The Americas Blog Tour Starts...NOW!

All Aboard...
This blog tour train is headed to the Americas!!

Today, we are kicking off a week of bookish wonderment as we celebrate Jason Lee Norman and his recently released short story collection Americas. It's actually a pretty cool concept, if you haven't picked it up yet - 22 short fictional stories, one for each of the countries that make up the Americas.

Jason was a new-to-me author just a few months back. He made a twitter faux pas - of the typically deadly 'pitch a blogger your book' kind - and I took mercy on him because I appreciated his unique spin on book peddling. Jason is a really cool guy who just happens to be an indie author who just happens to have an in-your-face and uber contagious way of getting his work out there. He also has a funny bone the size of Canada and appreciates the occasional ego-stroking. I can't wait for you to meet him!

Jason and I have a great blog tour lined up for you guys. A million thanks go out to our hosts: Susie and Amy of The Insatiable Booksluts; Marc Schuster of Small Press Reviews; Beth Diiorio of Candle Beam Book Blog; Tee Tate of LitStack; Jennifer of Books, Personally; and Benoit Lelievre of Dead End Follies. These guys have some super cool bloggy toury things in store for you and I am beyond ecstatic to have them on board. If you aren't familiar with them yet, please check them out. Really. Right now. Go ahead. I mean it. And then come back and follow each of us throughout this week's festivities and help us spread the love of all things Americas!

Sit back, relax, and let us start by razzle-dazzling you with Jason's insight into what being indie means to him:

Am I indie now? Thank God! At least I’m something. When I first think of indie I think of it in the most direct sense. I’m all alone out here. There is no agent; there is no book deal from a big publishing house. I write what I want to write and I write what I think will engage and entertain other readers. That thought of being all alone out here doesn’t really last long. There are a lot of people out there who have either bought a book, written a review, or agreed to put me on local television that are helping me out every day. Maybe there’s no agent or publicist but there are people who believe in me enough to click a link or buy a book from me just because they think I’m a nice guy. I may not have a larger corporate network behind me but I still have to find ways to connect with my community so that they know I’m here and know what I’m about. If they like any of those things then I may just earn their support.

Secondly, I think that there is a community out there that would identify themselves as being indie in one way or another when it comes to writing and literature. This is the community that I am desperate to connect with. These are the people I look up to on a daily basis and I don’t even know them personally. Living where I live in Canada I can feel very isolated at times and very separated from other writers but the indie community that I am able to interact with on the Internet definitely takes that isolated feeling away. There are online journals and small presses doing wonderful things and connecting with readers in great ways. They publish bold writers (the list is too long to even try) and especially short fiction that I believe is better than anything else being done by any “established” or mainstream literary presence. This indie community is inspiring to me because they publish what they want and they put all of their energy behind the writers they believe in. When observing from a far off place like where I am, I sometimes think that these people have it all. These writers are read widely across Canada and the United States and the small presses are all doing great for themselves. This is probably mostly a naïve observation to make because the struggles that these smaller indie presses and writers have to deal with are greater than anything I’ve had to experience. They keep doing it because they love what they do and that’s what makes me look up to them so much. I’d love to be considered indie in the same vein as these groups of writers and I’d love for my book ‘Americas’ and anything else I produce to be considered as such too. To throw my hat into the same ring, into the same marketplace that these artists do each day is an honour. Although I can’t touch and talk to all of them on a daily basis, there is still a community out there. Everyone can feel it and you see more and more writers talk about it each day. They support each other and they respect good writing and they respect the proper attitudes that it takes to achieve any amount of success out there in the world.

Lastly, being indie means that I don’t have any money. Money isn’t that important to me but I would like to be able to take my girlfriend out to dinner some time. Writing a book is the most round about, ineffective, self-indulgent way of making money I can think of.

Go Indie!

P.S. buy my book 

Jason Lee Norman is probably the greatest writer in town. He has a glorious beard and is knowledgeable in almost any subject that exists. Do you want to kiss him? Probably. Friend him? Most definitely. Be him? Impossibly. Visit his website to learn more: http://jasonleenorman.wordpress.com/

**Next stop on the Americas Blog Tour Train... Tomorrow: The Insatiable Booksluts review Jason's collection.**

Indie Spotlight: Nicholas Dettman

Every writer has a story. The story of how they first came to be a writer: What or who influenced them to write a book - a family member, an author they met, a life experience; How the idea for that first book came to them - feverishly in the middle of the night, slowly and surely over the course of many years, accidently....


Nicholas Dettman, a first time, self-published author, recounts all of those things and more in today's Indie Spotlight. Taking the leap from writing for the paper to writing for the masses, he discusses who most influenced him to become a published author, how his book came to him, and what gave him the courage to self-publish: 

"A Life Worth Dreaming About” is my debut novel. It was released in February.

I was inspired to become a writer when I was eighth grade when I attended my mom’s cousin’s wedding. At the time, he was working for the Chicago Tribune as a sports writer and told me that he got to interview a lot of interesting people, such as Michael Jordan. I thought that was pretty cool.

When I got to high school, I joined my high school newspaper and really enjoyed it. It didn’t take long for me to make my decision that I wanted to pursue a career in writing.

Why?

Well, I’m an outgoing person who likes to talk and share stories. It seemed like a perfect fit to combine that characteristic with writing. Almost instantly, it proved to be a perfect fit.

I have worked at newspapers in Idaho, Indiana and Wisconsin, as well as contributed to many newspapers around the country, such as the Houston Chronicle and the Baltimore Sun. Sports have always been the focus with my writing career. That was until I saw my uncle release his first book.

I thought it was so neat to see someone I knew write a book. That’s when I decided I wanted to write a book some day. I believe I was about 20 years old at the time. I just needed a topic or story.

My book, “A Life Worth Dreaming About,” really just came to me overnight. I have a notepad that sits on a nightstand next to my bed. Anytime I have some kind of writing idea whether it is book related or something else, I jot it down. Well, when the idea to do “A Life Worth Dreaming About” came to me, I was up for almost two hours in the wee hours of the night. Even as I tried to get to sleep, I struggled. The next morning, I was at the computer with the notebook at my side. The next thing I knew, I typed more than 20 pages. I constantly found myself thinking about it and it didn’t take long to put it all together.

I finished “A Life Worth Dreaming About” in less than a year. However, I encountered a number of other problems I never counted on that slowed the process down.

I obviously knew getting published through a traditional house was going to be tough. I sent in the manuscript to a couple companies and didn’t get a response. Then, after a conversation with a former colleague at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, he introduced me to the idea of self-publishing. Everything sounded great, until the cost came into play.

For a year, the project sat untouched on the hard drive of my computer. I doubted my story would ever get published. It was highly frustrating and disappointing.

That’s when my family stepped in. With their help, we were able to collect enough funds to finally get the project off my computer and into print. Three months later, I held the physical copy of my book for the first time. I was so excited. A dream had been realized, three years later.

Since then, I’ve found out the pros and cons of self-publishing. The pros include getting the project published, being able to show it off and see it on store shelves. However, the cons include self-promotion, which has been the toughest out of the whole experience. It has taken a lot of time and a serious commitment. Promoting it has taken a great deal of time. At times it has been rewarding, but most of the time, it has been disappointing. Why? I believe it is a great book and one I’m extremely proud of. But, like publishing houses, customers aren’t taking a whole lot of chances on first-time authors. Of course, a tough economy is not helping my cause.

I dream of one day being a best-selling author. I love to tell stories. My specialty in newspapers is feature writing. I’ve won seven sports writing awards – all related to feature writing. I have discovered a passion to write and enjoy doing so. I hope my writing comes out that way to readers.

“A Life Worth Dreaming About” has some characteristics from authors that I admire, such as Mitch Albom, Rick Reilly, John Grisham and Tom Hallman Jr. It was Hallman that made the biggest influence in my career. I attended a workshop he hosted in Chicago a few years ago about narrative storytelling. He had my attention for the duration of the eight-hour workshop. The great influence was how he showed the people there that day how to turn the smallest detail into the greatest story.

For example, Hallman, who is a features reporter at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., was to write a story about a politician’s funeral. Instead of taking the route most people would do and recall the good things he has done, he spoke with the person who dug the grave. It turned out that the grave digger hated him. Hallman taught me how to see, in a lack of a better term, outside the box.

I’ve had a lot of positive feedback regarding my novel, “A Life Worth Dreaming.” One of them include: “I read the novel cover to cover in just 24 hours. I could not stop. I can’t remember the last time I did that. In fact, I am sure I never have. At first I thought the extensive detail was too much, but as I kept reading, the extra detail painted such a clear picture of who Carl was and who he became after his experience.”

If or when you get the novel, I want to know what you think of it. What did you like about it? What didn’t you like about it?

And besides, who wouldn’t want to change a thing from their past? 

Bio: Nicholas Dettmann is a veteran journalist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has worked at daily newspapers in Idaho Falls, Idaho, Michigan City, INand West Bend, WI. He has also appeared in numerous newspapers around the country, including the Houston Chronicle, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Baltimore Sun. He has won writing awards at the local, regional and national levels. Nicholas was first published in 2001 at only 19 years old when he wrote a poem, “Remembering,” honoring the death of a classmate. It received an Editor’s Choice award from Poetry.com.

His writing idols include Rick Reilly, Mitch Albom, John Grisham and Tom Hallman Jr. In his spare time, Nicholas enjoys reading and spending time with family and friends. Nicholas’ specialty is writing personality profiles. He is married to his wife, Elizabeth, and they have two cats, Daisy and Dory.

Where Writers Write: J. A. Tyler

Welcome to another installment of TNBBC's Where Writers Write!

Where Writers Write is a weekly series that will feature a different author every Wednesday as they showcase their writing spaces using short form essay, photos, and/or video. As a lover of books and all of the hard work that goes into creating them, I thought it would be fun to see where some of TNBBC's favorite authors roll up their sleeves and make the magic happens.

Today's post is by J. A. Tyler, author of A Man of Glass & All the Ways We Have Failed from Fugue State Press and No One Told Me I Was Going to Disappear, co-authored with John Dermot Woods, from Jaded Ibis Press. His work has appeared with Black Warrior Review, Redivider, Diagram, New York Tyrant, and others. 

Shrouded in mystery, J.A. sends us this short but extremely personal peek into his writing space.

Where J.A. Tyler Writes When He Writes 

This is my kitchen table. It was a wedding present, which makes it thirteen years old. My laptop is only one year old. And there is a coffee cup, a half-sized one that I love. I drink coffee when I write. There are also my headphones. I listen to music when I write. Right now, I’m into Fun and Regina Spektor and Jukebox the Ghost and The Shins and The Decemberists. Everything else you can see is clean and neat, because I need clean and neat to write, I need my environment to be clear and minimal so that my writing can sprawl without guilt. And there are the windows too, and shades of our maple tree, which changes in the seasons, and infects my writing more than anything else.

Check back next week to see where Rachel in the OC - the Queen of Snark - finds her inspiration.

Review: The Mere Weight of Words

Read 6/25/12 - 6/27/12
3.5 Stars - Recommended to readers who enjoy short fiction that reads like non-fiction and fans of phonetics
Pgs: 64
Publisher: Aqueous Books

Say what you mean (and be sure to pronounce it correctly).

The Mere Weight of Words - a novella whose very title is a twist in its own right on language and how we apply it - flows between the past and present as a young woman tries to come to terms with her estranged father's recent diagnosis and the uncomfortable emotions it triggers in her regarding her own physical condition.

Meredith - Mere for short - chose her nickname for its definition: of or relating to a trifle, an expendable good, or something easily used and quickly discarded. Obsessed with the sounds and meanings of words from a very young age, Mere butted heads with her father and his insistence that she devote herself to studying art.  

She bled language. She was intrigued by its ferocious and tricky nature... by the weight her - and anyone else's - words could carry. She loved how she could manipulate any dialect and language; she longed to become a phonetician. Until she awoke one morning with a partially paralyzed face - an illness that, as it took away all feeling, also took away her fascination with words.

Carissa Halston writes in a voice that is so pure, that speaks so straight to the life of this woman Mere, that I constantly had to remind myself it was a work of fiction. That I wasn't reading the memoir of a hopeful phonetician who had the words ripped from her mouth by Bells Palsy. That this character was just that...  a character.

Throughout the novella, Halston exposes us to these themes of physical and emotional paralysis - Mere and her facial paralysis; the discovery of her father's Alzheimer's; the fear of seeing and speaking to him again; the stirring up of old wounds and arguments...

Behind all of this, I couldn't help but feel completely inferior to Mere, and Carissa - her maker. My hold on the English language is slippery and temperamental at best, and here I am, reading about a woman who lives and breathes its very syntax.

An interesting, mutli-layered look at the world through the frightened eyes of a woman who stood to lose control of her words, and fought to make them count.

The New York Stories Blog Tour

It's Monday. It's Ben Tanzer. It's Laura Szumowski. It's the CCLaP blog tour celebrating both of these talented individuals and their one-two-punch literary combo "The New York Stories". And it's happening right here, right now. At this very moment.


I have been a long-time fan of the Tanzer-man, and he's been a vocal supporter of TNBBC and multiple-time participant in our wacky - and seemingly never-ending - blog features. Not only is he an extremely talented writer, but also completely and seriously huggable! Whenever there is an opportunity for me to spread the love, I'm all over it.


Now, I didn't know how I was going to pull off an equally gushy intro to Laura, since I haven't had any previous interactions with her. But (1) she's part of the CCLaP family and (2) she's the illustrator for The New York Stories - which combines two of Ben's short story eBook collections (2008's Repetition Patterns and 2011's So Different Now) into one gorgeous handmade, faux-suede covered book that displays 30 of Laura's illustrations, six of those in full color. That is more than enough to gush about!


On top of that... she and Ben both submitted video entries into our Where Writers Write series. These videos could not be any different from each other and yet they are both so absolutely incredible. Take a few minutes and steal a peek into the work spaces of Ben Tanzer and Laura Szumowski as they show us where the magic happens:

Where Ben Tanzer Writes

There is kitchen table. And not much else. A laptop. A painting my father did of my younger brother and I when we were the age my kids are now. Floor to ceiling windows. An alley. Chicago. A cup of coffee certainly.


It is a public space. We all share it. The family and I. But when the children and wife are asleep, and during those times when they are actually out of the house, it is where I write. I also write in hotels and planes and airports when I travel for work. The office. Coffee shops. "L" trains. My mom's apartment, my in-laws home, and my brother's house.


I write where and when I can. But mostly at home. All I ask is that no one talk to me while I'm writing. Well that, and the permission to fantasize about that place I will someday go to write when I have all kinds of time to write and a separate space to do so. I don't know that I will be more productive in this imaginary place or even somehow tap into some vein of creativity I have otherwise yet to unearth.


It represents something though. Something different. Somewhere new. It also means I will have figured something out, even if I'm not sure yet what that means.

Where Laura Szumowski Illustrates

My absolute favorite place to be is at my drawing table, working on a project with the windows open. Both of my work areas are near large windows-- this is a really important aspect, and I've always selected apartments based on three things: windows, natural lighting, and trees. I live across from a park, on a quiet side street. I love the feeling of being in the city with everything nearby, while simultaneously feeling as though I could be anywhere. Having trees outside my windows is essential, because it's calming and helps me focus. Natural lighting goes without saying-- it's the best light to draw by.

I mentioned New Wave, but it could be any coffee shop. Getting out of the house, to a place with few distractions, is the best way to work through the tough, preliminary parts of a project. Plus, I can get myself a treat if I'm feel a little under-motivated. A lot of research goes into my books, and while much of it is fascinating, it can be a lot to muck through.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are interested in learning more about Ben and Laura, check out the many blog tour stops prior to mine:

Friday, 6/15: Mourning Goats

Monday, 6/18: Caleb Ross

Tuesday, 6/19: Patricia Ann McNair

Wednesday, 6/20: Pete Anderson

Thursday, 6/21: Burrow Press

Friday, 6/22: Baby Got Books

Monday, 6/25: Mel Bosworth

Tuesday, 6/26: Ryan Bradley

Wednesday, 6/27: Curbside Splendor

Thursday, 6/28: Cort Bledsoe

Friday, 6/29: Another Chicago Magazine

You can also find more info on The New York Stories, Ben Tanzer, and Laura Szumowski at the following blogs in the next few days:

Tuesday, 7/3: Dead End Follies

Wednesday, 7/4: WordPlaySound

Thursday, 7/5: Artifice Magazine

Book Giveaway: Threats and My Only Wife

Since July 2010, TNBBC has been bringing authors and readers together every month to get behind the book! This unique experience wouldn't be possible without the generous donations of the authors and publishers involved. 

I am beyond thrilled to be able to bring you next month's Author/Reader Discussion!

This one is a dual discussion featuring 

Ameila Gray and Jac Jemc

and will be taking place in TNBBC in August!!

In order to stimulate discussion, 

Amelia and Jac's publishing companies have agreed to give away

10 copies EACH - to US residents only.

(sorry, international folks!)

This is a one-of-a-kind event! TNBBC has never hosted a dual discussion before!

You don't want to miss out on this one... Trust me.

Here are the Goodreads descriptions of the books:

Threats:

David’s wife is dead. At least, he thinks she’s dead. But he can’t figure out what killed her or why she had to die, and his efforts to sort out what’s happened have been interrupted by his discovery of a series of elaborate and escalating threats hidden in strange places around his home. These disturbing threats may be the best clues to his wife’s death. With no one to trust, David is forced to rely on his own memories and faculties—but they too are proving unreliable. 

My Only Wife:

Ten years ago the narrator unlocked the door of a wrecked apartment, empty of any trace of his wife. As stunning as her disappearance is his response. He freezes on the facts of her, haunting his recollections. This is the story of a man unable to free himself enough from the idea of a woman to try to find her. 

This giveaway will run through July 8th.
Winners will receive one copy of each book and will be notified here and via email on June 9th.

Here's how to enter:

1 - Leave a comment stating why you would like to win the copies.

2 - State that you agree to participate in the group read book discussion that will run from August 15th through the end of the month. Amelia Gray and Jac Jemc have agreed to participate in the discussion and will be available to answer any questions you may have for them. 

 *If you are chosen as a winner, by accepting the copy you are agreeing to read the book and join the group discussion at TNBBC on Goodreads (the thread for the discussion will be emailed to you before the discussion begins). 

 3 - Your comment must have a way to contact you (email is preferred). AND you must be a resident of the US!!!!

Good luck!

Indie Book Buzz: Archipelago Books

It's a great day for some Indie Book Buzz here at TNBBC. This series has been on hiatus for a bit but Archipelago Books is helping to rekindle it! I can think of no better way for members of the indie publishing houses to share which of their upcoming 2012 releases they are most excited about! 

This week's pick comes from Eric Dean Wilson, 

Assistant Editor for Archipelago Books

PREHISTORIC TIMES by Eric Chevillard
Translated from the French by Alyson Waters
Publication date: July 10 

What it's about:
The narrator of Prehistoric Times, an archeologist by trade, embodies at once the cartoonishly absurd and gravely human qualities of a tour guide. Due to a severe knee injury while falling from a cliff on the job, the narrator is appointed as both guide and guardian of the Pales caves, which hold Neolithic cave paintings of debatable importance to the history of civilization. We soon discover, however, that he is one of a seemingly infinite line in the position who have since passed their life, uniform, and house to the next guide. In a covert display of what is means to be human or even vaguely humanoid, the narrator delays the point of his discussion in a dizzying array of tangents and diverging thoughts which lead to the inevitable question of history: what is man, and what is his legacy?


Why you should read it:
Eric Chevillard captures, in a way that French absurdists only can, a tone of grim comedy and peculiar mortality. Not only is Prehistoric Times a swift, ride-of-a-read, it packs a tough punch in its thoughts on the span of recorded human history. In our narcissistic age, and in an age particularly attuned to criticism and interpretation, it's easy for us to become stuck in the groove of a certain mode of looking at art, at writing, or at any form of communication. The humbling truth is that, when our civilization as we know it disappears, the meaning of the monuments left for the next culture will be entirely out of our hands. But--let me assure you--this book does not drag with the weight of its heavy questions on humankind. It skips and jumps, making it all the more curious.

Eric Dean Wilson is the Assistant Editor for Archipelago Books, a non-profit publisher of classic and contemporary world literature in translation in Brooklyn. He is the co-author (with dancer Tavia Grace Odinak) of Meat Game, a performance piece about Queen Victoria, femininity, and pork ribs. His own essays and poetry have appeared in Ninth Letter, Seneca Review, River Teeth, and Third Coast, among others. In his spare time, he is the producer of the forthcoming web comedy series "Meet Norma St. Cleod" -- a selection for the 2012 International Television Festival in L.A. -- due in September. He is also, at times, a performer, bartender, and lover of ancient Roman poetry.

Where Writers Write: David Maine

Welcome to another installment of TNBBC's Where Writers Write!

Where Writers Write is a weekly series that will feature a different author every Wednesday as they showcase their writing spaces using short form essay, photos, and/or video. As a lover of books and all of the hard work that goes into creating them, I thought it would be fun to see where some of TNBBC's favorite authors roll up their sleeves and make the magic happens.

This is David Maine. David is the author of Fallen; The Preservationist; The Book of Samson (three fantastic fictional accounts of biblical events); Monster, 1959 (a campy rompy nod towards the good ole 50's sci-fi/horror movies); The Gamble of the Godless (a straight to ebook fantasy novel); and the upcoming An Age of Madness, which will be released in September by Red Hen Press.

David and I met quite a few years back, and we always find fun and creative ways to work together - including this blog tour I developed and hosted for him back in August of 2011 where David throws in his two cents on the whole "indie" thing. 

Today, I get to show off David's writing space! Folks, this is where the Maine Madness happens....

Where David Maine Writes

My writing space these days is fairly modest. I used to have a whole room to use as a studio, and I hope to have that again one day soon. But life in Hawaii has been pretty cramped, and this 6 x 10 partition of my bedroom has been pretty much what I’ve had to work with for the past couple of years.

Ultimately, my needs are fairly simple: a comfortable chair to slouch in with a notebook; some sort of platform for my laptop; some shelves for a few inspiring books; a desk to accommodate the clutter. Bonus points are awarded for windows that look out on something green and an overall sense of solitude and calm. (Which is, by far, the most difficult of these elements to find.)

A couple things that accompany me into this space. Coffee sits on the table beside me from mid-morning to late afternoon. Music is there, especially in the afternoons, and generally of the space-out trance-inducing variety—Tinariwen, Mazzy Star, Speck Mountain, low-key reggae like the Nazarenes, African kora music and so forth. Nothing too raucous or attention-grabbing, and definitely no hip-hop. (Listening to other people’s words makes it difficult to concentrate on my own.) And I like to keep copies of my books nearby, mainly as a reminder that this whole write-something-that’s-worth-reading enterprise isn’t as crazy as it often feels.

I’ve been fortunate to live in many different places, in varying degrees of financial comfort. Whether the accompanying spaces have been large or small, private or shared, I think the important thing is for me to make peace with the surrounding environment so that I can then forget about it. After all, writing is about creating other worlds and living in them, so I try not to get too terribly caught up in the nuts and bolts of what surrounds me.

Check back next week to see where J.A. Tyler is inspired to write. 

Indie Spotlight: Anne Marie Ruff

What happens when a journalist takes her personal experience with researching how our health is tied to the health of the environment and puts it into writing?

Anne Marie Ruff calls it "fact-based fiction".

In the below spotlight, Ruff explains how her debut novel Through These Veins, which has been referred to as "a character-oriented Constant Gardener set in the world of AIDS/HIV research featureing two strong women in pursuit of a long-awaited cure", came to be:

I call myself a recovering journalist these days, and I call my novel, Through These Veins, fact-based fiction.  Here is how the story opens: In the coffee-growing highlands of Ethiopia, an Italian scientist on a plant collecting expedition discovers a local medicine man dispensing an apparent cure for AIDS.

Fact or fiction?

The specifics of this particular situation are a fiction. But the story that unfurls from this fiction is studded with facts, real scientists, and events mirroring real life situations.  I gathered my sources and research for this novel at first unknowingly, while I worked as a journalist based in Bangkok, Thailandand then in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.  Later, once I had the idea for a novel, I sought out more research for the novel, under the guise of journalism. 

I didn’t set out to write fiction, which seems so contrary to the ‘just the facts ma’am’ axiom we associate with journalism.  My intention was to shine a light on unreported or underreported environmental stories. The medical reporting I did was not really my passion, as much as a byproduct of living in Bangkok; a hub for HIV/AIDS research and activism. After a year of telling gloom and doom stories about the destruction of forests, or coral reefs, or traditional agricultural varieties, I felt like even I was becoming desensitized to my deeply held belief that our collective health is inextricably linked to the health of our environment.

When, in the course of my reporting, I met a charismatic Italian scientist who approached plant collecting and conservation as if it were an adventure worthy of Indiana Jones. I had a shazaam moment. He ignited an idea for a new approach, a fictional story centered on a character like him. He could carry readers around the world, and inspire in others the passion he felt for the richness of life on the planet. He could articulate the imperative to conserve it for the health and well being of this and future generations.

I met this man, Stefano Padulosi, in Malaysia at a scientific conference focused on agricultural biodiversity and the promotion of traditional and medicinal crop plants. I interviewed Stefano about his work, and he told me adventure stories about traveling across a dozen African countries in search of…hold your breath here…unusual varieties of beans.

The beans seemed like a sideshow to me, but I knew I had to hear more about Stefano. During the conference he had told me that he was planning a trip to Turkmenistana few months later to study – what was at the time – the world’s largest collection of pomegranate varieties. So a week after the conference, I asked him if I could join the expedition to the mountain orchards of Turkmenistan. He said yes. Three months later I was there, peppering my notes for magazine stories with little tidbits about Stefano’s character.

But I needed more drama to make a compelling narrative.

As I worked on outlining my fictional story, my reporting on drug development and HIV/AIDS revealed itself as not only relevant, but integral to my story about the value of biodiversity, and one of its prime values as a source of medicines.  

I spent the next several years continuing my research and finally writing and revising (and revising and revising) the novel.

I contacted Stefano three years ago, nine years after the trip to Turkmenistan, letting him know what I had been writing. I was apprehensive that he could have felt somehow manipulated. But just like my character, the real Stefano has a more expansive heart than that. I was delighted at his effusive response to my email that I had written a novel that included him. He replied “The idea of the novel sounds fantastic!” I got goose bumps when I read the word fantastic, since my fictional Stefano uses the word frequently in the story. So I figured I had remembered his character accurately. Though of course, the fictional Stefano Geotti makes a lot of questionable decisions that cannot in any way be attributed to the non-fictional Stefano Padulosi. Even after reading the full draft (he said he translated much of it into Italian, so his mother could also know the book) he was still enthusiastic about the story – though pained at what some of his fictional version had to endure.

I am grateful for that conference in Malaysia and the chance meeting with Stefano, for it allowed me to marry my different reporting interests and use everything I learned and more in a novel way.  So facts support my fiction, and hopefully, my fiction will serve the facts.

All profits from the sale of Through These Veins are distributed to the Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders and the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation in Ethiopia.


Anne Marie Ruff has reported on AIDS research, drug development, biodiversity conservation, and agriculture from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa. Her work has been broadcast by National Public Radio, Public Radio International, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and PBS TV. Her articles have appeared in Time, Christian Science Monitor, and Saveur among other publications.

Anne Marie and her publicist have agreed to giveaway one copy of 

Through These Veins 

to our readers.  

The giveaway is opened internationally!

(US/Canada winner will get - paperback)

(International winner will get- PDF)

If you are interested in winning a copy of this book:

1 - Leave a comment stating why you would like to win a copy.

2 - Agree to post a review on goodreads and Amazon after you have read the book.

3 - Your comment must have a way to contact you (email is preferred). AND you must state which country you are in. 

The winner will be chosen on June 30th 

and notified here and through email. 

Good luck!

Where Writers Write: Kathe Koja

Welcome to another installment of TNBBC's Where Writers Write!

Where Writers Write is a weekly series that will feature a different author every Wednesday as they showcase their writing spaces using short form essay, photos, and/or video. As a lover of books and all of the hard work that goes into creating them, I thought it would be fun to see where some of TNBBC's favorite authors roll up their sleeves and make the magic happens.

Photo by Rick Lieder

This is Kathe Koja, writer and Detroit native.  She has written 15 books including THE CIPHER, SKIN, BUDDHA BOY, TALK, HEADLONG, UNDER THE POPPY - which I recently reviewed and loved! - and its sequel, THE MERCURY WALTZ (forthcoming in 2013). UNDER THE POPPY has been adapted for immersive performance. 

Kathe, as you will see below, has acquired many writing spaces that influence her and her stories. Come, take a peek...

Where Kathe Writes : The Appropriate Landscape 

Where do I write? Many places.

In Detroit, a city like no other city, alive to its own struggle, a landscape historic and beautifully fierce.

At my desk, an old-school schoolteacher's desk, seven drawers, two pull-out leaves, scratched golden varnish, nearly a lifetime's worth of work produced here - this desk and I have been together since I was eleven years old. When I'm here, with research books, research piles, and the all-important scraps of paper, my mind knows that I'm home, and ready to work. Music's playing, always, on an iPod, the playlist chosen to suit whatever's being written, to energize it and goose it into the world.

In a visualized past, a dark and passionate Victorian world of true love and foul deeds, upon which modernity is encroaching, as modernity will; a heartbreak brothel, an opulent townhouse, Under the Poppy which itself encroaches on modernity, finding itself remade by actors as the story is remade, rewritten, in lines of dialogue and notebook scratchings. 

In new venues all the time, this time a garden folly, a landscape of gorgeous green where a modern fable, aided by Elizabethans and scored with a tango, will make its debut as a commissioned piece later this year.

Where do I write? At the desk and keyboard. In a spiral notebook. Listening to actors speak. Watching the sun find its way into another day, or out of it. Everywhere my eyes see and my brain goes, grateful for every turn on the way.  

Be sure to check back next week when we discover where the magic happens for author David Maine!