AuthorViews is pleased to introduce R. Scott Taylor, author of the supernatural crime thriller Stingy Jack.
We had the pleasure of meeting with Mr. Taylor in New Orleans at the 2008 Alternative Media Expo to talk about his book and the Irish Ghost, Jack O'Keefe (no relation to Steve) that is one of its main characters.
Because of O'Keefe's actions during his life, heaven did not want him. Having tricked the Devil twice during his life made hell equally inaccessible. Now Jack O'Keefe, a modern spin on the classic Jack O'Lantern myth, must roam the Earth in penance. It is through his eyes that 17th century Ireland is brought to the readers in the context of stories told to professional thief Adam Beesler.
Inspired by Steve O'Keefe's workshop at the Erma Bombeck Humor Writers Workshop in 2008, Time Bete press-ganged a crew, hoisted the jolly roger and set out to make a pirate video for his pirate book. Many bottles of rum and nautical miles later provided us with a cryptic map. I will not go into detail about the misadventures we had or the villains we defeated on our way to the promised treasure, but I will share the spoils of our efforts with you!
About the Author
Tim Bete (pronounced “beet”) began his nautical adventures as a child sailing on Buzzards Bay off the coast of Massachusetts. At age 10, he longed for a small cannon to put on his grandfather’s 30-foot wooden ketch—a quick, two-masted vessel that is perfect for catching other ships so you can plunder ’em. His parents scuttled the cannon idea, saying he “would terrorize other boats with it.” That’s exactly what he had in mind.
Bete's parenting advice has been published in dozens of newspapers, magazines and Web sites, including the Christian Science Monitor, Atlanta Parent, Big Apple Parent, Northwest Family, FathersWorld.com and ParentingHumor.com. His first book, In the Beginning…There Were No Diapers, was a 2006 Foreword Best Book of the Year finalist.
Bete’s hobbies include pushing his luck and skating on thin ice. In his spare time, he’s director of the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop.
About the Book
If you're like most parents, you long to raise your children as pirates but just don't know how. In "Guide to Pirate Parenting," Cap'n Billy "The Butcher" MacDougall provides everything you need to know to turn your little powder monkeys into happy, healthy buccaneers. In Guide to Pirate Parenting you'll learn: . Ten benefits of raising a pirate . At what age your child should be able to remove a bottle cap by taking out his glass eye and using his eye socket as an opener . Which offense requires administering The Flying Dutchman Wedgie . How to prevent sogging the quartermaster . The best place to maroon your disobedient child . How to remove chewing gum or a giant octopus from your child's hair . The difference between plundering and pillaging . How to convert your minivan into a pirate schooner . When to smack your teenager in the side of the head with an oar Each information-packed section ends with "Your pirate's progress," a short quiz that shows whether your child is reaching his or her pirate development milestones.
WARNING: The following post contains images and content related to crispy-on-the-outside-pink-and-juicy-on-the-inside, delicious and tender meat of all varieties, and may not be suitable for vegetarians. If you find such material offensive, please read no further.
AuthorViews is thrilled to introduce Scott Gold, author of the juicy and succulent meat guide book, The Shameless Carnivore: A Manifesto for Meat Lovers.
We met up with Gold at the 2008 Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival to talk about his gourmet debut, as well as the research, interviews and shocking taste-tests that make the book so informative, comprehensive and fun.
The Shameless Carnivore is NOT an anti-vegetarian outcry for people to kill and consume animals recklessly. Rather, it's a thoughtful, humorous and research-driven exploration of the "integrity of meat," complete with personal accounts of Gold's experiences with different types of meat, the history of hunting and meat-eating, meat recipes and more.
Was Scott Gold involved in an outrageous Vegan Conspiracy? If The Shameless Carnivore were a cut of meat, what kind of cut would it be? Find out now in this mouth-watering two-minute video. After the clip, if you're still hungry for a second helping, feel free to check out an excerpt from the book at the Random House website. Bon Appetit!
AuthorViews is proud to present two minutes with New Orleans-born author Alice Wilson-Fried, cut from her interview at the 2008 Alternative Media Expo in New Orleans.
We met up with Wilson-Fried to discuss her fiction debut, Outside Child, a wonderfully written and believable mystery set in New Orleans. The main characters, Ladonis Washington and her brother HeartTrouble, grow up in the notorious Magnolia Housing Projects of Uptown New Orleans -- where Wilson-Fried lived for most of her childhood.
Built in 1941, at its height, the Magnolia Projects housed more than 2000 people in over 1400 apartments. But by the time Hurricane Katrina flooded the area in August 2005, the Magnolia Projects were almost completely vacant. Now, almost 3 years after the storm, the city has begun to demolish the abandoned ruins.
For the past couple of decades, the Magnolia Projects were known throughout the entire country for their insanely high violent-crime and drug-use rates. According to Wilson-Fried, however, the projects weren't always like that.
In this video, Wilson-Fried talks about what the Magnolia Housing Projects were like when she was a child, before gangs, drugs and violence plagued the community. In Outside Child, Wilson-Fried takes the reader through a seemingly neglected period of New Orleans history. If you like the video, feel free to check out an excerpt from the book at Wilson-Fried's website.
AuthorViews would like to introduce cartoonist Caesar Meadows, creator of the comic strip Mumbeaux Gumbo, which appears monthly in the New Orleans magazine Where Y'at.
Growing up in New Orleans, Meadows would buy his comic books at local K&B Drug Stores, which were bought out by Rite Aid in the late 1990s. He spent a great deal of his childhood enjoying comics and ultimately taught himself how to illustrate and write his own cartoons.
In addition to Mumbeaux Gumbo, Meadows has another strip called Qomix published by Antigravity Magazine. Meadows self-publishes both strips as micro-comics -- miniature versions small enough to fit in your pocket -- and sells them in hand-made cardboard packages shaped like pyramids, robots, TV sets and microbuses.
Meadows does most of his work out of Jigsaw Junction, a quaint house in Reserve, LA, that serves as both his own personal art studio and one of Louisiana's only public libraries for comics.
In this video, Meadows discusses the role comics played in his childhood and why he chose to name his strip Mumbeaux Gumbo.
AuthorViews would like to introduce TJ Fisher, co-author of Orléans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré.
We have been trying to meet up with Fisher for a few months now, but we just can't seem to synchronize a convenient date for an interview. So unfortunately, we don't have a new video to release today.
Well, video or not, Orléans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré is an extremely worthwhile book that deserves mention.
Orléans Embrace is the perfect coffee table centerpiece, with nearly 400 beautiful photographs of the majestic gardens of the French Quarter (taken by ward-winning photographer Louis Sahuc) complimenting a passionate and galvanizing narrative about the Crescent City's struggles and triumphs since the storm.
Although Fisher was born in Florida, she is considered by those who know her as a native New Orleanian. Not only does Fisher love New Orleans -- its people, its culture and its charm -- but she has been actively involved in the post-Katrina movement to restore and rebuild this great city. In Orléans Embrace, Fisher and co-author Roy Guste do a remarkable job conveying to readers the significance of the historic French Quarter and why it must be preserved.
Also, I would like to thank Morgana Press, the New Orleans-based publisher that released Orléans Embrace, because all their proceeds from the book go directly to the preservation of the French Quarter.
