{"id":1434,"date":"2018-12-31T17:12:57","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T17:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1434"},"modified":"2018-12-31T17:12:57","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T17:12:57","slug":"lone-star-reviewsmichelle-newby-nbcc-126","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1434","title":{"rendered":"Lone Star ReviewsMichelle Newby, NBCC,"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/span><\/span>Lone Star Reviews<\/span>Michelle Newby, NBCC,<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n

Contributing Editor<\/span><\/h1>\n
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MYSTERY<\/p>\n

J J Rusz<\/span><\/p>\n

The Window Trail: A Big Bend Country Mystery<\/span><\/p>\n

CreateSpace<\/p>\n

Paperback, 978-1-7224-2487-9, (also available as an e-book),\u00a0 284 pgs., $12.99; July 4, 2018<\/p>\n

In Big Bend National Park, the Window Trail<\/span> is a 5.5-mile, out-and-back pathway that draws hikers, birders, and others to its rugged beauty.<\/p>\n

In J J Rusz\u2019s<\/span> engrossing, well-crafted new novel, \u201cthe Window\u201d is other things, as well. It becomes the scene of an infamous suicide that is spotlighted in a best-selling book, and curious visitors from afar flock to stand at the exact spot where a young man plunged to his death. Meanwhile, a gruesome murder is discovered by a newly hired Sul Ross State University assistant professor, Claire Harp, while she and a local student are showing the trail to two students visiting from Ohio. The Window also becomes the impetus for a slow-starting romance between Claire and Clayton Alton Shoot, the Brewster County deputy sheriff investigating the murder.<\/p>\n

The Window Trail<\/span> is the first book in a projected mystery series focusing on Far West Texas and some of its communities. J J Rusz is the pen name of John J. Ruszkiewicz, who recently retired after four decades teaching literature, rhetoric, and composition at the University of Texas at Austin. Rusz previously has written several college textbooks and now lives in the Alpine area.\u00a0 >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/span><\/span>Texas Reads<\/span>Glenn Dromgoole<\/span><\/h1>\n

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New James Patterson novel set in Texas<\/h1>\n

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<\/a><\/span><\/span>James Patterson, whose books have reportedly sold 375 million copies,<\/span> has a new novel set in Texas, and it quickly jumped to number one on the New York Times Best-Seller List.<\/p>\n

Patterson teamed up with Andrew Bourelle<\/span> to write Texas Ranger<\/span><\/a><\/span>(Little, Brown, $28 hardcover) featuring fast-draw Texas Ranger Cory Yates as the main character. It could be the first in a series; Patterson hasn\u2019t decided yet.<\/p>\n

Yates is on temporary assignment in McAllen when he gets a call from his ex-wife back home in Redbud. She has been receiving death threats. It will take him five or six hours to get there. They talk for awhile, then hang up. When he calls back, he gets no answer, so he contacts\u00a0 911 and asks the dispatcher to send a car to her house. He\u2019s on the way.<\/p>\n

Yates walks into a chilling scene but is told to stay away from the case because of his personal connections, which isn\u2019t something he can very well do. And when a second, similar case grips the town, Yates figures he knows who\u2019s responsible. He\u2019s 90 percent sure, maybe close to 100 percent.<\/p>\n

Patterson, of course, keeps the action flowing and the reader guessing, all the way to the end. The authors work in a lot of references to country music, as Yates hits it off with a beautiful singer at a local night club. But he\u2019s also attracted to the girl he dumped back in high school just before the senior prom. She doesn\u2019t seem to hold any grudges.<\/p>\n

Texas Ranger<\/span> is Patterson\u2019s second Texas book this year. Back in March I reported that he had written a true crime book, Murder Interrupted,<\/span> about a Texas murder-for-hire case.<\/p>\n

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Ranger Jack Dean:<\/span> Veteran author Bob Alexander<\/span> has penned Old Riot, New Ranger<\/span><\/a><\/span> a thorough, well-researched biography of longtime twentieth-century Texas Ranger Jack Dean, who also served ten years as a U.S. Marshal (University of North Texas Press, $34.95 hardcover).<\/p>\n

The 544-page tome includes more than 75 pages of photos and nearly 100 pages of notes, bibliography and index. It\u2019s Alexander\u2019s sixteenth non-fiction book dealing with lawmen and outlaws.<\/p>\n

New London:<\/span>\u00a0 The Daisy Children<\/span> by Sofia Grant<\/span> is a novel based on the New London, Texas, school explosion in 1937, the deadliest school disaster in American history with nearly 300 killed (William Morrow, $15.99 paperback). The author lives in California.<\/p>\n

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Glenn Dromgoole<\/span> writes about Texas books and authors. Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

>> <\/span>Check out his previous Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Lit<\/a><\/span>erary Life<\/span><\/h1>\n

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4th Annual Permian Basin Writers\u2019 Workshop set for Oct. 13-14<\/h1>\n

Now in its fourth year, the Permian Basin Writers\u2019 Workshop<\/span> annual event will feature writing coaches, agents, and publishers from around the country, October 13-14, 2018.<\/p>\n

The two-day workshop event will be held in Midland, at the Marie Hall Academic Building at Midland College.<\/p>\n

The workshop will feature ten speakers, including Margie Lawson, Christie Craig, Manning Wolfe, David Farland, Reavis Z. Wortham, Kristen Marten, Stephen Graham Jones, Donna M. Johnson, B. Alan Bourgeois<\/span> and Arlene Gale<\/span>.\u00a0 <\/a>>>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/span> Twig\u2019s Top Ten Bestsellers<\/h1>\n

Summer 2018<\/h1>\n

What are Texans reading these days, you ask? <\/span>Lone Star Lit\u2019s newest regular feature is a monthly list of trending titles at the <\/span>Twig Book Shop,<\/span><\/a><\/span> a leading independent bookseller in San Antonio. Click on any title for the Buy link. And we’ll also include a hotlink to related content in Lone Star Literary Life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Claudia Guerra & Char Miller,<\/span>300 Years of San Antonio & Bexar County<\/span><\/a><\/span> 978-1-595348494<\/span><\/p>\n

Michael Cirlos<\/span>Humans of San Antonio<\/span><\/a><\/span>978-1-595347930<\/span><\/p>\n

David Sedaris,<\/span>Calypso<\/span> 978-0-316392389<\/span><\/p>\n

HBR\u2019s 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself<\/span><\/a><\/span> 978-1-422157992<\/span><\/p>\n

HBR\u2019s 10 Must Reads on Mental Toughness<\/span><\/a><\/span> 978-1633694361<\/span><\/p>\n

Min Jin Lee,<\/span>Pachinko<\/span><\/a><\/span> 978-1-455563920<\/span><\/p>\n

Amor Towles,<\/span>A Gentleman in Moscow<\/span><\/a><\/span> 978-0-670026197<\/span><\/p>\n

Andy Weir,<\/span>Artemis<\/span><\/a><\/span> 978-0-553448146<\/span><\/p>\n

Robert Wright,<\/span>Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment<\/span><\/a><\/span> 978-1-439195468<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesmyn Ward,<\/span>Sing, Unburied, Sing<\/span><\/a><\/span> 978-1-501126079<\/span><\/p>\n

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LONE STAR CLASSIFIED LISTINGS<\/span><\/h1>\n

FEATURED:\u00a0 CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS<\/h1>\n

8.19.18<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 Fort Worth Poetry Society<\/span> seeks submissions from poets and visual artists for an anthology on classical music, proceeds from which will benefit the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. No cost to enter; accepted submitters receive a free copy of the anthology. This link to the FWPS website provides complete details: https:\/\/fortworthpoetrysociety.wordpress.com\/2018\/07\/23\/call-for-submissions\/.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

6.3.18\u00a0 The 2018 Chester B. Himes Memorial Short Fiction Prize<\/span><\/p>\n

A prize of $750.00 and publication in The Ocotillo Review<\/span> Winter 2019 will be awarded for a short story up to 4,200 words. Antonio Ruiz-Camacho<\/span> will judge. Revenue generated will be donated to Parkinson\u2019s research. Details: www.kallistogaiapress.org<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

>>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span> CLASSIFIED LISTINGS<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span>WHERE IN TEXAS?<\/span><\/h1>\n

Don’t miss a reading or a good read! Sign up for our FREE weekly
e-newsletter<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Meet our bloggers<\/h1>\n

Bookmark them so you can return again and again!<\/p>\n

A Page Before Bedtime<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Melyssa Prince<\/p>\n

All the Ups and Downs<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Heather Cranmer<\/p>\n

Bibliotica<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Melissa Bartell
Book Fidelity,<\/span><\/a><\/span> Celia Medrano-Ortiz<\/p>\n

The Book Review<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Julie Whiteley
#Bookish<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Erin Decker<\/p>\n

Books and Broomsticks<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Belle Whittington<\/p>\n

Books in the Garden<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Julia Byers
Carpe Diem Chronicles<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Maida Malby<\/p>\n

Chapter Break Book Blog<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Lynn Poppe & Julia Smeltzer<\/p>\n

The Clueless Gent<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Michael O’Connor<\/p>\n

Forgotten Winds<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Christena Stephens<\/p>\n

Hall Ways Blog<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Kristine Hall
Kelly Well Read<\/a><\/span>, Kelly Moore<\/p>\n

The Librarian Talks<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Tabatha Pope
The Love of a Bibliophile<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Kristen Mouton<\/p>\n

Margie\u2019s Must Reads<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Margie Longoria
Max Knight Blog<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Max Knight<\/p>\n

Missus Gonzo<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Lorilei Gonzales<\/p>\n

Momma on the Rocks<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Jenn Belden<\/p>\n

Nerd Narration Blog<\/span>,<\/a> Taylor Sebring<\/p>\n

The Page Unbound<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Becca Cahill & Haley Ringer<\/p>\n

Reading by Moonlight<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Ruthie Jones<\/p>\n

StoreyBook Reviews<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Leslie Storey<\/p>\n

Story Schmoozing Book Reviews<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Marissa Marroquin<\/p>\n

Syd Savvy<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Sydney Young<\/p>\n

Tangled in Text<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Kelli Quintos<\/p>\n

Texas Book Lover<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Michelle Newby<\/p>\n

That\u2019s What She\u2019s Reading<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Jenn Zavaglia<\/p>\n

COMING UP ON TOUR: FICTION<\/h1>\n

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A RUMORED FORTUNE by Joanna Davidson Politano
Visit with Joanna Sept. 11\u201320, 2018<\/span><\/h1>\n

9\/11\/18 Notable Quotable Story Schmoozing Book Reviews<\/p>\n

9\/12\/18 Review Momma on the Rocks<\/p>\n

9\/13\/18 Author Interview The Clueless Gent<\/p>\n

9\/14\/18 Excerpt That’s What She’s Reading<\/p>\n

9\/15\/18 Review StoreyBook Reviews<\/p>\n

9\/16\/18 Notable Quotable All the Ups and Downs<\/p>\n

9\/17\/18 Character Interview Missus Gonzo<\/p>\n

9\/18\/18 Review Tangled in Text<\/p>\n

9\/19\/18 Author Top Five Kelly Well Read<\/p>\n

9\/20\/18 Review Carpe Diem Chronicles<\/p>\n

COMING UP ON TOUR: FICTION<\/h1>\n

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OUT AND IN by Pat Dunlap Evans
Visit with Pat Sept. 12\u201321, 2018<\/span><\/h1>\n

9\/12\/18 Author Video StoreyBook Reviews<\/p>\n

9\/13\/18 Review Hall Ways Blog<\/p>\n

9\/14\/18 Guest Post Forgotten Winds<\/p>\n

9\/15\/18 Deleted Scene Chapter Break Book Blog<\/p>\n

9\/16\/18 Review The Clueless Gent<\/p>\n

9\/17\/18 Author Interview Books and Broomsticks<\/p>\n

9\/18\/18 Notable Quotable Book Fidelity<\/p>\n

9\/19\/18 Review Reading by Moonlight<\/p>\n

9\/20\/18 Top Ten List All the Ups and Downs<\/p>\n

9\/21\/18 Review Missus Gonzo<\/p>\n

CONTINUING ON TOUR: FICTION<\/h1>\n

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WHISPERS ON THE WIND by Dana Waynes
Visit with Dana through Sept. 13, 2018<\/span><\/h1>\n

9\/9\/18 Scrapbook Page StoreyBook Reviews<\/p>\n

9\/10\/18 Guest Post The Clueless Gent<\/p>\n

9\/11\/18 Review Reading by Moonlight<\/p>\n

9\/12\/18 Author Interview Books and Broomsticks<\/p>\n

9\/13\/18 Review Book Fidelity<\/p>\n

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Lone Star Literary Life Facts and FAQs<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u2022 Editorial policies<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Review policies<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Advertising policies<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Event and resource list policies<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Lone Star Literary Archives<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u2022 Weekly issues<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Lone Star Listens Interviews<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Lone Star Book Reviews<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Texas Reads<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Events<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Announcement: LSLL Launches<\/a><\/p>\n

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WHAT TEXANS ARE READING<\/span><\/h1>\n

LONE STAR LISTENS interviews\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>>> archive<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

Author interviews by Lone Star Lit staff<\/span><\/h1>\n

9.9.2018\u00a0\u00a0 Chris Barton on encouraging children\u2019s natural gifts, the joys of collaborating with a gifted illustrator, and what the late Honorable Barbara Jordan might say in 2018 <\/p>\n

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The next picture book by Austin author of children\u2019s books Chris Barton,<\/span> What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan,<\/span> comes out on September 25. Barton spoke with Lone Star Literary Life about the rewards of the writing life, where and how inspiration strikes, the process of finding and working with an illustrator, and future projects.<\/span><\/p>\n

LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE: <\/span>Mr. Barton, you wrote your first book as a student at Lamar Elementary in Sulphur Springs, Texas. You went on to write for the student newspaper in high school, and for <\/span>The Daily Texan<\/span> at UT Austin when you went to college. What is it about writing that feeds you?<\/span><\/p>\n

CHRIS BARTON:<\/span> I\u2019m getting better at writing, and I\u2019m always learning a lot from it \u2014 I think we all enjoy doing things where we can sense our own improvement, and we all enjoy the feeling of getting smarter. And with writing, going all the way back to elementary school and all the way up to the present day, I\u2019ve long found that there can be a great sense of community with other writers and readers, and I find that hugely fulfilling. I guess I\u2019ve taken that sense of fulfilment to the extreme by marrying another author, Jennifer Ziegler,<\/span> who writes novels for teens and tweens.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve said that you tried your hand at children\u2019s books because one of your sons repeatedly asked you to tell him a story. What were you doing for a living when that happened, and how did you transition to writing for children full time?<\/p>\n

When I was still in college I had started working for an Austin-based company called The Reference Press, a publisher of consumer-friendly, somewhat cheeky profiles of companies. I was a writer and then an editor for that company, which became Hoover\u2019s, Inc., and eventually got bought by Dun & Bradstreet. I was there for more than twenty years, and for the last fifteen and a half of those, I was pursuing my work as a children\u2019s author on the side, getting up at 5 a.m. to do so.<\/p>\n

Three things happened that led me to leave that job in June 2016: The office was relocating far enough from my house that the commute would have cut considerably into my author time. My book The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch,<\/span> illustrated by Don Tate,<\/span> was named to the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List, which created opportunities to give presentations to a lot of schools in Texas and receive income from those school visits. And I was invited to be the author-in-residence at the Singapore American School, which I was not about to turn down but which used up all my vacation days for the year by mid-May.\u00a0 >>READ MORE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Texas’s only statewide, weekly calendar of book events
<\/span><\/a><\/span>Bookish Texas <\/span>event highlights\u00a0 9.9.2018<\/span>>> GO this week<\/span><\/a><\/span>Michelle Newby, Contributing Editor<\/span><\/h1>\n

SPECIAL EVENTS THIS WEEK<\/span><\/p>\n