Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Three Authors, Three Stories


The Connecticut Press Club celebrated this holiday season with a party to honor three first-time authors. Just surviving another brutal year in our industry would have been enough reason to celebrate, but these ladies' stories restored our faith that dreams can come true.

Stacy Enyeart, a long-time Board member, wrote America's Home Front Heroes: An Oral History of World War II for Praeger. Just as the country is fighting wars on two fronts now, it was doing the same thing during the Second World War, the setting of Stacy's book. At a time when there are so many commentators and blogs on news websites, it almost takes one by surprise to get the story from the original players -- ordinary American citizens who were coping with hard times on the domestic front and knowing that the men and women who were sent overseas were relatives and neighbors, not anonymous volunteers. Years ago I was enthralled with the film, Reds, which incorporated the Hollywo
od narrative of the story of John Reed with interviews by his contemporaries, and with the British television series, A Family at War. Reds took place during the Russian Revolution. A Family at War was a fictionalized account of a working class family during World War II. But in my mind, I can envision a combination of these two in a film or PBS series based on Stacy's book.

It took Marina Julia Neary 16 years to write Wynfield's Kingdom, a novel reminiscent of books by Charles Dickens. Getting it published, also required a lot of work on her part, she recalled, even with an agent. She finally found a small publisher, Fireship Press, that specializes in genre fiction. Marina, a poet, playwright and screenwriter, has been busy this year with her film, Hugo in London, and play, Lady with a Lamp. Both, like Wynfield's Kingdom, take you back to a different era.

'Tis the season of gift giving and the era of going green. What perfect timing for the release of The Wrapping Scarf Revolution by Patricia Lee. I've met Patty several times and was always impressed with her style, down to a handbag. I thought that she designed the bag, but it turns out that it's just a scarf she wrapped around it. Moreover, there are a gazillion things you can do with scarves, such as wrap two wine bottles, as shown on the cover her book. What a brilliant way to wrap gifts, especially those that are challenging to wrap with paper. Patty calls her scarf wrapping ideas eco-luxe. She explained that it comes from her Korean heritage, which included a history of poverty. It's hard to believe that a generation ago, people grew up in households that didn't even earn $100.00 per year.


Posted by Sherry Shameer Cohen