Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.
Showing posts with label Gary Stelzer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gary Stelzer. Show all posts

Friday, December 18, 2009

The Cost of Dreams by Gary Stelzer (Book Review)


Title: The Cost of Dreams
Author: Gary Stelzer

Publisher: Decent Hearts Press

About the book: Flora, a Mayan teenager, has escaped Talapa, her civil war-torn Central American village where her parents have been slain-and where even being seen in native wear could result in summary execution. Following her dream with nearly superhuman determination, she makes her way to San Diego, and against all odds, becomes a wife, mother and teacher. By hard work and shrewdness, she even obtains legal U.S. status.

But her life takes a horrific turn when she's shot by her drug-dealing brother in-law. As she lays unconscious and bleeding in front of her house, Mexican immigrants traveling on a freight train kidnap and claim her as their daughter, caring for her on a long, grueling cross-country flight.

Nearly a year later, still gravely wounded and disfigured, a freed Flora arrives at the Lake Michigan home of Kate Bowman, an American aide worker who had previously befriended Flora in Talapa. Kate's nephew had vanished on that mission, leaving Kate devastated and overwhelmed with guilt for permitting him to remain in a civil war ravaged Central America while she returned home.

Now Flora, eager to heal her injuries and desperate to restore what remains of her family, reignites in Kate a fire to learn the fate of her long lost nephew. The two women embark on a harrowing journey that takes them to the ancient caves of northwestern Mexico in the Barrancas del Cobre, an exceedingly vast abyss of canyons, in search of a storied Indian healer. The cost of healing borders on the unendurable.

My thoughts: I really liked the summary of this book above, that was sent to me by Carol Fass Publicity. The book started out strong and I found it hard to put down. I was impressed by Flora's spirit and strength and how she pushed on even when she found herself alone. Even after she is wounded and the Mexican family - mainly the mother - "kidnaps" her because she thinks she is her reincarnated daughter - I was still pulling for Flora. What she survived in her trek across country is amazing.

About three quarters of the way through though, the book started to drag and seemed to be going off on a tangent. A couple of the lesser characters in the book came into play, and for me, this seemed to detract from Flora's story rather than add to it. I understand why they were necessary, but at times it seemed their little part was overshadowing the bigger picture. It does show how the book came full circle and how there are many different ways in which a person needs to be healed.

The Cost of Dreams
Publisher/Publication Date: Decent Hearts Press, Oct 2009
ISBN: 978-1-93607-00-9
296 pages




~This book was provided for review by Carol Fass Publicity and Public Relations.~

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Teaser Tuesday: The Cost of Dreams 12-01-2009


TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you have given!
Please avoid spoilers!




He ripped off his seatbelt to discover a widening mess of her blood on his jeans legs. He shoved Flora aside as bullet number three whistled through the gapping hole just over her seat and lodged itself in the rear metal van door. (p42, The Cost of Dreams by Gary Stelzer)








The Cost of Dreams
Publisher/Publication Date: Decent Hearts Press, Oct 2009
ISBN: 978-1-936073-00-9
296 pages










Come meet Gary Stelzer - author of The Cost of Dreams!


Please help me welcome Gary Stelzer to Books and Needlepoint today. He is the author of The Cost of Dreams, the first in a series of books, which came out in October.

Hi Dr. Stelzer!

1. I found the back story of The Cost of Dreams fascinating. Can you share with my readers where the idea for this book came from?

Fundamentally, from my own innate sense of outrage at the level of injustice befalling the ignorant and destitute of our world’s societies. I just don’t care for societal unfairness in which persons and families, through no fault of their own, get ground into dust in an unfair social setup.

2. I believe this is the first book in what is to be a series - have you started work on the second book?

There will be four more novels (assuming brains hold out), the next of which will be set in New Orleans during the time of Katrina. A time and place in which another several thousands of human beings found themselves trapped by the ill convergence of a natural disaster and the abject neglect of the social contract we have with each other to care for our fellow humans - preventatively and at the time of needed rescue.

The third novel will be set in Detroit, the epicenter of America's industrial collapse.

3. The next two novels sound very good also! I like the way they center around a certain area/event in the country. Was The Cost of Dreams your original title or was it changed upon publishing?

The first, and very different draft, had a different title, The Disappeared One.

4. At what point did you decide to give up your medical career and become a writer?

I had worked almost three decades as a physician, a very interesting and stressful job. But certain features of the work were becoming untenable. Not the least of which was the unaffordable barrier to care for more and more people. I’d spend a half-hour to an hour with a person outlining what they needed done, only to find it was totally unattainable for cost reasons. Over and over, all day, day after day and getting worse all the time. Very frustrating and very defeating for patients and doctors alike.

Plus, I have always loved writing very, very much. It was not a hard shift and I could not be happier with the change.


5. What was your journey to publication like?

Circuitous and unpredictable. But honestly and ultimately very enjoyable – and supremely educational!!

6. Do you have a favorite place to write - or any "must-haves" in order to get the creative juices flowing?

No – a boring tiny office in my small city house. A little cabin on a small lake is not bad either. Privacy and quietude are essential. And a healthy block of time to let the head settle into the work.

7. Sometimes I find that privacy and quietude are necessary for me to do anything! What was the hardest part about writing The Cost of Dreams?

Accepting after the first couple drafts that I had no notion of what I was doing. And that I needed the attention of a real pro – I obtained an astonishing editor. Very, very key.

8. That is good to know. I have a daughter who is an aspiring author - she is working on chapter 3 of a book as I write this. If you had to summarize your life and give it a title, what would that title be?

A Climb.

9. If you could have lunch and chat with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

William Faulkner and Uncle Abe Lincoln. Because of their lack of fear at facing reality and answering the call of their time. Also because they were true children of the enlightenment and because I’d like to ask them a few questions about the predicaments of their own time.

10. Great choices - I would find this a tough questions to answer myself! Have there been any surprises upon publication of The Cost of Dreams or during the blog tour?

None, other than every minute of it is all new to me. I’ve liked it very much. And in the mid-winter, I’ll be at work on the next book.



11. Is there anything else that you would like to share with my readers?

Demand, and you will receive, books and talks that are relevant to the time in which we are living. It is what I demand of my writing.
And, keep reading and be well!!


Thank you Dr. Stelzer for taking time to answer these questions for me!

I will be reviewing this book this week. You can learn more about Gary Stelzer at www.garystelzer.com.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...