New Bern, North Carolina, is a pretty little town set on the confluence of the Trent and Neuse Rivers. It’s full of history, such as being the First Colonial Capital, complete with a mansion, and later the site of an important Civil War battle . It is also full of artists who either write stories, or draw and paint, or create beautiful music. So, I thought I would introduce you to some local authors.
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The first author, Laura Beth, lives on a boat on the Trent River during late spring, summer and early fall. After that she and her husband sail to Florida. She publishes her books through CreateSpace.
She writes “magical mysteries,” about young cousins in a family that has ancestral ties to Native Americans who used to roam the land. The first story, 2 Girls, 2 Cats, A Magical Mystery, introduces the reader to the characters in the stories. Lacey is living in her grandparents’ farmhouse that is next door to her great-grandparents’ house. When she notices lights appearing late at night in the older, supposedly deserted, house, she gets in younger cousin, Jillie, to help her investigate. Turns out the girls’ long lost uncle Jake was never really lost, he just lives in a different time period and now he comes back to feed a magical cat who has a litter of magical kittens when the farm is in danger. Lacey and Jillie each inherit one of the cat’s kittens. The saga continues in Lacey and her Tigers, Jillie and Her Sassy Cat, Graduation Summer, and the latest book, Nadia’s Sweet Tea, which is about a younger cousin who is given another magical kitten. The stories are enjoyable reads with good messages about protecting our land and honoring Native American input into our heritage. But Laura Beth used “CreateSpace” to publish her books and quite obviously didn’t hire a professional editor before publication. I say this because of the egregious grammatical and spelling errors in her books. Such lack of attention to such details is what gives Self-Publishing a bad name. For instance, in the last book, the family ends up owning a magical horse and when Laura Beth tells us that one of the girls is stopping the horse, rather than writing rein in, she writes reign in. Still, if you like magical stuff and horses and land preservation and Native American history, the books are fun reads.
BIBLIO: 2014 (org. 2010,) Ages 10 +, $?.
REVIEWER: Sarah Maury Swan
FORMAT: Young Adult, New Adult
ISBN: 1499760728
ISBN: 978-1499760729
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Tom Lewis, the second author’s widow is selling his books, because what else is she going to do with them. These books are all set in real places around Eastern North Carolina. Other books of his are My King the President, Lucifer’s Children, The Pea Island Trilogy, 50 Years to Midnight, Short Tales and Tall, and Chains.
Zena’s Law
Tom Lewis
This is a well written novel about a registered nurse in her 30s who moves with her daughter to Tryon’s Cove to be the nurse for a young doctor. It’s part romance and part mystery, with plenty of intrigue and evil characters running around. But there are good characters, including her boss and fiancé, Jim O’Brien. The book also includes sexual predators and plans for revenge. The main character, Zena Carraway, is believable and likeable and the story flows nicely. Once I find out how to get to Tryon’s Cove, I think I’ll wander over to take a look around. Mr. Lewis published all his books here in New Bern at McBryde Publishing. He uses good imagery throughout the book. The story starts at Zena’ trial for the murder of the local bigshot who raped her. She watches as “Judge Booker Taliaferro Washington Freeman clumped in like a black-draped Clydesdale…
‘Be seated,’ Judge Freeman’s gavel fell once, dropping Zena back down into her chair like a clubbed seal…” This is the only book of his I’ve read, but I would be happy to read more.
BIBLIO: 2009, McBryde Publishing, Ages 21 +, $10.
REVIEWER: Sarah Maury Swan
FORMAT: Adult
ISBN: 978-0-9758700-8-2
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The third author, Sam Love, is well known for his poetry, but is now branching out into fiction. He wrote a picture book about the damage plastic bags do to our planet and to us. The book of poems I have is entitled Converging Waters and is collection of humorously philosophical poems, most them only one stanza long.
My Little Plastic Bag
Sam Love
Illustrated by Samrae Duke
Young Amy throws a plastic bag out of the car window without a thought to where it will end up. But we follow its journey. After Amy lets go of it, the bag settles in the roadside grass. A few days later the mower comes by and chops the bag into little pieces. When the rain comes, the pieces of plastic are washed into a roadside ditch. From there, the plastic flows into a stream where it is washed into a tidal marsh. Eventually the plastic reaches the ocean, where it is further degraded until it is tiny enough for a small fish to find appetizing, mistaking it for some of the fish’s natural food. A bigger fish eats the smaller fish and the chemicals in the plastic are concentrated in the bigger fish’s stomach, possibly making it sick. The big fish is caught by a fisherman who sells it to the fish market in Amy’s town where Amy’s family buys it for supper. They take the fish home in a new plastic bag. There is a discussion section at the back of the book which teacher will find helpful.
BIBLIO: 2016, Sam Love sam@samlove.net, Ages 7 to 10, $?.
REVIEWER: Sarah Maury Swan
FORMAT: Picture Book
ISBN: 1534622640
ISBN: 978-1534622647
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There are many more local authors, so I’ll let you know about them at a later date. Sarah
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