Category Archives: Rants and Raves

Here’s where my thoughts go.

I Found My Inner Child in My Third Eye!

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This little guy’s name was Jerry and, as I recall, he was joyful a lot of the time. There were stresses in his young life, but they’d evaporate on encountering the next delight.

He was curious. He was studious. He was a chatterbox. He was a showoff.

He had a loud voice that became louder when he was excited. As he grew older his teachers rebuked him because that voice could be heard above all others in class.

So as the tween became a teen, his voice softened – so much so that at times adults had to prompt him to speak up.

It was years later he found his voice.

Watch for the audiobook release of Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner in January.

Thinking About Thinking #43: Sweet Bird of Not So Young Anymore

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Photo by Georja Umano

What would you say to this surprise visitor?

Some of you who know of my recent adventures might think this candid shot was taken in East Africa. But it’s actually from a bit further back on a trip to the rainforest in Ecuador near the headwaters of the Amazon River.

I really don’t know what species this critter is, nor whether it’s male or female. Its relatively drab color might suggest it’s a mama, but its aggressive, perhaps territorial, move seems characteristically male.

Perhaps I should have asked whether it takes cream or sugar with its coffee.

Or whether “Nevermore!” (in Spanish?) might be the word of the day.

Clicking on the cover will take you to the Amazon Kindle catalog page. It’s also available lots of other places, including EPUB and paperback.

Books Out of Africa – BookFest Panel Discussion

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Books Out of Africa Panel screenshot YouTube

Click the image to watch on YouTube

Watch it on YouTube!

Books Out of Africa: Bookish World Tour

The continent that gave birth to humanity delivers some of the most provocative and moving stories in our world. From non-fiction to fiction to poetry, with invigorating and moving perspectives from an array of authors and literary professionals, this panel discussion aims to create connections and stimulate imaginations. Join these literary leaders who tell the tales of the people, the place, and the continent that is Africa.

Dr. Edward Bynum, Ph.D., ABPP, Author of several books including the latest, Our African Unconscious: The Black Origins of Mysticism and Psychology, clinical psychologist, and former director of the behavioral medicine program at the University of Massachusetts Health Services. https://www.innertraditions.com/autho… Paulino Chol, Author of Leading the Lost Boys, the true story of leading 700 boy prisoners in South Sudan to freedom, and PhD student in management and homeland security at Colorado Technical University. https://machfoundation.org/

Gerald Everett Jones, Author of the award-winning Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner and Evan Wycliff Mystery series and host, for the Get Published! Podcast. https://geraldeverettjones.com/

Useni Perkins, American poet, playwright, activist and youth worker, known for his poem “Hey Black Child”, and author of the newly released Kwame Nkrumah’s Midnight Speech for Independence from Just Us Books. https://blackchildjournal.com/

Moderator: Celeste Duckworth, Author, President of Vertikal Life Magazine, and host of A Taste of Ink LIVE Radio Program. https://vertikallifemagazine.com/

The BookFest Web: https://www.TheBookFest.com/ Books That Make You Web: https://www.booksthatmakeyou.com/ FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/BooksThatMak… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/books_that_…

NYC Big Book Awards Harry Harambee Silver in General Fiction

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(October 27, 2021, Santa Monica, CA) The 2021 NYC Big Book Award just recognized Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner by Gerald Everett Jones in the highly competitive category of General Fiction as a Distinguished Favorite. This is the third award Jones has received for that novel, as well as the third he’s received for this literary fiction and two mystery-thrillers in this and prior NYC Big Book competitions.

Will it be politically disruptive? Kenyans vote next year.

Ten awards overall in the last two years include both Winner (Gold) and Distinguished Favorite (Silver) for his Evan Wycliff mysteries in the 2020 NYC Big Book, which accepts entries from not only indie authors and small presses but also the major publishing houses (the “Big Five”). Of his mysteries, the first in the series, Preacher Finds a Corpse, also won an Independent Press Award (IPA) Distinguished Favorite, Best Literary Fiction in the National Association of Book Entrepreneurs (NABE) Pinnacle Awards, and a Finalist Eric Hoffer Award. Preacher Fakes a Miracle won an NYC Big Book Silver in the same year, winning Jones the top two slots in the Mystery category. Previously, Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner was awarded Best Literary Fiction from NABE and Bronze in the Florida Association of Authors and Publishers (FAPA) President’s Awards in Adult Fiction.

Awards in 2020 included an Independent Press Association (IPA) Distinguished Favorite for Clifford’s Spiral in Fiction, as well as Eric Hoffer Finalist in Business for Jones’s nonfiction textbook, How to Lie with Charts.

The NYC Big Book competition is judged by experts from different aspects of the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters. Selected award Winners and Distinguished Favorites are based on overall excellence.

Loosely based on Jones’s experiences living in Kenya for two years, Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner is the story of Harry Gardner, a lonely widower from Los Angeles, who makes the challenging transition from tourist and passive observer to committed resident. It’s an emotional story of expat intrigue in rapidly developing East Africa, reminiscent of The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene and The Constant Gardener by John le Carré.

Desmond Boi, editorial writer for The Standard newspapers and Citizen TV in Nairobi has gone so far as to suggest that the book could be disruptive – in a positive way – among Kenyans. He writes: “Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner is a captivating, witty read that explores the sociopolitical climate in Kenya in an honest way that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. This is a clear and compelling outlook that realistically paints Kenya while exploring glaring issues that are a bane to the country. When Harry decides to stop being a bystander who lets other people decide his fate, it’s noteworthy. This can be equated to Kenyans finally deciding to take responsibility rather than just going with the flow, waiting for decisions that affect their lives to be made for them. And it can be done without selling one’s soul in the process and leave a legacy and a better country worthy of its name.” (Kenyan general elections are slated for August of 2022, and campaigning is already underway.)

2021 was a record year for the NYC Big Book Awards due to the high level of quality and diverse books submitted. Again in 2021, the competition received book submissions worldwide, including great submissions from journalists, well-established authors, small and large press as well as first time indie authors who participated in high numbers. Entries were from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. Cities such as Bangalore, Edmonton, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, New York, Seattle, Singapore, and Vancouver were representative among the entries. Winners were recognized globally from Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Lebanon, Queensland, and the United States of America.

Among NYC Big Book entries, some awarded books were published by The American Bar Association, Friesen Press, Gatekeeper Press, Greenleaf Book Group, Joggling Board Press, Story Merchant Books, and WildBlue Press. Quality children’s publishers such as Barefoot Books as well as Mango and Marigold press were awarded. Independent presses such as Brill, Goff Books, Koehler Books, Llewellyn Publications, ORO Editions, Routledge Publishers, Rowman & Littlefield, and She Writes Press took both Winner and Distinguished Favorite awards. AuthorHouse, IngramSpark, KindleDirect, and SDP Publishing were among the self-publishing platforms. Lastly, Hachette Books, MacMillan, Penguin Random House were among the large publishers that entered.

“We are elated to highlight these authors’ books, recognize their excellence, and share their achievements.” said awards sponsor Gabrielle Olczak. “We look forward to showcasing these titles to a larger audience.”

Gerald Everett Jones remarked about his win, “I’m pleased to receive this recognition for ‘Harry’s’ story, especially in competition with the Big Five. My small press LaPuerta Books and Media has published all eleven of my novels, and I’m thrilled by the opportunities for self-expression that new media platforms provide. Storytelling is a unifying force among people and cultures, and I urge both writers and readers to stay focused on that bright, hopeful spot.”

Gerald Everett Jones is a freelance writer who lives in Santa Monica, California. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, the Dramatists Guild, Women’s National Book Association, and Film Independent (FIND), as well as a board member of the Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC). He holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honors from the College of Letters, Wesleyan University, where he studied under novelists Peter Boynton (Stone Island), F.D. Reeve (The Red Machines), and Jerzy Kosinski (The Painted Bird, Being There). His author website is geraldeverettjones.com, and he hosts the GetPublished! Radio podcast.

Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner is published by LaPuerta Books and Media and available in trade paperback and ebook formats from booksellers worldwide, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Google Books, and Rakuten Kobo.

Third award just announced – NYC Big Book Distinguished Favorite in General Fiction.

Book Review: Silverview by John le Carré

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Silverview is the last novel John le Carré (David Cornwell) completed before his death in December of 2020. It was just released in the US by Viking Penguin. The hardcover edition includes an Afterword by the author’s son Nick Cornwell, who is a writer himself using the name Nick Harkaway.

Silverview, the last spy novel by John Le Carré (Viking Penguin)

As my friends and fans know, I’m a longtime admirer of le Carré, and I believe that, to rate him as “The premier spy novelist of our time. Perhaps of all time” (Time), is an underestimation. In his novels, the spy story is a metaphor and a model for not only the geopolitical strife between nations but also the loyalties and betrayals between human beings – in their most intimate and personal transactions. I’d say William Boyd’s comment in The New Statesman comes closer: “We should see him as our contemporary Dickens.”

Two recurring themes in le Carré are that humans almost always betray their loved ones, and skilled spies (like readers) must be obsessively attentive close observers. By strewing hints, clues, and foreshadowing in narratives rich in dazzling but often extraneous detail, he teaches you not only how spies think but also how to read with critical intelligence, especially between the lines.

I’ll risk asserting that fans of le Carré will find nothing new in Silverview. But consider this a feature and not a flaw. If you’ve read and paid close attention to his other novels, you will be quick to recognize the suspicious cover stories, the simple and seemingly innocent methods of exchanging word codes and documents, and – at the core of all of it – the ways double agents double back on their professed loyalties, at the same time serving and betraying their countries, while twisting their personal lives and loves inside out.

As I say, recognizing these plot elements on first appearance may give you the satisfaction that you’ve aced the course at Sarratt, the Circus spy academy. Perhaps then you are ready to recognize, face up to, and deal with the loyalties and betrayals in your own life. I guarantee you will pay closer attention to what other authors are trying to express.

All this said, it will come as no surprise that I respectfully disagree with Nick Cornwell’s assessment of this book:

“… Silverview does something that no other le Carré novel ever has. It shows a service fragmented: filled with its own political factions, not always kind to those it should cherish, not always very effective or alert, and ultimately not sure, any more, that it can justify itself.”

I beg to differ. The close observer knows that John le Carré has been saying this all along.

Evan Wycliff mystery-thrillers have won five awards including both Gold and Silver in the NYC Big Book awards. The audiobook for the first in the series is available from Audible, iTunes, Google Play, and other distributors worldwide.

Ready to Escape to an African Adventure? (Shared from Article Rich)

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Photo by Gabriella Muttone

This interview appeared recently on Article Rich and covers some of the in-country experiences that inspired the fictional story of my recent novel Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner. In this story, a middle-aged white widower from Los Angeles travels to Kenya. His character arc and challenges proceed from being a tourist and passive observer to a resident who must decide how much he’s willing to commit to his new community.

Click here to read the interview.

And if you can’t travel to Kenya just now, read the book!

Book Review – An Unlikely Truth by John Rachel

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Here’s my book review of An Unlikely Truth, a novel by John Rachel.

(Not to be confused with An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore or A Delicate Truth by John Le Carré.)

Democracy at both the local and national levels recently has been under savage assault. In this fictional story, protagonist Martin Truth’s fight was one of many such struggles to restore the meaning of representative government to a system that had been corrupted by big money and corporate power.

In this political drama, a bright, young, idealistic Green Party candidate, in his bid for the congressional seat of a conservative district in Ohio, teams with a beautiful, fiery, African-American intern to combat the slick deceptions and ruthless tactics of a sweet-talking right-wing incumbent.

This is the inspiring story of a small committed group of activists who either never knew or have forgotten the meaning of the word impossible. More importantly, it embodies hope that not all is lost, that there’s a narrative which can begin to put America back on track and render government again of the people by the people and for the people

An Unlikely Truth was published in 2014, just as the early presidential primaries got underway and well before the sensational and controversial election of 2016. Both before and after the election, there was a resurgence of grassroots political action on both the left and the right. If you’re among the people who fear that the politics of hope, are a thing of the past, you will probably regard this book as dated. If instead you describe yourself as an activist john Rachel’s vision of America may look like a glimpse of the future.

Update note: In today’s “post-truth” era, and considering all that has transpired in American politics since 2016, the question remains: Are the “politics of hope” so… yesterday?

Harry Harambee'd Kenyan Sundowner: A Novel

Harry never planned to reinvent his life at this age. He went from tourist and passive observer to reluctantly committed resident. Here is conspiracy and intrigue on the white sands of the Indian Ocean.

 

Thinking About Thinking #41 – Unlikely, Unbelievable, and Astonishing!

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Did you ever reflect on how unlikely it is that the apparent size of the Moon and the Sun are so nearly the same? From the standpoint of astrophysics, there is no reason why this coincidence should exist. There’s nothing about the size of the moon or gravitational balance between the Earth and the other two bodies that would cause the virtual sizes in the sky to match up so remarkably.

And then consider that the full solar eclipse is possibly the most significant recurring event in human cultures throughout history. Awe-inspiring. Significant, for all kinds of invented explanations.

Whether you credit creationism, intelligent design, extraterrestrial engineers, or extraordinarily unlikely random events, all you need to do is look up to get the message:

This is a very special place!

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Gerald Learns About Living Vertikal

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On this podcast episode of A Taste of Ink Live, I learn host C. Stene Duckworth‘s vision for Living Vertikal and her initiative Vertikal Alliance International (vertikalalliance.com). It’s more than just breathing in and out and putting one foot in front of the other! We talk about the challenges of making the transition from tourist to resident in East Africa, a key theme of my novel Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner. We compare and contrast politics and ethnic strife in the U.S., South Africa, and Kenya.

It’s an hour of spirited conversation. Click here to listen!

Thinking About Thinking #40 – I Do and I Don’t – Marriage themes in the movies

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Here’s my book review of I Do and I Don’t: A History of Marriage in the Movies by Jeanine Basinger.

Basinger is professor of film studies at Wesleyan University, my alma mater, and during her tenure there, she’s been mentor to many of the Hollywood filmmakers who are today referred to as the Wesleyan Mafia. She is one of the most influential of our present-day film historians.

I Do and I Don’t is a critical survey of studio pictures from the silent era up through recent times. Movies in America were formally censored during the ’Thirties and ’Forties, the main reason that even into the ’Fifties, all screen married couples slept in twin beds. The rich ones had separate bedrooms, perhaps for other reasons. But Basinger emphasizes that Hollywood’s view on marriage evolved over the decades for primarily commercial reasons – to appeal to the people – most of them women – who bought tickets.

First off, if you’re considering writing a screenplay about your happy marriage, forget it. Even before the talkies, moviemakers understood that happy couples are just plain boring. Conflict is drama, as Aristotle once said. And the most hilarious romantic comedies are the same, with the volume turned way up.

Basinger tells us that marriage movies are rooted in problems, including money, infidelity, children, illness, death, and forced separation.

In every era, the studios were skilled at giving the audience what it wanted but might not admit – namely stories about their secret fears and suppressed desires. In the movies, any misbehavior, any sin, any abusive behavior can be indulged in, as long as the responsible party is punished before the lights come back up. That way, the audience can leave the theater feeling both satisfied and self-righteous.

Take for example George Cukor’s Adam’s Rib, in which Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy are trial lawyers married to each other and squared off as opposing counsel on the same case. In the famous massage scene, Tracy gives Hepburn a playful slap. She takes it the wrong way, and the scene ends as she gives him a swift kick in the ankle. If that movie were made today, you know her aim would be higher.