A Summer Reading List of Baseball Fiction

Summer brings to mind the College World Series in Omaha, major and minor league baseball in parks big or small, and the annual All-Star Game, which really does matter. Opening day of MLB in April signals the start of our summer pursuit of the pennant in October. The game of baseball is filled with intrigue and scandal, heroes and heels. Summer also presents opportunities to catch up on baseball in other formats on those days when the home team is blacked out or rained out.

Blockade Billy, by Stephen King, is a departure from King’s usual tales of horror. George Grantham tells the story of bringing up young William Blakely from the minors to play for the Titans. But the novella offers its own uniquely chilling twist.

Double Play, by Robert B. Parker, imagines life in baseball after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. The story goes beyond this historic event, intertwining baseball with the criminal underworld. The novel focuses on the character of Joseph Burke in the role of Robinson’s bodyguard.

Once upon a Fastball, by Robert L. Mitchell, follows Seth Stein as he searches for his missing grandfather. Unlike the usual search for a missing person, Stein travels through time attending historic baseball games, catching glimpses of his Papa Sol.

Shoeless Joe, by W.P. Kinsella, fulfills the ultimate baseball fantasy in all of us – watching the famous and infamous play on the fields of our dreams. Kinsella explores myth, fantasy, and tests the limits of our willingness to believe. The Iowa Baseball Confederacy follows in the same tradition of fantasy and faith, with a little mystery.

Other Baseball Books to Consider

The Boys of Summer, by Roger Kahn

Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series, by Eliot Asinof

The End of Baseball, by Peter Schilling

If I Never Get Back, by Darryl Brock

My Father’s Game: Life, Death, Baseball, by Rick Wilber

The Natural, by Bernard Malamud

     posted by Stephanie Maatta Smith

Florida Book Award Banquet

The Florida Book Awards in conjunction with the Florida Library Association held the fourth annual Florida Book Awards banquet this past Thursday.  They changed venues this year, and the event took place at the Rosen Plaza on International Drive in Orlando. Although the crowd was smaller than in previous years, we enjoyed the company.

We hooked up with some old friends from Florida State University, and met some recent friends from the University of South Florida.  We even made some new friends from the Burton Memorial Library in Plant City, and from WMNF 85.5 radio in Tampa.

Jack E. Davis, the gold medal winner in Florida Nonfiction, sat at our table.  He won the award for his book An Everglades Providence: Marjory Stoneman Douglas and the American Environmental Century.  He seemed a bit wary of the Everglades reclamation project currently underway.  Since the project calls for continuous management with canals and dikes, how can it be considered restoration?

Another gold winner at the awards was Glynn Marsh Alam.  She won in the Popular Fiction Category for her book, Moon Water Madness.    She is a native of the Florida Panhandle, and graduated from Florida State University.  She lived for a while in California, but has since returned to the area.  Her stories take place in the Panhandle region. Moon Water Madness is her seventh book in the Luanne Fogarty mystery series.  I like her stories, but of course I am biased after living almost twenty years in the area she writes about.

The Florida Book Awards Banquet is always a good time, and offers an opportunity to chat with authors and interesting people.  We spend more time visiting, chatting and meeting new people than on ceremony.  It is a fun activity for writers and readers.

Carpebiblio Blog update

After a month long absence in which I have been posting else where, I will be posting at this blog once again.  I have been writing book reviews and sports articles for blogcritics.com.  I have also begun to write embedded systems articles at Technorati.com.

A while back I published a blog here on Tips for Aspiring Writers talking about trying to write a 1000 words a day five days a week.   I am currently writing about 5,000 words a week but I have to write everyday to achieve this amount.

I am also working on two short stories.  I will be submitting Tim’s Chair this month to the Florida Writer’s Association “A Slice of Life” contest.  I will be submitting Mind Ghosts to another contest in the fall.  Tim’s Chair depicts a moment in time in Kirby’s life.  He has been on a downward spiral since he caught his ex-girlfriend cheating on him.  An associate offers him a chance to grab his life back.  Kirby needs to make a decision.  Mind Ghosts is a story of dementia from the viewpoint of the person with dementia.

This weekend I will be posting an article to Carpebiblio Blog concerning the Florida Book Awards.  We are off to Orlando tonight to attend the Florida Library Association’s banquet honoring the recipients of the Florida Book Award.

Until this weekend happy reading and writing.

4th ANNUAL FLORIDA BOOK AWARDS ANNOUNCE BEST OF 2009

The Florida Book Awards provide recognition of the best literature published by Florida authors the previous year. The Florida Non-Fiction category must be about Florida, but does not need to be written by a Florida author. The Florida State University Library coordinates the program.  Wayne A. Weigand directs the program with program chair Gloria Colvin.

Seven categories comprise the competition. Seven juries with three members each choose up to five medalists for each category.  Sponsoring agencies select the jurors.  Authors and publishers submit their works for the judging. 

A ceremony will be held on March 24 at the Historical and Cultural Awards Ceremony sponsored by the State of Florida’s Division of Cultural Affairs.  The ceremony will be held in the R.A. Gray Building in Tallahassee. Additionally all medal winners will be recognized at an awards banquet at the Florida Library Association Conference on April 8^th.  The Conference will be held in Orlando.

Listed below are the winners of the Florida Book Awards 2009.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Gold Medal Winner: Joan Hiatt Harlow, Secret of the Night Ponies

FLORIDA NONFICTION

Gold Medal Winner: Jack E. Davis, An Everglades Providence: Marjory Stoneman Douglas and the American Environmental Century

Silver Medal Winner: Carlton Ward Jr., Florida Cowboys

Bronze Medal Winner: Todd T. Turrell, Naples Waterfront – Changes in Time

GENERAL FICTION

Gold Medal Winner: N M Kelby, A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts

Silver Medal Winner: Janet Burroway, Bridge of Sand

Bronze Medal Winner: Ana Menendez, The Last War

Bronze Medal Winner: A. Manette Ansay, Good Things I Wish You

Bronze Medal Winner: Michael Lister, Double Exposure

POETRY

Gold Medal Winner: Campbell McGrath, Shannon

Silver Medal Winner: Denise Duhamel, Ka-Ching!

Bronze Medal Winner: Jesse Millner, Neighborhoods of My Past Sorrow

Bronze Medal Winner: Peter Meinke, Lines from Neuchatel

POPULAR FICTION

Gold Medal Winner: Glynn Marsh Alam, Moon Water Madness

Silver Medal Winner: Diane A. S. Stuckart, Portrait of a Lady: A Leonardo DaVinci Mystery

Bronze Medal Winner: Jonathon King, The Styx

Bronze Medal Winner: Chris Kuzneski, The Lost Throne

Bronze Medal Winner: Tim Dorsey, Nuclear Jellyfish

SPANISH LANGUAGE BOOK

Gold Medal Winner: Juan Cueto-Roig, Veintiún cuentos concisos

Silver Medal Winner: José Alvarez, Frank País y la revolución cubana

YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE

Gold Medal Winner: Alex Sanchez, Bait

Silver Medal Winner: Rick Yancey, The Monstrumologist

To learn more about Florida Book Awards, visit: http://floridabookawards.lib.fsu.edu.

Science in Science Fiction

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a panel discussion at the University of South Florida Symposium on Science in Science Fiction.   Three of the greatest science fiction writers of all time – Harry Harrison, Ben Bova, and Gregory Benford served on the panel.  Between the three of them, they have over a hundred years of science fiction writing experience.

Harrison’s distinguished career began with his first published science fiction book, Plague from Space, in 1965.  His second work, Make Room! Make Room! published in 1966 loosely served as the basis for the movie Soylent Green.  It told the story of diminishing resources and overpopulation.   In 2009 he won the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.

Ben Bova’s science fiction career began in the early seventies.  He has written over one hundred books, and served as editor of “Analog Science Fiction” and “Omni Magazine.” 

Gregory Benford has also been writing science fiction since the seventies.  He has a PhD in astrophysics, and teaches at University of California, Irvine.  He also does genomic research.

All three of these authors write hard science fiction.  They base their stories on scientific theory.  They use facts and technical data in their writing.  The science doesn’t change, whether it takes place on Earth, Mars, or across the Universe.  The scientific laws remain constant.

Some of their early works may appear a bit dated.  For instance, Bova said in one of his early works the astronavigator used a slide rule to chart their course across the galaxy.  Harrison had an onboard computer made with vacuum tubes.  On the other hand, in the late sixties, Benford wrote a short story about computer viruses.

The panel discussed the future material of science fiction, and how they view science fiction.  They all believe that hard science fiction writers are optimistic about the future.  Bova thinks that future science fiction themes will tell stories of mankind’s expansion into space.  Seeking solutions to societal problems and resources for a better life for all mankind.  Gregory Benford thinks the future of science fiction writing will include topics about climate change, genomic research, and the ethics of genomic research.  He also sees science fiction writing as optimistic.  If you are going to write about the future, than you must believe a future exists.

Marketing your Book: Sell your Book

Getting the book written and published comprises only about half the battle.  You still need to convince someone to buy your book and read it.  Authors don’t often think about marketing their work.  Publishers spend very little money these days on marketing a book; writers must fend for themselves.  Only celebrities and established authors sell their books with little effort.  The public won’t even know about your book unless you tell them about it.  Since most of us cannot afford a publicist, I have provided a few suggestions for getting you and your book recognized.

Some traditional methods include contacting people you know, business cards, author talks, and book signings.  Tell all of your friends, family, coworkers, classmates, and neighbors that you have published a book.  Tell them where they can buy it.  Put flyers on community bulletin boards, but make sure the flyer has all the pertinent information, your name, book title, subject, and where to buy it.   Design business cards, but leave the back blank.  Write the title of your book on the back of the card, and leave your business card around town.  Contact local book groups, friends of the library, and independent bookstores.  Let them know you are willing to do author talks and book signings.

The Internet provides even more marketing opportunities.  Create a web site for yourself and put a page on the web site for your book.  While time consuming, creating a blog to discuss your work and your book can bring name recognition and sales.  Contact book reviewers and bloggers, and ask them to review your book.  At least three thousand blogs exist that are dedicated to book reviews.  Find a couple that fit your book's subject matter, and ask them for a review.  Use social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace to get you and your book recognition.

The bottom line, if no one knows you have a book, how can they read it. Thousands of books exist on bookstore shelves with more going on the market every Tuesday. Lots of authors compete for a reader’s attention and dollars.  If you are not willing to put the effort into marketing your book, no one else will.  You are the best advocate your book can have.  Get out there and sell.

Favorite Books

What makes a book an all time favorite?  Are there books that you have read several times out of choice rather than error?  I have read books a second time because they were so non-memorable I forgot reading them the first time.  I hate to admit it, but I have purchased a popular author at the airport bookstore during a layover only to find two hours into the second leg of the flight that I had already read the book – very frustrating.  I also have books that I have chosen to read several times.  For some reason they appeal to me over and over, and have a special place on the bookshelf.

Included on my list of favorites are the Tolkien books – The Hobbit and The Lord of the Ring series; Daybreak 2250 A.D. by Andre Norton; The Stand, by Stephen King, and Flint by Louis L’ Amour.   These four represent the Horror, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Western genres.  I know the fourth doesn’t really fit with the other three, but I have read these four books many times, and these are the genres I gravitate towards in my reading selection.  I have read many, many books in all of these genres, yet these four are the ones that remain on my favorites list.

Most people agree that these are good books, but people also want to know why these are my favorites.   I wish I could pin point why these are my favorites.  I read these books during the turbulent years of adolescence.  Most of these books are apocalyptic in nature.  Psychologist might say I was looking for answers as my life changed from childhood to adulthood.  I prefer to think they were well written stories that appealed to my imagination then and still do.

Do you have a favorite book? Care to share, and tell us what makes it your favorite?