which includes postage and handling) to Frank Strunk, 15107 Madeira Way, Madeira Beach, FL 33708. Please include a note specifying how you would like the author to sign your book. back to top Jordon's Showdown by Frank C. Strunk a Berkley Jordon Mystery Walker and Company, New York Berkley Jordon's happy now, or as happy as he can be in the depression-devastated coal-mining community of Buxton in eastern Kentucky. There's the roadhouse he runs for Della and the little casino in back where folks can try their luck. But luck's in short supply, and for some people it's run out. Union agitation runs high, and violence is doing more than simmering. Berk proved that he can take care of himself and others, but he doesn't want to work for the mine owners. . .until death streaks out from behind a tree in the form of an assassin's bullet and makes the problems in Buxton a personal matter. Now he has to take old man Buxton's offer seriously -- and he has to start watching his back. It makes life more dificult, but when a man's friend is killed, there really isn't very much choice. As Berk begins to put the pieces together, he knows that one large chunk of the puzzle is missing; when he figures out what it is, he also discovers the murderer's next target -- and the price that will have to be paid if the man with the rifle isn't stopped. Berk isn't the most popular man in town with the powers-that-be, but they learn quickly that if they don't listen to him, whatever mining disasters have visited them in the past will be nothing compared to the explosion that's set to go off when the gunman squeezes the trigger one more time. Praise for Jordon's Showdown: "The success of both Jordon books lies in what comes to seem the exotic world in which Strunk immerses the reader . .. Strunk's work is unlike any other in contemporary crime literature . . .he paints his scenes from the inside out . . .This is a book born of rich sensibilities that readers will enjoy living with awhile." --Maureen Conlan, The Cincinnati Post "The strong atmosphere will sustain the reader, while the ending offers puzzles enough to linger in the memory." --Publishers Weekly "Mr. Strunk's hollow-eyed miners and strong-willed women seem rooted to this place. . .these mountain people, whose social insularity Mr. Strunk understands so well and whose quiet strengths and distinctive character he portrays with such integrity." --Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review "Frank C. Strunk has done it again--thoroughly engrossed and entertained me with another Berkley Jordon adventure . . .told with laconic simplicity. . ." --Kiki Olson, St. Petersburg Times "I met Frank Strunk a few years ago at a writer's conference at the Univeristy of Oklahoma. We talked a lot during the course of that weekend, and it didn't take me long to realize Frank was a man who enjoyed spinning a yarn and that he brought the storytelling traditions with which he was raised to his telling of tales. I think you'll see what I mean as soon as you start reading Jordon's Showdown, and that you'll not only find yourself as caught up in the lives of his characters as I was but also agree completely with the critics who've praised his distinctive voice." --Michael Seidman, Mystery Editor, Walker and Company About the author . . . Frank C. Strunk was born and raised in Eastern Kentucky, where his novels take place. He worked for a number of years as a newspaper and magazine reporter and editor and later as head of his own advertising and public relations firm in the Washington, D.C. area. He now lives in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Read a profile of Frank C. Strunk in Celebrity Author Spotlight as he shares some of his writing techniques and talks about the craft of writing and the fascinating history of the Appalachian Mountain people. How to order the book . . . To order a personally autographed copy of Jordon's Showdown, send a check for $22 (which includes postage and handling) to Frank Strunk, 15107 Madeira Way, Madeira Beach, FL 33708. Please include a note specifying how you would like the author to sign your book.

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Rachel by Rachel Reeves Since her baby feet patted bare across the yard at her birthplace in Spruce Pine, Alabama, a place she would long for in years to come, Rachel saw the world of poverty around her as a good life. The story of Rachel is centered with heartaches, good times, love and lack of understanding. But the hard facts of life came early for Rachel when she learned she could not rescue the doll she loved from a raging thunderstorm after she had left it outside by the well house. The author's account of this scene, so unimportant, immediately opens the reader's heart to Rachel and the character she would play throughout the book. But the incident at the well was nothing compared with the heartbreak soon to follow, Rachel wailing at the head of her baby sister's deathbed after she and the toddler had eaten green plums and obtained stomach infections. Readers of this first person down-to-earth account of being the oldest of eleven siblings must pause from the book to laugh and digest passages relating to Rachel's boot-leg father who upon almost losing a second child makes a promise to God and gives up his drunken ways to become "an old-time preacher man." Readers will love Rachel's family, including James, the second oldest ofthe clan, who makes his own rules. While attending the little country school, James picked on Rachel and Hershell and refused to walk home with them. James got in lots of trouble. To leave Spruce Pine a second time, now at the ripe age of 13, Rachel's having to leave Walter, her boyfriend, rings a loud bell of hurt from the pages of this book without the author's saying. A beautiful child, Rachel didn't have any trouble getting another boy in the southwest, but she missed her "real boyfriend" with whom she had shared secret notes and church dates and who was now many, many miles away in Rachel's beloved Spruce Pine. Throughout the book the author puts deep-rooted feeling of Spruce Pine on the pages which come alive in the reader's eye. You can feel Rachel's pain as she suddenly became a Louisiana girl who would never again live in her own hometown. The family left the small town, with the mother and children riding on top of everything they owned on the bed of an old three quarter ton truck, atop a mattress. At age fourteen, ran off with a soldier, then 11 months later gave birth to her first child. As time passes, Rachel goes "through it all," from being a teen-age-mother taking off to Nashville, Tennessee to find work, back to Texarkana, Arkansas where she would live for several years. Rachel endures a life of anguish -- mental and physical abuse. When Rachel finally gets enough courage to change her life--adding some good times and have "fun", she meets and falls in love with a radio disc jockey, Jack, married him and left the south for the State of Illinois. But Illinois was not necessarily her promised land either. Rachel and Jack made a good living and lived a happy life with lots of laughs and good times. Then tragedy came suddenly and things could never be as they were before. Rick, Rachel's youngest son, lost his life in a car accident and her third child, Gary, was brutally murdered a few years later. In her pursuit for justice of the killers, a fight with the State of Illinois over foster children and the children's right to choose with whom they wished to live, a battle with cancer, and finally leaving the north for a new home within a couple hours drive of her cherished Spruce Pine, the reader cries often, laughs a lot, and will often ask, "Could this possibly have happened? Can this book be the honest-to-goodness truth." The author says it is. You'll love Rachel as I do. Patricia Lieb How to order the book . . . To order a personally autographed copy of the novel, Rachel, send your request and a check for $24.95 plus $4 postage to: P.O. Box 71, Selmer, Tennessee 38375. For more current information, e-mail: memipop@centuryinter.net.

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Forever Free! by Maria Goodsell After an almost unbearable childhood in a concentration camp where she was forced to watch mass executions and live burials, Maria Goodsell risked a dangerous escape. Her book recounts the gripping story of her life as a refugee seeking liberty in America and freedom in Christ. Maria Goodsell was born in Werschetz, Yogoslavia, before the outbreak of World War II to her German parents Josef and Anna Stark. At the age of six, Maria, her mother and sister fled their homeland because of Russian invasion and sought refuge in Czechoslovakia. They returned home after the war only to be captured by partisans and placed in a concentration camp. After one year, Maria and her family risked a daring escape to freedom. "As I sit in our beautiful home in Florida enjoying the sun-filled days, my mind cannot help but go back that long, often hard and rocky road I have come. For a long time it seemed the sun would never shine again. Our family came to America in 1952. My husband and I reside in beautiful Spring Hill, Florida. Together we operate the Goodsell Insurance Agency. In the past two years I have spoken in churches as well as Christian organizations, especially women's groups. I have two wonderful children, Andrew and Debra, and two grandchildren, Drew and Rickey. I hope you enjoy my story." How to order the book . . . Price of Forever Free!: $5 . To order, send $5 to Double M Publications, 8268 Delaware Drive, Spring Hill, FL 34607. back to top Poems of the Fantastic by Glenn Robert Swetman Poems of the Fantastic by Glenn Robert Swetman is a strange and wonderful volume peopled by strange and wonderful beings. Wolfmen and vampires share its pages with Emily Dickinson, Tarzan, and "Billy Goat Gruff." Heroes and dragons share the stage with whales and astronauts, all linked together with the mythologies of the ancient Greeks, Romans, Norsemen, and Incas. And, on occasion... Sometimes but only in the pure black pitch-clouded night the barracuda knowing the moon and stars are hid, rise unseen from the black depths upward through ink-froth upward through black foam through black fog through night-mist they rise unseen to swim the dark air. As examples of pure fantasy, Swetman's poems are exquisite--but they are more than that--far more. Each poem contains its individual kernel of truth, and insight into the world about us--and the world within our minds. Furthermore, the entire collection is a celebration of the human imagination. As Swetman himself says, "Facts alone lead nowhere; mathematics, for example, is an invention of the imagination--an invention almost as important as poetry... but now quite. A man must build a road before he can travel on it; he must imagine it before he can build it. All progress is understanding the material world, our inner selves, or own relationship to the universe and God, starts with the imagination--of which poetry is the purest expression." Swetman's poems reflect this philosophy. Within the single limitation that each poem in that collection is somehow "fantastic," the range of the poems is wide and varied--from our most beautiful dreams to our darkest fears, these poems cover the spectrum of the human mind and soul. Humor, pathos, love, fear, life, death, all are treated with the same extraordinary brilliance and clarity. Swetman's poems are not only celebrations of the imagination, they are celebrations of life. How to order the book . . . To order a copy of "Poems of the Fantastic," send a check for $10 to Glenn Swetman, P.O. Box 146, Biloxi, Mississippi. 39533. Glenn R. Swetman Author, writer, teacher, actor... Glenn Robert Swetman was born in Biloxi, Mississippi and educated in Mississippi and Louisiana, receiving his Ph.D. from Tulane University. Dr. Swetman is a retired professor of English at Nicholls State University, in Thibodaux, Lousiana, where he coordinated the creative writing program. He is the current writer in residence at William Carey College in Gulf Port, Mississippi. His many prizes and awards include: Honorary Fellow and Honorary Doctorate, International Boswellian Institute; Yokosuka Black Ship Festival Haiku Award, Japan; Outstanding Educator of Americia, 1971. He is listed in the International Who's Who in Poetry, Contemporary Authors, and Who's Who in the World. He has served with numerous organizations that promulgate modern poetry, such as the national Federation of State Poetry Societies. Swetman's poems, articles, short stories, and plays have appeared in hundreds of academic quarterlies, journals, and Sunday supplements including the Wisconsin Review, Film Quarterly, Ball State University Forum, Prairie Schooner, Kansas Quarterly, Quartet, Accent, Midwest Quarterly, Texas Quarterly, Mississippi Review, Trace (England), Oasis (England), A Semana (Brazil), Xavier University Press, (Bolivia), Poet (India), Tributes (Japan), Gryphon and Pteranodon. He is the author of 11 volumes of poetry. Swetman has appeared in several movies, is associated with the U.S. Army Intelligence, is an ecologist, and a licensed alligator hunter.

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John D. MacDonald Bibliophile Edited by Prof. Ed Hirshberg JDM Bibliophile is a non-profit journal devoted to the words and readers of John D. MacDonald and related matters. JDM Bibliophile is edited by Edgar W. Hirshberg and published by the Department of English, University of South Florida, Tampa. Contributing authors are assigned all rights to their own material. The cost of an annual subscription to the JDM Biliophile is $10. Send checks to JDM Bibliophile, Department of English, University of South Florida, 4202 Fowler Ave., CPR107, Tampa, FL 33620. Certain back issues are also available (32, 33, 38, 39, 44, 46, 48, 50, 51, 53, and 54) and can be ordered at a cost of $5 each plus the price of postage. Edgar W. Hirshberg, Bio Edgar W. Hirshberg, retired Professor of English at the University of South Florida, in Tampa, received his B.A. degree from Harvard, M.A. from Yale, and Ph.D. from Cambridge. In addition to his interest in detective fiction, he is a scholar of the 19th century literature, as well as an author, columnist, and book reviewer. He is interested in popular culture, with emphasis on mystery and detection. His Twayne U.S. Authors Series Biography of John D. MacDonald was published in September, 1985. Since 1964, Dr. Hirshberg has served as the editor of the JDM Bibliophile literary magazine, the oldest magazine dealing with an author that is published in the western hemisphere. Having been a personal friend of MacDonald's, Hirshberg taped hours of conversations with MacDonald while working on his biography. With Hirshberg living in Tampa and MacDonald living in Sarasota, the two would sometimes meet halfway between the two cities to have lunch. Dr. Hirshberg is the co-founder of the Florida Suncoast Writers' Conference held annually at USF's St. Petersburg campus the first weekend of February and is the founder of the John D. MacDonald Conference held in Sarasota each November. Hirshberg serves as the director of both conferences. "John was at the first one," Hirshberg said of the first John D. MacDonald Conference held in 1978. "We had a great time." The Sixth Annual John D. MacDonald Conference will take place November 15-16-17, 1996 on the University of South Florida/New College campus in Sarasota. For information, call Calvin Branche, (813) 842-4349. Additional information about the Annual Florida Suncoast Writers' Conference at USF and the MacDonald Conference coming up this fall will be posted in the Write On Magazine "News and Events" section. back to top Schott at Sunrise by Carol Schott Martino Schott at Sunrise is a collection of columns previously published in the Livingston Citizen, where Carol worked as a journalist for several years. In the introduction, Nebraska poet Don Welch says "I love Carol's writing. Not afraid to be sensitive, she writes her feelings in plain, honest ways. In an age when writers have been desensitized by a succession of senseless wars, by slick political writing, and by literary conventions which have called for more and more understatement, it is a pleasure to read Ms. Schott's unguarded poetic tribute to subjects which range from her mother to Mike Ditka and the Chicago Bears, from riding the rails with her grandson to the Vietnam War. "But to her remarkable feelings she brings an equally admirable style. She writes with journalistic clarity and poetic color, and always with a rhythmic variety which moves her readers forward through a series of good insights into equally vivid moods. This is her real gift. Not many writers for newspapers bless their readers with prose this richly won, or earned...." How to order the book . . . To order Schott at Sunrise, send a check for $5 to Carol Schott Martino, at 711 South Locust, Pontiac, Illinois, 61764. Carol Schott Martino Carol Schott Martino has been writing feature stories and columns for various Illinois newspapers since 1982. Her articles have also appeared in numerous magazines and trade journals including Woman's World, Farm and Ranch, Live Steam, and Farm Journal. She has two grown sons, Richie and Jason, and a 5-year-old grandson, Nathan. She lives in Pontiac Illinois with her husband, Dan. Carol's poetry has appeared in numerous literary publications and she is the former co-editor/co-publisher of the literary magazine Pteranodon and the Pteranodon chapbook series. She has presented talks at various literary festivals around the United States and has been a guest poetry reader for state poetry societies in several states. She won an award from the National Federation of State Poetry Societies for her poem, Catholics and Publics, which is the title of a book of poetry she co-authored that was published in 1983.

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