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The Beggar’s Opera – Blog Tour and #Giveaway

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Let me start by telling you, lovely and intelligent reader, that you could win a copy of The Beggar’s Opera if you read to end of this post. Only open to Canadians. Now trust me when I tell you that you want to enter this one. The Beggar’s Opera is the best book I have read in a very long time. It gets my highest rating. So here is my review and an author interview with brilliant Peggy Blair, Canadian realtor, author and lawyer, new Twitter user and fabulous storyteller.

Peggy Blair, picture by Alan Dean Photography

The Review:


The Beggar`s Opera is the book that will reawaken your passion for reading. Peggy Blair hooks the reader fast with a brilliant literary combination of savvy gothic characters, a three dimensional, stunning setting, a dark plot that is always hinting at something more and themes that are relevant and topical. This is a book that will speak to so many because of the author’s intuitive response to the world around her and the ways in which she uses her characters to maneuver through some of 
the greatest contemporary issues we as a society face demographically and politically. The Beggar`s Opera begins with a flawed hero Inspector Ricardo Ramirez, who sees ghosts and rationalizes this as a hereditary illness called Lewy Body dementia, same illness that his grandmother suffered from, a particularly harsh dementia that manifests itself with Parkinson’s tremors and hallucinations. He is working on Christmas Day when a young boy, brutally sexually assaulted and murdered, begins to haunt him. The same young boy was seen begging on Christmas Eve when a Canadian detective named Mike Ellis was strolling by on vacation with his wife. Ellis becomes suspect number one and, a corrupt Cuban police force, charged with a mandate of holding someone accountable for the depravity, rushes to gather evidence that implicates the Canadian. Meanwhile, a smart Canadian lawyer married to a Cuban races to the rescue, but even she is not entirely convinced of Ellis’s innocence. The setting of The Beggar’s Opera is current Havana, a crumbling reminder of a regime and time when Cuba was, at least superficially, a star, on the world stage.

Blair’s research is stunning and she creates a remarkable atmosphere that is perfect for the story. Her Cuba is an ideal stage for the hints of magic realism that are sprinkled throughout the book. I am not sure what startles me more about The Beggar’s Opera, the fact that I was so disenchanted with the books I had been reviewing up until it arrived, or the fact that it might not have been published at all if not for a strange bit of luck and Scottish author Ian Rankin. Interestingly, this amazing author was discovered while at a crime writing conference in the U.K. After asking the author Ian Rankin for a photograph, she struck up a conversation and he provided a referral of sorts to an agent. Blair was shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Award 2010. This is intended to be the first in  a series of novels featuring Inspector Ramirez.

With The Beggar’s Opera, Peggy Blair has established herself as a remarkable and talented storyteller. I can’t wait for more.

The Beggar’s Opera, by Peggy Blair, was published this month by Penguin Canada. It is 352 pages and $24.95.

This one gets $$$$$ out of $$$$$. Suspense doled out with perfect pace and a wonderful new main character. A joy to read, I never wanted The Beggar’s Opera to end. 


The Beggar’s Opera Interview:
Q1. WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO WRITE?

Peggy Blair: I wouldn’t say I’m inspired — more driven! Writing doesn’t come easily to me; it’s hard work. So it’s hard to speak of inspiration. But I must say that Ramirez and his pal Apiro came to me fully-fledged; I knew what they would be like instantly, as if they were out there in the ether, waiting for someone to tell their story, and then found me. Like Ramirez and his ghosts, I’m not sure if that’s a gift or a curse.

Q2. WHAT ARE YOUR WRITING HABITS/ When do you write? WHAT IS YOUR SCHEDULE?

Peggy Blair: I don’t have any particular habits. I’m one of those people who does everything the moment I find out I have to, so I pay my bills the day they arrive, like to finish things well before deadline, and show up early for appointments. In the publishing business, I have discovered that this is an asset. I don’t like the idea of a book waiting for me to get working on it (sometimes I have this idea of the characters sitting around, stuck, talking to each other about how that idiot author can’t give them something to do and how boring it is without a plot). Once I have the idea, I stay with it until it’s done. The second in the series, The King’s Indian, is already written and has been sent back to me with editorial comments; my third book, Hungry Ghosts, is out with external readers now.

So the answer to your second question is that I fit in writing into my schedule like all the other demands on my time.

Q3. THE BEGGAR’S OPERA CONTAINS INTERESTING THEMSE ABOUT DEMENTIA AND ALZHEIMERS AND EVEN POSSIBLE MENTAL ILLNESS – IS THIS PURE RESEARCH OR IS THERE A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE THAT MADE THIS RELEVANT TO YOU AS A WRITER?

Peggy Blair: I think as we boomers age, we all have to be conscious of the fact that this disease is becoming more prevalent, whatever its cause. I’m in my mid-50s. As a realtor who works a lot with people who are downsizing, I am already running into clients who are coping with this illness.

Q4. WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR? WHO ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW?

Peggy Blair: I have a number of “favourite” authors. I devour everything by Carol O’Connoll who also writes quirky little mysteries. I loved James Lee Burke’s last novel, The Rain Gods. And I adore Martin Cruz Smith. I can easily read a book a night.

Q5. WHAT GETS YOU OUT OF BED IN THE MORNING?

Peggy Blair: Nothing! I’m not a morning person. I don’t really get going until after 9, and that’s only because I have a dog and a cat who have figured out that I respond to whimpering and scratching.

To win a copy of The Beggar’s Opera
 (Canada Only) prize to be drawn with random.org on March 1st

(Don’t forget to leave contact information in case you win.)

Mandatory:
1. Leave me a comment about the last really great book you read.
2. Follow thriftymommasbrainfood with GFC (see side bar or leave me a note stating that you already follow)

Extras: Two extra entries if you follow @inkscrblr

Two more if you follow @PeggyBlair on Twitter

DISCLOSURE: I received an ARC in order to review this novel. I was not compensated. My opinions are my own and always will be

Wordless |Wednesday – LinkUp

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My Ainsley reading before bed. It has always been our routine. But these days she surrounds herself with books and occasionally falls asleep the same way I do, book in hand, nodding off halfway through a chapter. Here, she is reading the timeless Dr. Seuss.
Wordless Wednesday is a linkup over at Tara’s View of the World.

The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney – Review and Blog Tour

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The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney is an interesting and flavourful mystery/ suspense story. At the outset of the novel a private investigator named Ray lay in hospital not sure why he is there. As the plot progresses, the story of his last investigation is slowly unveiled, as is the fact that he has been in a car crash and was apparently at one point also poisoned. Ray has been contacted by a father searching out his missing daughter, Rose Janko. But Rose has been missing for seven years and nobody has sought her until now. Why? And why after seven years is it suddenly necessary to locate her? All of the characters are gypsies (Romany), and the Janko family appears to be hiding some sort of secret. They may be cursed, some believe, evidenced by the fact that countless members of their family have been stricken by disease. This odd disease seems to occur only in the males. We soon learn Rose Wood, was married and had a son named Christo, afflicated by the disease. She is vilified by members of her husband’s family who wonder why anyone would wish to find a mother who apparently abandoned her son. The family she has left behind struggle with secrets, disability and poverty. They invest their time and resources chasing strange, unproven treatments in hopes they can save their youngest family member.

Penney is an interesting and unique writer. Her characters are not extremely likable but plot and setting sustain the Invisible Ones. I found this novel a difficult read at times. Ray, the main character, is engaging and three dimensional and even memorable, perhaps because he is himself wounded in several ways. Ray is also part Romany, a fact that has led to his hiring. The narration is split, alternating chapters are told by Ray and JJ, the young nephew of Ivo. JJ provides an interesting counterpart and a different insider’s view of the Janko clan. He is a somewhat naive narrator because of his young age, but it seems abundantly apparent from the start that JJ is himself, either withholding something vital to the investigation, or about to stumble onto a big clue. While I enjoyed these two characters and their opposing narratives, I found this to be stylistically jarring at times. There are few writers who can flawlessly juggle this alternating viewpoint style of narration. While I grew to expect the alternating chapters, and even understod why it was necessary in this story, I felt the chapter transitions might have benefitted from a minor massaging to make it flow better.

The setting of the story is very unusual and Penney scores points for that to be sure. The cultural elements are rich and believable. This is a world where some characters are full gypsy (Romany) and others only half. Intermarriage is frowned on and Rose, it turns out, was only a half Romany wife. There were many moments I felt it took far too long for the climax of the story to speed up the pace of the plot and create any urgency at all.

Penney is an interesting author, a bit mysterious herself. Born and raised in Scotland she was for a time agoraphobic. Her first novel The Tenderness of Wolves was an international bestseller. This is the first novel I have ever read by Penney.

The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney, Viking Canada, January 2012, $30.00, 416 pages, Fiction

This one gets $$$ out of $$$$$. If you enjoy mysteries with strong and compelling cultural backgrounds you will enjoy this novel. I was not compensated for my review but receive a free copy of the book for review purposes.

Thanks to Bronwyn Kienapple, the author and Penguin Canada for asking me to be part of this blog tour.

The Virgin Cure – Review

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From the opening line “Mama sold me the summer I turned twelve,” Ami McKay’s latest novel The Virgin Cure will  hold your attention and keep you spellbound. Moth is a young girl of 12, part gypsy, living in dire poverty with her fortune-telling mother in 19th century Manhattan. She is endured by her mother and, from early on she is objectified and yet relatively unaware of her beauty. She is sold at 12 years old for a price she is never told and often fixates on, asking herself how much it took for a mother to sell her daughter. Moth becomes a maid in the home of a wealthy sadistic woman named Mrs. Wentworth. The mistress of the house beats her for the slightest infraction or inattention to detail and Nestor, an employee who befriends Moth eventually promises her there is a way out and he will help her find it. Unfortunately Moth is beaten terribly first and her beautiful hair hacked off, largely because the lady of the house maniacally worries her husband will return from business and lust after Moth.
Eventually Moth escapes this jail cell and sneaks home to where she once lived with her mother in the slums, only to find her mother is also gone. No home. No mother. No income and no family, she knows she is incredibly endangered in the slums. Her virginity, in the age of syphilis when infected men sought out virgins believing they could cure themselves by having sex with one, puts her even more at risk. When a charming young woman named Mae approaches Moth with the offer to live and be clothed and fed inside the home of a Madame, Moth makes a calculated choice. She becomes “an almost whore” or in other words a whore in training. She is cleaned up and groomed, in more ways than one, for a life serving men sexually. Moth is a naive child at the start of this novel, but the pace at which she is forced to grow up is extremely accelerated and almost unreal. Her character is somewhat complex because despite her age, she is quickly street savvy and smarter than most. She thinks her life as a near whore quite tolerable until faced with the reality of her debt to the madame that has essentially bought her service and virginity. Moth makes friends inside her new home and is mentored by a young whore named Rose. At times she is obviously still a child playing childish games like Tag and Hide N Seek and then she transforms into a bewitching and manipulative young mistress.  I couldn`t help reading this book with an eye to how great and rich this book would be if adapted also for the screen.
Historically The Virgin Cure is fascinating and disgusting and a really compelling read. It is every bit as well written as the Birth House. Interspersed with snippets of news and trivia from the time period, it is extremely creative. I often am jarred by books that intersperse fake news fictionalized inside the plot of a novel, but for some reason here in this context the snippets of news weren’t jarring to me. They were not necessarily rooted in realism but that seemed okay as it sort of supported the slightly gothic tone and the fabulous streak woven throughout. McKay writes fabulous female characters that are quite well rounded. Moth is such a great main character, really a unique girl child with a worldly side and, in the end although she is a whore, she is fantastically strong and fully takes charge of her own fate.  
There is, of course, an unexpected twist towards the end that is not quite heartbreaking, but tragic nonetheless. This time period is very rich and McKay, of Nova Scotia, is a lovely writer reminding me slightly of London`s Emma Donoghue, author of Slammerkin and The Room.The Virgin Cure is well researched. McKay is very thorough at painting a scene and a historical period with accuracy. Thematically there is a lot to chew on here. This is the first novel of 2012 for me and it will prove hard to top. My only tiny complaint is the narrative that jumps slightly in viewpoint when the good doctor, Sadie Fonda enters the scene.

The Virgin Cure, by Ami McKay, Knopf Canada, 356 pages, New York, 2011, Hardcover, $32.00.
This one gets a $$$$ 1/2 out of $$$$$. A must read.

I was not compensated for this review. I received the book free from the publisher and am a member of the on line monthly book chat hosted by the lovely Wanda @YMCBookalicious who posts on books over at The Yummy Mummy Club.  Go read her for more contests and book reviews.

Empire Theatres Buy $30 and get $30 Gift Cards

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I love gift cards. Huge fan here. This time of the year they are my go to present for the hard to buy for folks. You know – the teacher, the babysitter, the educational assistant helper at school, even then neighbour if they have been a good neighbour to me throughout the year. Empire Movie Theatre cards are blockbuster hits. Who doesn’t like the gift of entertainment?And there are so many fabulous movies coming out this Christmas. You could be giving Grandma the gift of Tom Hanks this year! Pretty sure that would solidify your place as best grandchild ever in her heart. Not that you weren’t already. 😉

For the second year in a row I am fortunate enough to be part of the Empire Theatres and Mom Central Canada blog tour about these great gift cards. This year, just like last when you buy $30 worth of the gift cards then you also get $30 worth of money-saving coupons to use throughout the year. For your information there are two great places to use Empire Theatres gift cards in and around London, Ontario. There is the London, Ontario Wellington Road Empire Theatre and there is an Empire Theatre in St. Thomas. There are many others throughout Ontario. So plenty of choices. I am using mine for date night this year since we finally found another babysitter. Oh and big Tom Hanks fan here too. So, see you at the movies, in 2012.

This year the coupons are great moneysavers, so keep them in your pocket or purse and don’t forget them when you go to the movies:

January 9-31: Buy One general admission and get one general admission free.
January 9-31: Also $2 off any combo except for kid’s combo.
February 1-29: Regular admission, plus regular soft drink and small popcorn only $9.99.
March 1 -31: One admission for $6.99.
March 1-31: Purchase a large popcorn, get a free large Coca Cola softdrink.
April 1-30: $4 off one general admission.


So, what are you waiting for head over to Empire Theatres in person, or on line and get your shopping done with Empire gift cards.  http://www.empiretheatres.com/gift/

I am participating in the Empire Theatre Gift Card Holiday campaign with Mom Central Canada. I received compensation for my participation in this campaign. My opinions are all my own.


Oh and don’t forget that tonight (Dec. 8th) Mom Central Canada is having a twitter party at 9 p.m. #empiregiving. Join us for a fun chat and some great prizes.

Book Bloggers, Publishing and Social Media

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I was fortunate to be able to interview Nicole Langan, the owner of Tribute Books recently regarding social media, bloggers and the future of publishing. As I know a lot of my readers are also writers and bloggers, I thought the answers would be interesting to many of you.

1. Can you tell me a bit about Tribute Books?
Nicole: Tribute Books began in 2004 and we’ve published over 30 titles since that time. Some of our books have gone on to win awards such as the Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year and the Mom’s Choice Award while others were endorsed by PBS and The Thoreau Society. We’ve covered a wide range of genres from children to history to sports.

2. Describe your new project for my readers?
Nicole: In 2012, we will transition into being an ebook publisher for young adult titles. Our main reason is the explosion in popularity of e-readers such as the Kindle, Nook and iPad. Over the course of 2011, we’ve watched our ebook sales outpace our print sales by 2 to 1. The under $5 price point of most of our titles and the ease of purchase and delivery are surely contributing factors.

3. What are you looking for in an author? Who finds illustrator if needed?
Nicole: We’re looking to work with authors who are savvy with social media – those who blog, tweet and update their Facebook status on a daily basis. I’m most excited about working with authors who enjoy promoting their book on a daily basis. Ones who know the ins and outs of the time and effort it takes to make a book a success because I’m ready and willing to work with them every step of the way.
(At this time, illustrations will not be needed since we’re looking to e-publish solely text manuscripts.)

4. Why epubs and not traditional hard copy books?
Nicole: Our main reason is the explosion in popularity of e-readers such as the Kindle, Nook and iPad. Over the course of 2011, we’ve watched our ebook sales outpace our print sales by 2 to 1. The under $5 price point of most of our titles and the ease of purchase and delivery are surely contributing factors.

5. What is your social media experience and philosophy?
Nicole: I am a big believer in the power of social media. I even conduct monthly blog tours for outside publishers and authors in order to help them increase the online presence of a book. Book bloggers are a powerful force in the book industry. With more and more book stores closing and book review columns being cut from major newspapers, readers are depending on bloggers to help them find the books they want to read. They are turning to the internet as a reference point to fill that gap.

Thanks very much to Nicole and Tribute Books

Nicole Langan, owner of Tribute Books

The Best Digital Marketing Campaigns in The World: Review

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The truth about books on the subject of digital media. By the time they are published they are in fact out of date. Such is the case with The Best Digital Marketing Campaigns in The World. While it doesn’t quite live upto the title, this book is an important offering for several reasons. First, in the world of social media case studies are slowly emerging to prove the importance of this marketing tool. In the traditional marketing field return on investment is the means of measuring impact. Nobody has been able to figure out ways to capture to ROI of social media until extremely recently. Enter case studies. The Best Digital Marketing Campaigns in The World takes several digital ad campaigns and expands on how they worked why they worked and what the audience and budget was. The astonishing part of some of these case studies is that the budget was nothing and they are still viewed by the authors as some of the most successful digital campaigns in the world. In this field there are a growing body of resources on line, but not so many traditional offerings. For that reason too this book should appeal to traditional marketing personnel. While I was looking forward to reading this book, because it is a compilation of successful digital media campaigns ranging from big name brands like Pizza Hut to Pepsi, Turbotax and the presidential campaign for Obama, it leaves a little to be desired. Books about social media and digital media need to engage on an entirely different level than regular traditional books. They need to think outside the box. So this type of book needs to not only market itself on twitter and facebook and run a social media campaign with blog tour or some social media author interaction with readers, but it needs to update itself in some ways making it more relevant than the regular book. I have seen this done simply with authors of fiction lately and have done more than a few blog tours which generate buzz. I have also seen it done smartly with Shama Hyder Kabani’s book The Zen of Social Media Marketing. Readers, marketers, publicity people and authors should go buy that book if they want to learn creative ways to continue and extend the life cycle of a traditional book. Social network advertising spending is expected to increase to a staggering $4.3 billion in a bid to attract today’s media-savvy consumer, $1.64 billion in the US alone. It is the fastest growing media ever. This book attempts to capture some recent successes and does a decent job of that. But it is by no means the best digital media campaigns. There are some creative ideas here. For instance the Dockers Iphone pants dance campaign through Medialets was fun and interactive. A Doritos campaign that was shot outside an insane asylum was very appealing to a teenage demographic and savvy. But I can think of a few recent social media campaigns that were even more successful or well publicized than these. The first and most well known – absent from this book – is the obvious Old Spice guy Facebook and more campaign. Author Damian Ryan has been at the forefront of the Irish media and advertising business for many years.Calvin Jones is a freelance writer, journalist, blogger and online marketer.

The Best Digital Marketing Campaigns In The World: Mastering The Art of Customer Engagement,
By Damian Ryan and Calvin Jones
Kogan Page Limited,
07/28/2011
ISBN: 978-0749-4-6062-4
ISBN: 0749460628
Paperback 224 pages
$16.99 and US $29.95

This one gets a $$$ out of $$$$$

The Kid

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The Kid by Sapphire, Penguin Press, 07/05/ 2011, 384 pages, $25.95
ISBN-10: 1594203040
ISBN-13: 978-1594203046

Sapphire is the author of the bestselling novel Push and two collections of poetry.

The Kid is by far the most disturbing novel I have ever read. When we first meet Abdul, he is nine and it is the occasion of his mother’s funeral. His mother was the main character Precious of the landmark novel Push. She has died of AIDS and her son is orphaned. It is a beginning that would seem to hint nothing worse could possibly happen to this child and yet, each time in this tragic book that Abdul seems to sink to his lowest point something even more horrendous drags him further into the abyss.
In many ways the story of Abdul Jones seems unreal, but it is gritty and devastating and a sad social commentary on many things such as child welfare, not only in the neighbourhood of Harlem. Sadly, while I believe Sapphire may have exaggerated character and plot to make a point, his story for an Aids orphan in America is probably not that far off the mark.
While it appears initially to the boy that he might, in his confused state, be taken into the care of his mother’s friend, Rita, a woman he calls Aunt, the social services system quickly puts an end to that childish naivete. The foster home he is moved to is horrific beyond description and from there on Abdul, also known as J.J., travels deeper into a hellish cycle of physical and sexual abuse that seems unending. Abdul is moved like a pawn through so many homes and institutions it becomes dehumanizing to say the least. Eventually he is moved to a school, run by Catholic Brothers, and he begins to blossom as a young intelligent soul who has had some hard breaks and yet, naturally he is targeted for abuse again and again. It is here that he grows large enough physically, and tortured enough mentally to become warped into a predator as well.
The Kid is another brave novel, just as Push was. But what happens here in this novel when the topic is male violence and male abuse and the abused turns into abuser, well it is beyond pushing the envelope, it is alienating and much too challenging for most. This character is one of the most tragic and complex characters I have ever encountered. While Precious had much that was redeeming and seemed to triumph at least spiritually over circumstances, with her writing, J.J., Abdul, Precious’ son, has an artistic side too. He is however unable to make it the tool to move past that which has been done to him. He is quite a bright young student full of potential, but that too makes him a target, prey for others.
Fifteen years after the publication of Push, after the Academy Award-winning film adaptation, Sapphire breathes the son to life. This is a sequel that is graphic and brave. It is compelling even as you want to throw it down in disgust. Sapphire’s style is still brilliant and gritty and urban, borrowing heavily on Virginia Woolf’s stream of consciousness technique. At times, when Abdul is claimed by a distant grandmother of sorts, it is difficult to tell where dream or story begins and ends. The Kid is not a novel I would recommend to many outside the field of child welfare. It is the most brutal coming of age story imaginable.

This is a frightening and harsh read. $$$ out of $$$$$. Not as memorable as Precious in Push.

Makeda

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(My Full review appears in New York Journal of Books)

Makeda combines so many themes and genres it is slightly hard to categorize. It is a sweeping saga starting at the point of the civil rights movement and tracing the roots of a common history through time and, even space. Makeda is also the highly personal inner journey of one man, Gray March. 

March is a conflicted young man when he comes to his grandmother’s parlour to enjoy her company, seeking refuge from his own life. He is alienated from his father and mother and, as we quickly learn, has brother has died under mysterious circumstances. The grandmother, the character of the title Makeda, is a blind woman who claims to have visions and recollects past lives and stories that resonate with Gray.
Makeda is a very matriarchal tale and the female characters here are admirable and strong, which is a rather unique thing to find in contemporary fiction. In fact, they are the heart and soul of the novel, despite the fact that the main character, Gray is a man. He is fashioned by the female influences in his life. Makeda has been blind since birth, but she dreams in color. She recollects several past lives through dream like states and, one of these dreams leads her grandson on a research expedition through Africa. Jeanne Burgess is the scholar and love interest that holds Gray’s past up as the stumbling block it is, and forces him to reveal and deal with his ghosts so that he can move forward.

Randall Robinson is an intellectual and a writer of note. He has numerous publications to his credit. He is the author of An Unbroken Agony and bestsellers, The Debt, The Reckoning, Quitting America and Defending The Spirit. This novel is well researched and intricate. It delivers a lot of historical fact. It is however at times too densely packed and might have been more aggressively pruned. Robinson’s prose is quite lovely in passages such as: “The month of March seems invariably to promise more than it delivers, teasing spring, frustrating hope’s impatience.” And yet there are moments that it is almost bogged down by the plot and excessive wordiness. While the main character Gray is accomplished and a scholar and the intellectual style of writing is not completely out of character, it is a barrier for readers. It is an intellectual affect – using four large words when one accurate one might do and make a work more accessible.

The reincarnation theme takes us through history and dabbles in magic realism. Robinson’s latest has earned some comparisons to the writings of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Toni Morrison, but the latter author has more in common with Robinson stylistically and thematically.

While suspense is maintained through much of Makeda, the middle section lagged momentum. But the end of the story is more than worth the effort. The final few pages of Makeda are a breathtaking revelation, weighted with romance and lovely passionate prose.
Makeda by Randall Robinson, Akashic Books, Open Lens Imprint, 08/30/2011

ISBN 10: 1617750220, ISBN 13: 978-1-61775-022-9, 350 pages.
Thriftymommasbrainfood gives this one a $$$ 1/2 rating.