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October 17th, 2012

10/17/2012

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Timothy Mallborn: The Invisible BoyTimothy Mallborn: The Invisible Boy by Matthew Lie-Paehlke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Who says the soul-sucking alienation of contemporary consumerism can't be fun? Those of us who live in a community that features a shopping mall at its cultural and social heart, will have no trouble identifying with Timothy Mallborn, the invisible hero of Matthew Lie-Paehlke's delightful story of a young boy who grows up in a mall - literally.

Timothy gets lost as a five year old lad, and finds meaning, art, and even love as he wanders from store to store over twenty-plus years. In his world you're invisible unless you're buying something. Who hasn't had that feeling on a busy Saturday during a holiday sale? Yet despite having been abandoned by his parents and living a lonely life surrounded by thousands of shoppers, young Timothy finds a way to connect with his own humanity and the spirits of the people all around him.

It's theatre of the absurd, funny and touching, and I couldn't put it down. I look forward to reading more from this imaginative writer.

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Goodreads Giveaway

10/8/2012

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Great opportunity to explore Goodreads.com (if you like reading and aren't already aware of the site). We're having a Goodreads Giveaway contest for "Civitas Island - The Birth of Hope". Check it out here...
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/34534-civitas-island---the-birth-of-hope
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Author note - Civitas Island - The Birth of Hope

9/11/2012

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Picture
This is the second novel in my "Civitas Rising" series. It's been a joy peeling back the layers of drama and political intrigue that confront the Newman family and their friend Marco Prima. 

I've been both surprised and fascinated by the evolving political dynamics in the story. What started as a narrative about finding balance in our personal priorities has uncovered a fundamental truth - that if we hope to achieve an equilibrium in our personal lives, we need to ensure the cultural and political world in which we live isn't an upside-down mess.

Even after their escape from the mainland, Rachel Newman and Marco Prima find themselves caught up in the toxic messiness of Freedom First's America, a country that sacrifices community values at the altar of corporate libertarianism. The results are a roller-coaster ride where these young lovers have to come to terms with their own personal phantoms while desperately fending off an assault on their island refuge by global cartels intent on sinking Civitas once and for all.

I hope you enjoy the read. It's a wild ride.


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You just get lucky.

9/3/2012

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            “So, how are you planning to market your new book?” a friend asked this morning.  I thought for a moment, smiled and shrugged.

            This is the primary challenge facing writers in the era of open access publishing. It’s equally true whether your book is being released by a big NY publishing house, a small press, or you are going the independent route. If you don’t have an established base of readers who follow your work, how will you connect your stories to those who would enjoy reading them?

            Most of us try the usual things, Facebook page, product website, Tweet yourself silly, blog-on, all of which is good to do but has a limited effect. So you look at what worked for the much-publicized new publishing superstars, writers like Amanda Hocking and John Locke. They were prolific, wrote well… and got lucky. Ahh - there’s the rub.

            There’s a serendipity factor in how audiences connect with new writers, which by definition is impossible to control and therefore very frustrating until it happens, at which point it becomes magical and wonderful. This isn’t new. In the old world of publishing, you got a lucky break and found the great agent or the perfect Big Six company to shepherd your work. Or someone somehow got a copy of your new book to Oprah. In the new world you load your book on Amazon and Smashwords, let everyone you’ve ever met know about it, send free copies out to bloggers and reviewers you think might be interested, cross your fingers and start outlining your next tome.

            The barriers to publishing have been smashed, Amazon is ascendant, paper is giving way to digital, the world of words is wide open. At some point new marketing avenues will emerge to provide a credible connection between writer and reader. For now all I know to do is write my best work, set it free, hope I get lucky - and start writing the next one.
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Playing Chicken with the National Debt

7/17/2011

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As the US tiptoes toward defaulting on the national debt in a ridiculous game of chicken, I find the thinking of those who see a default as a way to pressure the government to further lower taxes eerily familiar.

In VYJN, the Freedom First Party sweeps Republicans and Democrats from power and immediately begins dismantling the federal government, starting with the IRS. The promise of no federal income tax is core to their philosophy.

It isn’t difficult to see where we have come from and where we could be going. It started with “government isn’t the solution, government is the problem” in the 1980s. From there economists asserted the unproven and questionable premise that “taxes inhibit growth”, which led to “read my lips”, the no tax increase pledge, temporary tax cuts which have become more or less permanent and have significantly added to the national debt, and finally an apparent willingness to default on that debt and risk the economic stability of the country in favor of the principle of reducing taxes on the wealthiest citizens.

Is it a great leap to imagine a political party running on a program of further reducing government, eliminating income taxes altogether and releasing the unfettered power of the “free market” as a solution to the country’s economic woes? Do we really want to return to the pre-depression 1920s? Have we learned nothing from history?

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VYJN Release

7/17/2011

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The release date for "Virtually Yours, Jonathan Newman" has been set for August 3rd, 2011. There will be a launch celebration at Island Books on Mercer Island, WA at 7 pm on the 3rd. I hope to see you there!
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    Author

    Have you read any of the Civitas Rising series? Please share your thoughts about the Great Change, the impact of technology on our lives, healthcare, the role of government, and anything else the books got you thinking about.

    Thanks!

    Robert.

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