Literary manager | Producer | Ken Atchity: July 2008

Goblins! - First review

Our first review of GOBLINS! is in – here is the review from Kirkus, calling it “a riotously good adventure!”

Buckingham, Royce
GOBLINS!: An UnderEarth Adventure

Young protagonist Sam thinks living in Sumas, Wash., is 8 0…like growing up in a rural coma.” He and bad boy PJ (son of Sumas’s only cop) quickly learn how wrong he is when the boys accidentally run over an apelike creature sporting tusks, fur and a spiked club. They take it back to PJ’s father’s jailhouse, but are confronted by an albino man and a young woman who take charge of the creature. Following these strangers down a trap door in the forest, they discover a network of tunnels and caves filled with man-eating grass, giant insects and hungry goblins. These human guardians have held the goblins in check, but the boys’ intrusion disturbs the balance. Sam and PJ must use their wits to outsmart the sometimes amusingly stupid but also incredibly adaptable goblins. The final pages detail a massive battle where blood and goo are spilled, alliances change and heroes are made. Mild rough language makes an occasional appearance throughout this sometimes violent and often slimy tale, which races along and makes for a riotously good adventure. (Fiction. 9-13)

newsblip

Noire was featured in PW’s cover story, “The New E-in Erotica,” by Sarah J. Robbins, along with the cover of her first anthology, From the Streets to the Sheets, and this comment from her Ballantine editor: “According to Ballantine senior editor Melody Guy, one reason for the category’s success is the authors’ promotional savvy. At Ballantine’s One World imprint, the biggest erotica author, says Guy, is ‘far and away Noire,’ whose 2005 debut novel, G-Spot, continues to backlist strongly. Coming next month is a story collection, From the Streets to the Sheets: Urban Erotic Quickies, which will be followed next spring by Hittin’ the Bricks, also a forthcoming Noire movie. Noire’s popularity, says Guy, ‘steams from the fact that she combined two genres in a way that no one else had—street lit and erotica—and appealed to fans of both genres.’ She also, Guy adds, has a team of fans across the country that helps to promote her books, and she has a significant online presence…”

“The Un-Dead” May Move to Hungary

Very exciting developments on Ian Holt’s script “The Un-Dead,” based on the novel by Dacre Stoker and Ian. We are in discussions with Raleigh Studios/Hungary about shooting the film there. Their art department has done some awesome preparation to show us how the mood of the story can be captured perfectly over there (see it here). More to follow.

UNA VIDA MOVES FORWARD

The last few weeks have brought the delightful news that my good friend and client Nick Bazan, M.D.’s novel and film, UNA VIDA, are both moving forward at last. The novel—check out this great cover—will appear end of the year from Five Star Publications, with Linda Radke, the publisher, hugely excited about its potential and Leeza Gibbons’ “Leeza’s Place,” dedicate to the families of Alzheimer’s victims, exploring a cross-promotional tie in with Dr. Bazan, who heads LSU’s Neuroscience Institute in New Orleans.

The story is a neuroscientist’s journey to discover, in the labyrinth of New Orleans culture, the labyrinthine pathways of the human mind by pursuing a mysterious musician whose voice remains enchanting despite the ravages of Alzheimer’s. Through clear dreams and obscure realities, the serendipitous quest of Dr. Alvaro Cruz leads to a breakthrough in Una Vida’s life and in his own as well.

At the same time that the novel is moving forward, Alan Roth, AEI client and creator of “Hang Time” and “One More for the Road,” is working on the “Una Vida” screenplay with Nick—hoping to have it ready for proceeding with the film in New Orleans at the first of the new year as well.

Stay tuned to my blog for more updates, and meanwhile check out Dr. Bazan’s UNA VIDA blog page here.

For more on Dr. Bazan’s groundbreaking scientific research, see his LSU page here.

“… a hero’s journey that leads a haunted neuroscientist through the mystery of jazz, the alleys of New Orleans … and the labyrinth of the mind.”

– Leeza Gibbons, founder of Leeza’s Place for the families of Alzheimer’s victims

WHAT IS THIS BOOK ABOUT?

In Dr. Nicolas Bazan’s brilliant first novel, neuroscientist Alvaro Cruz finds himself haunted by a recurring dream of a banjo player in an elusive cornfield that leads him on a personal quest to uncover the mysterious past of a New Orleans street singer known as Una Vida. Stricken with Alzheimer’s, Una Vida can only offer tantalizing clues about her past through her mesmerizing vocals, incredible recollection of jazz lyrics, and the occasional verbal revisiting of a fascinating life that’s fading quickly and forever into the recess of her mind. As Cruz searches for Una Vida’s true identity, he learns profound lessons about the human psyche, the nature of memory – and himself.

WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK UNIQUE?

Una Vida is filled with delightful twists and unexpected turns, all centering around one of the greatest gifts New Orleans has offered the world – jazz. But the story will also deeply touch anyone who has had to witness the heartbreaking deterioration of a loved one’s memory as it is consumed by the unforgiving encroachment of Alzheimer’s.

In the end, Una Vida represents a triumph of the spirit and sends an intensely personal message of hope to the world even as scientists like Dr. Bazan continue the search for the answers to one of life’s most devastating diseases.

Gather Together In My Name by Tracy Price-Thompson

Okay, the wait is over! GATHER TOGETHER IN MY NAME is yet another one just like the other one(s). Rare would you find a Tracy Price-Thompson written novel devoid of dramatic poignancy and verve. Based on her previous work relative to my reviews and others that pay homage to good writing, I’ve come to know this author well in this regard. Each book has its own juices that marinate with the spices that hit the literary palette. If you thought BLACK COFFEE, CHOCOLATE SANGRIA, and A WOMAN’S WORTH were stellar, wait until you witness the trial and tribulation of Shyne Blackwood. Shyne’s incredible story is told against the backdrop of a triumvirate that gives the story different shades of coloring where the author exudes every ounce of intrigue to keep you guessing as each scene is dependent on what’s destined to happen next. Loyalty, love and a sordid sense of loathing drives this story.

The setting is a crime-ridden Brooklyn that adds a synonymous layer that the author takes advantage of by blending of a set of triplets born into poverty and great consternation. The boys - Gabriel (Shug), Isaiah (Shyne) and Ezekiel (Shadow) are introduced in alternating chapters as the author weaves a fabric rough at times, but with enough traction that it moves along gathering tone and tenor for a climatic, if not surprising end. Is love and loyalty worth dying for where hate is circling in the midst waiting to claim another victim? The author sets the tone when a gristly rape and murder is committed on a young woman and her three year-old daughter. Who dunnit? Two of the three brothers are interwoven into this tale as Shadow meets an early untimely death of his own. Was it Shug, a momma’s boy and his mother's favorite, who is an intellect, law-trained and a politically savvy individual bidding to become the second black mayor of New York City; or the snake-bitten Shyne, who is a street-seasoned hustler, thief and seemingly someone only the next door neighbor can love that committed the crime?

I read this story with much trepidation recalling the plight of so many Black men sentenced to lives that are stereotypical of some of them being in the wrong place at the wrong time. As you read this story you will want the author to give it practical familiarity by allowing readers to come to the conclusion that may be obvious, but certain twists keeps the suspense riveting! As such, one of the brothers are accused and convicted of the brutal murders, and everyone demands vengeance as death row becomes his next place of residence. The coda gains momentum on the eve of Shyne's execution, when five people travel to the jail to witness the event. Redemption can be defined only when intrusive meaning is worthy of holding on to an unshakeable feeling. In tick-tock fashion the culprit is good as gone, but the adhesiveness of loyalty rears its head to reveal a secret that will test the bonds of familial order, the strength of one man's character, and the all encompassing power of a love worth dying for mentioned earlier. If you manage to gather together for the sake of a good read, then do so by naming and claiming this author as one of the best in guaranteed page-turning delight! Tracy, when is the next one due out?

Reviewed by Alvin C. Romer for The Romer Review