Proofreading reminder

Thanks to our friends at; eNews from the New England Historic Genealogical Society, toward the end of a good article on proofreading manuscripts:

"One thing you must prepare yourself for is that no matter how many people proofread your document, the minute you publish something you will find an error that wasn’t caught. Rare is the book or magazine that doesn’t have some type of error in it. You will also discover that many people jump to give you feedback about errors. Some will present it to you in a friendly tone to assist you. Others will come across as self-important know-it-alls who criticize others to inflate their own self-worth. Kindly thank the former, and ignore the latter. Include the important step of proofreading in your writing, and your final product will always be the best it can be."

To subscribe or view back issues of eNews, please visit www.newenglandancestors.org/publications/eNews.asp.

Happy Reading!

Dr. Bill  ;-)

See Interview by Linda Weaver Clarke

If you haven't seen it yet, please do stop by the blog of Author and Lecturer Linda Weaver Clarke to see the interview she did with me about my new book, Back to the Homeplace. You will learn some new things not previously disclosed. She is also offering a free, autographed copy of the book in her giveaway!

Happy Reading!

Dr. Bill  ;-)

It's Monday, What are You Reading? Savages & Scoundrels

It's Monday, What are You Reading?

This is the seventh entry for this meme, suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books.


I am currently reading "Savages & Scoundrels: The Untold Story of America's Road to Empire Through Indian Territory" by Paul VanDevlder

From the Book Description: Paul VanDevelder takes as his focal point the epic federal treaty ratified in 1851 at Horse Creek, formally recognizing perpetual ownership by a dozen Native American tribes of 1.1 million square miles of the American West. The astonishing and shameful story of this broken treaty—one of 371 Indian treaties signed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries—reveals a pattern of fraudulent government behavior that again and again displaced Native Americans from their lands. VanDevelder describes the path that led to the genocide of the American Indian; those who participated in it, from cowboys and common folk to aristocrats and presidents; and how the history of the immoral treatment of Indians through the twentieth century has profound social, economic, and political implications for America even today.

Early on he suggests: "It was in twelfth-century Europe that a succession of brilliant Catholic popes ... also created the laws that enabled them to send crusading armies into the Holy Lands to confiscate territory..." Well researched and documented, I am interested in seeing more of the detail that is promised.

Happy Reading!  

Bill  ;-)

Author of "Back to the Homeplace"
http://eduscapes.com/v2a/back_to_the_homeplace.html
Hope you'll check out my book giveaways:
http://drbillsbookbazaar.blogspot.com/

Book Review - Dead or Alive

Book Review - Dead or Alive

I just finished reading Dead or Alive in paperback by Michael McGarrity, the 12th in The Kevin Kerney Novel series. I've read them all, over the years. As Tony Hillerman, since deceased, is quoted on the back cover, "How good it is to follow a detective created by a man who has been there and done that." Over the years, Kerney, the lead character has held numerous New Mexico law enforcement positions, which has made the series especially interesting. He is now in semi-retirement (my description) with a wife and young son.

The Kearney family is in London, where Sara is a career Army officer on her last assignment before retirement back to their New Mexico ranch. When word reaches Kevin Kearney that his ranch manager/horse business partner has been gunned down at the ranch, it brings him back in search of a psychotic murderer with a growing appetite for blood. He is joined in the search by his half-Apache adult son, Lieutenant Clayton Istee of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department. The chase covers broad sections of northeast New Mexico and eventually brings grueling mountain treks leading to a satisfying climax.

A western setting for the police procedural murder mystery offers all any one who like this genre could ask. It reads well, being written by someone who know of what he writes... and really enjoys it! A five star recommendation.

Happy Reading! ;-)

Dr. Bill

Author of "Back to the Homeplace" - check it out:
http://eduscapes.com/v2a/back_to_the_homeplace.html

It's Monday, What are You Reading? Dead or Alive

It's Monday, What are You Reading? Dead or Alive

This is my sixth entry for this meme, suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books.

I am now reading Dead or Alive in paperback by Michael McGarrity, the 12th in The Kevin Kerney Novel series. I've read them all, over the years. As Tony Hillerman, since deceased, is quoted on the back cover, "How good it is to follow a detective created by a man who has been there and done that." Over the years, Kerney, the lead character has held numerous New Mexico law enforcement positions, which has made the series especially interesting. He is now in semi-retirement (my description) with a wife and child. A tragedy that occurs on his ranch while he is away, brings him back in search of a thrill killer... what more could you ask of a police procedural/murder mystery!  ;-)

Happy Reading! ;-)

Dr. Bill

Author of "Back to the Homeplace" - check it out:
http://eduscapes.com/v2a/back_to_the_homeplace.html

Book Review - U. S. Grant by Joan Waugh

 Book Review

U. S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth 

by Joan Waugh

I finished reading U. S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth by Joan Waugh, and I am glad I did read the whole thing. April 27 will be the 188th anniversary of the birth of Ulysses S. Grant in a small town in Ohio. For many years after this death in 1885, April 27 was celebrated as Grant Day by many across the country and around the world signifying the high esteem in which he was held for many years following his service in the Civil War and as a two-term President of the United States. Many saw Washington, Lincoln and Grant as "Father, Savior, Defender." During the twentieth-century, this assessment changed dramatically for many reasons. This book is a serious effort to set the record straight - laying our the history as it occurred, the good and the not-so-good - and how "history" has been recorded differently during subsequent periods of our national existence.

Among other things, this book is a Main Selection of the History Book Club, and a Selection of the Military Book Club and the Book-of-the-Month Club. I have been waiting for a new "unbiased" book on Grant for some time. I have found it in Waugh's book. The first third of the book is a nice summary of his life, including the war and his presidency. The last two thirds is a thorough analysis, based on review of primary source materials, of how Grant has been treated by history, historians and the media since that time. The controversy surrounding the building of Grant's Tomb/Memorial in New York City is used as platform to examine the events of the latter years of the nineteenth century as they considered the events surrounding the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the roles of white southerners, former slaves and veterans of both the Union and Confederate armies as they approached old age.


I give this book a strong positive recommendation for anyone willing to read objectively about the last 150 years of our U. S. history as we approach the Civil War Sesquicentennial next year!



Happy Reading! ;-)

Dr. Bill

http://eduscapes.com/v2a/back_to_the_homeplace.html

Book Giveaway - Moonlight Falls

Book Giveaway - Moonlight Falls by Vincent Zandri

Our Book Giveaway for the second half of April is Moonlight Falls by Vincent Zandri; I won this copy in a contest with Molly Edwards at Book Reviews by Buuklvr81 back in March.

I am pleased to pass this copy along to one lucky winner here.

About the novel, from the publisher:
In MOONLIGHT FALLS, novelist and photojournalist Vincent Zandri asks the question "If you knew your life could end at any moment, how far would you go t prove you murdered your lover?"
Albany, New York, is the setting of Zandri's paranoid thriller (in the Hitchcock tradition) about Richard "Dick" Moolight, former APD detective turned private investigator/message therapist, who believes he killed Scarlet Montana, his illicit lover and wife of his ex-boss Chief of Detectives Jake Montana. The dilemma... Moonlight doesn't remember what happened!

My comment: Read Molly's excellent discussion of this book from the blog tour! Enjoy!

If you would like to win this copy for your own, here are the simple rules:

1) Comment here that you want to be entered.

2) Leave a valid email address in your comment (I need a way to contact you! No email address, no entry!)

3) For an extra entry, Follow my blog. If you already follow my blog, just mention that in your comment.

4) US residents only.

5) If you blog about the giveaway on your blog, you get 5 extra entries! Include your blog address, so I can see it. Thanks!

All entries must be submitted by April 30, midnight, cst. I will contact the winner by email. If I don't get a response within 3 days, another winner will be chosen. The winner will be announced on this site, when determined.

All winners are picked by Random.org List Randomizer.

Happy Reading!

Bill  ;-)

Author of "Back to the Homeplace"
http://thehomeplaceseries.blogspot.com/

Winner of the Back to the Homeplace Book Giveaway 1

The winner of the Back to the Homeplace Book Giveaway, picked by Random.org List Randomizer was:

Natalie W from The Book Inn

If  you missed out on the Giveaway, order your copy today:

Check in tomorrow for a new Book Giveaway for the second half of April.

Happy Reading!

Bill  ;-)

Author of "Back to the Homeplace"
http://thehomeplaceseries.blogspot.com/

It's Monday, What are You Reading? U. S. Grant

It's Monday, What are You Reading? U. S. Grant

This is my fifth entry for this meme, suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books.

I am now reading U. S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth by Joan Waugh. Among other things, this book is a Main Selection of the History Book Club, and a Selection of the Military Book Club and the Book-of-the-Month Club. I have been waiting for a new "unbiased" book on Grant for some time. I believe I have found it in Waugh's book. The first third of the book is a nice summary of his life, including the war and his presidency. The last two thirds, that I am just getting into is a thorough analysis, based on review of primary source materials, of how Grant has been treated by history, historians and the media since that time. I really like what I have seen so far....


Happy Reading! ;-)

Dr. Bill

http://eduscapes.com/v2a/back_to_the_homeplace.html

Latest Promotions - Check them out!

Check out "movies in My brain" - a neat promotion!  ;-)

And don't miss our own giveaway -

http://drbillsbookbazaar.blogspot.com/2010/03/book-giveaway-back-to-homeplace.html
http://thehomeplaceseries.blogspot.com/

Stop by at: http://thehomeplaceseries.blogspot.com/2010/04/research-for-homeplace-revisted-dog.html
and help me name a dog - OK??  ;-) Win a book, or two!  ;-)

...and video book trailer:
http://eduscapes.com/v2a/back_to_the_homeplace.html

Happy Reading!

Bill ;-)

Author of "Back to the Homeplace"
http://thehomeplaceseries.blogspot.com/