Serena’s Articles at Savvy Verse & Wit, Page 314

Loads of Winners…

February 21, 2010 by Serena

I won’t even go into how many entrants or which numbers Random.org selected…frankly, I forget!

But here are the winners from all the recent giveaways:

Mariska won a signed copy of Government Girl by Stacy Parker Aab and a signed copy of Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran.

Christine won Little Bird of Heaven by Joyce Carol Oates.

Jill of Rhapsody in Books won Gold Dust on His Shirt by Irene Howard.

Elizabeth won The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer.

Michelle of su[shu] won Little Stories by Jeff Roberts.

Haley of The Life and Lies of an Inanimate Flying Object won Loving Mr. Darcy by Sharon Lathan.

Iliana of Bookgirl’s Nighstand won The Weight of Heaven by Thrity Umrigar

Carol won Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters.

I will mail out all these books shortly. Congrats to all of you, and thank you to all who entered.

FTC Disclosure: Clicking on title links or images will bring you to my Amazon Affiliate page; No purchase necessary.

Filed Under: winners

Mailbox Monday #70

February 21, 2010 by Serena

It appears that the snow has continued to have an impact on the mail, and its no wonder since the apartment complex I live in has finally begun shipping the snow mounds elsewhere.

I could actually see grass and sidewalk in some parts.

Marcia at The Printed Page and Kristi of The Story Siren both sponsor memes in which bloggers share what books they’ve received in the past week. I’m going to continue calling these Mailbox Mondays, but The Story Siren also has In My Mailbox.

Here’s what I received:

1. Rumor Has It by Jill Mansell

2. The Writing on my Forehead by Nafisa Haji

3. The 9th Judgment by James Patterson

4. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

What did you get in your mailbox?

FTC Disclosure: Clicking on title and image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page; No purchase necessary, though appreciated.

Filed Under: mailbox monday

33rd Virtual Poetry Circle

February 20, 2010 by Serena

It’s the 33rd Virtual Poetry Circle, and it’s time to visit with a classic poet, but before we do that, I wanted to thank everyone who has participated in this project thus far. Feel free to spread the word.

Additionally, you should start noticing some small changes here on the blog, including possible article suggestions at the end of my posts (Thanks Bloggiesta for calling this widget to my attention) and some share buttons, which I’m not overly thrilled with, but they’ll do for now.

I would also love to get a new three-column template that meshes better with my header, so if anyone would like to volunteer, please email me.

OK, Here’s a poem up for reactions, interaction, and–dare I say it–analysis:

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

Today’s poem is from William Carlos Williams:

Spring and All

By the road to the contagious hospital
under the surge of the blue
mottled clouds driven from the
northeast-a cold wind.  Beyond, the
waste of broad, muddy fields
brown with dried weeds, standing and fallen

patches of standing water
the scattering of tall trees

All along the road the reddish
purplish, forked, upstanding, twiggy
stuff of bushes and small trees
with dead, brown leaves under them
leafless vines-

Lifeless in appearance, sluggish
dazed spring approaches-

They enter the new world naked,
cold, uncertain of all
save that they enter.  All about them
the cold, familiar wind-

Now the grass, tomorrow
the stiff curl of wildcarrot leaf
One by one objects are defined-
It quickens:  clarity, outline of leaf

But now the stark dignity of
entrance-Still, the profound change
has come upon them:  rooted, they
grip down and begin to awaken

Let me know your thoughts, ideas, feelings, impressions. Let’s have a great discussion…pick a line, pick an image, pick a sentence.

I’ve you missed the other Virtual Poetry Circles, check them out here. It’s never too late to join the discussion.

Filed Under: virtual poetry circle

Interview With Frank Delaney, Author of Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show

February 19, 2010 by Serena

Look to your right and you will see a dashing photo of Frank Delaney taken by Jerry Bauer! He — Delaney, not Bauer — is the author of Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show, which will hit stores Feb. 23.

I’ve been reading his book and enjoying the author’s style, but since I want to do the work justice, I figured I would postpone my review until Feb. 22. Instead, I’m going to bring you a fun interview with Delaney where he talks about books, writing, and more.

Without further ado, here’s the interview. Please give Frank Delaney a warm welcome.

1. Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show takes place in the 1930s, and many of your previous novels have either dealt with or been set in Ireland during previous decades. Has it been your intention to revisit Ireland in each book with a new decade? Why or why not?

I wanted to write a “history” of Ireland in the 20th century, when so much happened to create the country we know today, and in which I grew up. And it’s a place and period full of rich incident, eccentric character, and arresting themes. Also, I love the idea of taking the readers into an unknown world – which was after all so familiar to me – and allowing them to stand on the sidelines and observe what’s happening in that world, sharing with them what I saw and know.

2. Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show reminds me of the gypsy shows seen in many movies. Did you have a particular inspiration for the traveling show and is it based on an actual show you’ve seen or researched?

I’ve seen so many of them! There was one I actually used to follow across the country; it was part theatrical, part medicine show, with the worst and goofiest performers you ever saw. But there were others, gifted acting troupes, who brought Shakespeare and Sophocles and Strindberg and all the great dramas to small country towns, and they live for ever in my mind. I was captivated by them.

3. Tackling the betrayal of a spouse can be difficult, especially for a child. Ben MacCarthy must take a journey to bring his father home after he runs off with the caravan. How would you say your coming-of-age novel that sets a young man out on his own differs from other novels of a similar ilk?

Great question! This is what I was trying to do: I was trying to apply some of today’s experience, where children routinely observe such upheavals in their families, to an unlikely time and place – rural Ireland in the 1930’s, because I wanted to show that whenever it happens, distress is distress, and therefore a bond is created between past and present. The time-lapse, I felt, might sharpen the edge of his rite of passage. As a consequence, the book is full of deliberate mistakes (perpetrated by Ben or his father), misunderstandings and unexpected discord – as they would be in a story from today’s family experience. It’s also packed with mythological references, some hidden, some not,, because I like to do that stuff! I believe it gives a book depth and subtlety, all smuggled into a “story,” which – like all my novels – starts deliberately slowly, and then (when, as I hope, I’ve captured you) begins to go much, much faster.

4. You were born in Ireland and made a name for yourself in broadcasting. Could you describe the transition you made from being a broadcaster in Ireland to an author in America and any hardships you may have encountered?

It’s been a long journey. I don”t know if I’d use the word “hardships” – but there certainly have been obstacles. In the UK I worked as a broadcaster for the BBC for many years and learned so much about one-air audiences at their excellent hands (I hope it shows in my audiobooks: I always read the recordings of my own novels). But that didn’t dim or reduce the requirement to learn the skills necessary in reaching an audience for writing, and that will always be, as for every professional writer, the “hardship” of the ongoing challenge. In fact the world is now so full of challenges for authors that I’ve actually started writing a book about the future of authorship.

5. Please share a few of your obsessions.(i.e. a love of chocolate, animals, crosswords)?

Ha! Crosswords, certainly – though I do genuinely believe that the language barrier across the Atlantic makes the New York Times crossword v. difficult for me, so I download the Daily Telegraph Crossword from London instead! Chocolate – Yummmm! BUT – take note; on a significant birthday I made myself a promise that I would never let a day of my life go by without eating ice-cream. By and large I’ve kept to that. As to animals – if I could, I’d have a Sumatran elephant as a pet. And watch out (in a year or so) for a significant animal pet in the novel I’m writing at the moment.

6. When writing poetry, prose, essays, and other works do you listen to music, do you have a particular playlist for each genre you work in or does the playlist stay the same? What are the top 5 songs on that playlist? If you don’t listen to music while writing, do you have any other routines or habits?

I have specific music that I use for different phases of work. Dominant of these is techno – and I have a number of Internet radio stations (some coming out of France) that I listen to. I prefer the truly insistent house stuff, I find the the drive of it very energizing. I also try to find North African music; I developed a taste for it in Greece many years ago and it fires me up. I’m looking at my lists now and – a random glance – I see Diana Krall, Manhattan Transfer, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and one of my all-time favorites, Gundula Janowitz‘s’s recording of The Four Last Songs. For the ultimate kick-start on a slow day – Wagner. Bach for warming down!

7. Which books have you been reading lately, and are there any you would recommend in particular? Which books do you think should be read by more readers?

Am reading Game Change, the bestseller of the 2008 election campaign; am finishing an excellent biography of John Fowles (whom I knew); re-reading (again) The Great Gatsby; will always be dipping into Ulysses – that’s the book more people should read, because it’s so huge and rich. Just finished an old Ed McBain thriller – took not much more than an hour or two, but oh, boy! Did he know how to roll a story? To declare my interest – I’m also re-reading my wife, Diane Meier’s deliciously edgy first novel, The Season of Second Chances. (And from what I’ve seen – her second will be even better!) If there’s a new Alan Furst coming, I’ll be onto it straightaway. And Shakespeare, always Shakespeare.

8. As an author and interviewer of authors, what is the one question you would like to be asked and answered? How would you answer it?

Good question! Yes, there is – it has been asked a few times and it’s always welcome: The question is this: “Frank Delaney, -is there more to your books than meets the eye? Is there more to them than just the simple story?” And my answer is, with a big smile, “You bet! But go looking for it – because the fun I’ve had building in the layers and references and subtleties might just transmit itself to you.”

Thank you for answering my questions, Frank. We wish you luck in all you do. Stay tuned for my review of Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show on Monday, Feb. 22.

FTC Disclosure: Clicking on title links will bring you to my Amazon Affiliate page, no purchase necessary.

Filed Under: Interviews Tagged With: Frank Delaney

2010 Ireland Challenge

February 18, 2010 by Serena

OK, I know I said I was done with reading challenges, but for some reason, I’m addicted.

BethFishReads turned me onto this challenge, even though I have been resisting it for some time. I’m also going to sign up for: Shamrock level: 2 books.

The first of my two books will be reviewed next week. See how easy that was to get 50 percent done?

What’s stopping you from joining? There are prizes…and we know how everyone loves those.

Check out the challenge information by clicking on the challenge button!

Filed Under: challenges, Ireland Challenge

2010 Split This Rock Poetry Festival in D.C.

February 18, 2010 by Serena

MARCH 10-13, Washington, D.C. will host the Split This Rock Poetry Festival, which brings together poets and activists to speak out on the latest issues facing our nation. This year, there’s a lot to discuss with two wars, an economic crisis, and more.

The festival features readings, workshops, panel discussions, and other activities and it is a mix of performance, poetry, and film. I’ve never been to this event, but this year I received a scholarship to cover the registration cost of $75, which is the early bird price through Feb. 20, 2010. So if you’d like to go, register TODAY!

For information about the scholarships, go here.

Check out the schedule, which is being updated regularly.

I’m really looking forward to these panels:

1. The Public Role of Poetry: How to Build a Poetry Reading
2. The Care and Feeding of the Rural/Small Town Poet-Activist
3. Women & War/Women & Peace: International Voices
4. Warriors Writing: Teaching Creative Writing to War Veterans
5. The Peace Shelves: Essential Books and Poems for the 21st Century (which features my Suffolk University Advisor Fred Marchant; He now directs the Poetry Center, which emerged after I graduated from undergrad)
6. Cross-Discipline Collaboration: How Writers and Artists are Working Together to Push Boundaries and Engage the Public
7. Giving Voice to the Silence/d
8. What Makes Effective Political Poetry? – Editors’ Perspectives
9. Split This Rock Panel
10. The Poet as Historian in the 21st Century: A Rare Opportunity in Difficult Times
11. Fatty Girls, Imaginary Cocks, and Vaginas Built Like Bookstores: A Workshop on Writing the Activist Body

I probably won’t get to all of these panels since some of the times overlap, but you can bet I’ll be blogging about the festival and showing you some great photos.

Did I forget to mention that Bruce Weigel will be reading. There are individual reading tickets available for $8 as well, so even if you want to just attend a reading, you can!

This also marks the first time I will be visiting the U Street Neighborhood and its cool venues. One of those venues is Busboys and Poets, which I’ve been dying to get to! Thankfully, there is a great list of venues and directions on the festival Website.

OK, I’ve left out the best part of the festival — besides the panels and the readings — THE BOOK FAIR! Not that I need more books, but it will be good to check out new-to-me poets and their books, and maybe break that book-buying ban!

Now, I don’t consider myself an activist poet, but I’ve always admired their work and would love to take this opportunity to learn more about them. I hope some of you in the D.C. area will join me. It’s bound to be a lot of fun, and there is an end-of-festival party!

What panels would you like from the list? Which ones do you think I should attend?

Filed Under: announcements, Split This Rock Poetry Festival Tagged With: 2010

Reagan Arthur Book Perpetual Challenge

February 17, 2010 by Serena

I wholeheartedly point the finger at Kathy from Bermudaonion for convincing me to join yet another challenge. Yup, we were chatting during That’s How I Blog, and here I am today, joining another challenge.

The best part of this challenge is that there are no deadlines or minimums to meet! I just have to read books with the Reagan Arthur imprint!

Reading can be print or e-books and audio! Don’t you just love flexibility. I know I do.

Here are some of the books I plan on reading for the challenge:

1. The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris
2. Black Hills by Dan Simmons
3. Still Midnight by Denise Mina

What books will you be reading for the challenge?

FTC Disclosure: Clicking on title links will bring you to my Amazon Affiliate page, no purchase necessary.

Filed Under: challenges, Reagan Arthur Challenge

Guest Review of Going After Cacciato

February 15, 2010 by Serena

Today on War Through the Generations for the 2010 Vietnam War Reading Challenge, Mary Simonsen, author of Searching for Pemberley (click for my review), is guest reviewing Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien.

It’s an opportunity for everyone to check out a great book and review.

I hope you will all stop by.

FTC Disclosure: Clicking on title links will bring you to my Amazon Affiliate page, no purchase necessary.

Filed Under: announcements

Mailbox Monday #69

February 15, 2010 by Serena

It’s been a slow week here in terms of books, which is a good thing. I’m waiting on a couple of books for review that have not arrived yet, which I suspect is because of the heavy snowfall here that dropped more than 2 feet of snow in my area.

Here’s what I received:

Sonnets for Sinners by John Wareham for review.

What did you get in your mailbox?

FTC Disclosure: Clicking on title and image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page; No purchase necessary, though appreciated.

Filed Under: mailbox monday

32nd Virtual Poetry Circle

February 13, 2010 by Serena

It’s the 32nd Virtual Poetry Circle, and it’s time to visit with a contemporary poet, but before we do that, I wanted to thank everyone who has participated in this project thus far. Feel free to spread the word.

I would also love to get a new three-column template that meshes better with my header, so if anyone would like to volunteer, please email me.

OK, Here’s a poem up for reactions, interaction, and–dare I say it–analysis:

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

From Say Uncle by Kay Ryan:

Among English Verbs (page 52)

Among English verbs
to die is oddest in its
eagerness to be dead,
immodest in its
haste to be told–
a verb alchemical
in the head:
one speck of its gold
and a whole life’s lead.

Let me know your thoughts, ideas, feelings, impressions. Let’s have a great discussion…pick a line, pick an image, pick a sentence.

I’ve you missed the other Virtual Poetry Circles, check them out here. It’s never too late to join the discussion.

FTC Disclosure: Clicking on title links or images will bring you to my Amazon Affiliate page; No purchase necessary.

Filed Under: virtual poetry circle

Book Party in NYC

February 12, 2010 by Serena

By now, I’m sure you’ve seen the Book Expo America and Book Blogger Convention 2010 tour posts to drum up excitement and provide practical advice to attendees. Today, I’m going on the assumption that you ARE going to BEA and BBC because it is the biggest BOOK PARTY in NYC (May 25-28).

1. First order of business is RESERVE your hotel room NOW through BEA’s discount program. These rooms will go fast.

Once you reserve your room, you can look for roommates to share the cost with. If you haven’t met any other bloggers, don’t worry, we don’t bite (much) and would love to share a room with you.

If you prefer, there is a hostel in New York City, check out The Zen Leaf’s pros and cons post.

2. Second, pick a mode of transportation to NYC. Depending on how close you are and how much you dislike airport security, you may want to consider Amtrak because the costs are lower, the security is smoother, and the trip allows you to read a book. If you have AAA, you can get a discount on travel and BEA indicates Amtrak will give you as a BEA participant a 10 percent discount on the lowest fares.

Traveling from D.C. to NYC last year by train was smooth, and the train drops you in Penn Station, which is right near the NYC subway, making it convenient for getting to your hotel destination.

3. Third, if you plan to arrive earlier than the beginning of the conference, plan out what sights you want to see. Whether it is the Statue of Liberty or Strawberry Fields, having a plan makes it easier. But in addition to sights, make sure you check out the areas where you plan to visit to see what restaurants are available. I always make a plan of places I want to eat, especially near famous landmarks and museums. Makes it easier to grab some good grub, in budget, when you find that you are ravenous!

BEA does offer discounts on event tickets and monuments, and according to the Web site, there will be additional incentives for food places as well.

4. Fourth, pack your bags! Imagine a book connoisseur who also loves photography. You can imagine what this individual (ahem, me!) would take with her on vacation. I have a digital SLR Nikon, which I failed to take last year, but you can bet that won’t be happening again this year. This will require not only charged batteries and a charger, but also an additional long-range lens and cleaning paraphernalia. Good thing I have a backpack case for all this stuff. Will I bring it all? Not sure, but I know I need a plan.

Traveling by train or plane will give you time to read, which means you will want to bring books. BUT remember why you are going to BEA — networking and BOOKS! I suggest you pick 2 likely candidates or 1 chunkster, but not more than that. YOU won’t have time! From the moment your feet hit the ground, you will be running and excited and overwhelmed.

I also tend to pack clothes that are versatile. Clothes that present well, but are casual and comfortable. Docker slacks, nice t-shirts, and a few blouses . . . and of course, as you’ve heard COMFORTABLE FOOTWEAR! I have a foot problem, which means I only wear sneakers because dress shoes aggravate me.

5. Fifth, While in the city, you want to make sure you have a transportation plan. Do you want to pay hefty cab fares over the course of a week? I know I don’t, and I didn’t. Anna and I took the subway and the bus last year, which was made simple with the NYC MetroCard.

We bought day passes, since we only attended about 1.5 days of BEA last year, but this year, I’ll be picking up the $27 7-day Unlimited Ride MetroCard (click to see where you can buy these cards), which means all trips are covered for seven days and bus ride transfers are covered as well! Great deal for sight seeing and for getting to and from the Javits.

There are shuttle bus routes at a variety of hotel spots throughout the area that take you to Javits as well. I tend to prefer the freedom of the subway because I don’t have to worry to much about timetables.

Must-Have items on your trip to BEA and BBC:

1. Book(s) to occupy travel time.
2. Rolling suitcase with minimal clothes and enough room for books on the way back.
3. Comfortable shoes and clothes.
4. Business cards; I got mine from MOO, and I LOVE them.
5. Plan for tackling the autographing lines and BEA/BBC events.
6. Camera for those photo ops with other bloggers, authors, and more.
7. Water/Snacks/Gum or Mints to keep you refreshed.
8. Spending money for food, sight seeing, and nights out.
9. Tote bag to carry all those ARCs, Galleys, and books.
10. Notebook and pen/recorder to make sure you remember everything you want to blog about.

I hope this advice helps and that I will see all or most of you there! If anyone wants to meet up while in NYC, I’m all for it.

FTC Disclosure: I am not affiliated with MOO, but really recommend their business card services because my business cards came out AWESOME.

Filed Under: BEA, Events Tagged With: 2010

Ben Winters: Jane Is my Co-Pilot

February 11, 2010 by Serena

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (click for my review) by Ben Winters and Jane Austen is another mash-up of classic literature with the paranormal. Winters was kind enough to provide a guest post about why he chose to use Austen’s work. Please give him a warm welcome.

Jane is my Co-Pilot: The Fine Art of Making Sense and Sensibility Totally Ridiculous
By Ben H. Winters

Since writing Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, I’ve gotten a ton of feedback about how nice it is that I’ve made Jane Austen appealing to certain readers — meaning readers who previously suffered a persistent allergy to The Classics. I am complimented for taking the prim and decorous Jane Austen and making her, A) really violent, and B) really funny.

The first compliment I will gladly accept. Over the decades since Sense and Sensibility first appeared, it has been noted by scholars and casual readers alike that the book is sorely lacking in shipwrecks, shark attacks, and vividly described decapitations. I believe it was the poet and critic Thomas Chatterton who admired the novel’s careful plotting and social critique, but lamented the total absence of vengeful ghost pirates.

But I can’t take credit for making Jane Austen funny. As is well known by passionate fans of Austen — I have yet to meet any other kind — the old girl has always been funny. Take for example Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, a set of secondary characters in Sense and Sensibility. The periodic appearances of the Palmers comprise what any comedy writer will recognize as a running gag. Mrs. Palmer is chatty and trivial, while Mr. Palmer (a delightful Hugh Laurie in the Ang Lee version) is gruff and unaffectionate. What Mrs. Palmer labels “droll,” the reader — along with Elinor, our sensible heroine — recognizes as plain distaste for his wife, her friends, and everybody else in the universe. Every time those Palmers show up, we know we’re in for the next variation on the same great gag.

Note that Austen doesn’t do to the Palmers what Charles Dickens would: Exaggerate their core traits to the point of absurdity. (Also, she doesn’t name them something like Mr. and Mrs. Featherwit). The Palmers are funny, but they’re plausible, and their primary function in the book is to provide not laughs, but a corrective to Marianne’s rosy ideal of married life. So Austen makes them funny, but not ridiculous.

Making them ridiculous was my job. When the Palmers appear in my monsterfied Sensibility, I give Mr. Palmer’s drollery a murky, weird-tales back story, part of the preposterously elaborate foreshadowing of my H.P. Lovecraft-inspired denouement.

I play the same game, of comically amplifying what’s already there, in varying ways throughout the book. Colonel Brandon, stiff and formal and middle-aged, becomes a stiff and formal and middle-aged man-monster. Genial Sir John becomes genial adventurer/explorer Sir John. Had Austen made all her characters ridiculous in that Dickensian way, if she had been the kind of writer who is forever winking at her readers, my book would be (as they say in improv comedy) a hat on a hat. But because Sense and Sensibility is so eloquent and restrained, Sea Monsters gets to go way over the top.

This is true even on the simple level of vocabulary. Austen’s precise early-19th century diction is the textual equivalent of Eustace Tilly, the top-hatted, monocled figure from the cover of the New Yorker: Her writing simply oozes good taste. The trick was to appropriate that ever-so-tasteful and old-timey Austenian style to describe things she never would have:

In the profound silence that followed, their ears were filled with a low thrashing sound, as the corpse of the bosun’s mate was noisily consumed by devil fish. At length the captain drew upon his pipe, and spoke again. “Let us only pray that this is the worst such abomination you encounter in this benighted land; for such is but a minnow, when compared to the Devonshire Fang-Beast.”

“The . . . what?”

Even more fun to play with than Austen’s eloquent vocabulary is her universe of enforced emotional rectitude. The Dashwood sisters live in a world where one’s feelings are not blurted out — or, at least, they’re not meant to be, as sensible Elinor is continually reminding sensitive Marianne. It’s a constant struggle to keep one’s emotions hidden beneath the surface; all I did was literalize that metaphor in the most preposterous way, by adding deadly and dangerous monsters which appear literally from beneath the surface.

There was one factor above all that made Sense and Sensibility such a fun comic foil, and that is the place the book holds in the cultural firmament. One question I’ve heard a lot (or read a lot, as it’s the sort of thing that comes up on blog comment-threads), is “Why didn’t you do Persuasion? That’s the Austen book that actually takes place on the water!”

The answer is simply that Persuasion, unlike Sense and Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice, may be a great book, but it is not a Great Book. It has not gathered around itself the unmistakable stink of importance.

Sense and Sensibility, on the other hand, stands in the literary tradition as Margaret Dumont stands before Groucho Marx, as the Chairman of the Reception Committee in Duck Soup: Prim and proper and radiating worthiness — just waiting, in other words, for someone to hit it with a pie.

Thanks, Ben, for stopping by. If you missed the global giveaway, please check out my review. The giveaway ends Feb. 19.

Filed Under: guest post Tagged With: Ben Winters