What’s New
News and updates from SOMOS:
SOMOS has received the 2012 New Mexico Literary Arts Gratitude award!
SOMOS member Mirbai Starr has recently received glowing reviews for her new book God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Starred Review, Publisher's Weekly: Religion in Review - February 29, 2012
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/book-news/religion/article/50840-religion-in-review.html
"Maybe if Starr (Dark Night of the Soul) were less of a storyteller, her style would be less invitational, but she writes about the three Abrahamic religions as a woman in love, not as a tenure-hungry prof. The result, bearing the brilliance of her surname, plaits a strong braid from the essences of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: God is love. Starr’s inter-spiritual quest (a birthright, she asserts) follows the same formula in each chapter, covering topics such as suffering, silence, and the feminine. Each begins with quotations from the three religions’ holy books and seekers; then come scenarios that define the theme in a warm second-person voice; for example, in the chapter “Welcoming the Stranger,” Starr, who teaches world religions, describes doors you open--or do not. After knowledgeable and humbling descriptions, she lays out the religions’ teachings and profiles practitioners, for example, Christianity’s Dorothy Day, Judaism’s Baal Shem Tov, and the Sufi ecstatic Rabia Al-Adawiyya. In the non-fluffy afterword, Starr nudges travelers on the three paths to follow her sure-footed approach." (Apr. 24)
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Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw was just awarded the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award for her book Same, Same but Different.
Through vivid illustrations and an inviting point-of-view, Kostecki-Shaw introduces readers to two pen pals—Elliot, who lives in America, and Kailash, who lives in India. By exchanging letters and pictures, the boys learn that they both love to climb trees, have pets and ride a school bus. Their worlds might look different, but they are actually similar. Same, same but different!
Taos resident Greg Sagemiller's new book, Walking Earth, is now available.
A new voice in Southwest mystery unites amateur archaeologists and Navajo police forces to catch looters pillaging artifacts from a pristine Anasazi cliff dwelling. The team uncovers a traitor set on bartering the artifacts for dirty bombs and intending to destroy a major Southwest power facility.
*** A RELATIONSHIP STORY between a young Navajo woman struggling to find her traditional roots while falling in deeper in love with her Anglo boyfriend.
*** A story of ARCHAEOLOGICAL LOOTING and destruction of a pristine Anasazi cliff dwelling by ruthless, profiteering thugs.
*** A novel exploring Human Migration theories from southern latitudes into the Americas…how ceremonial artifacts from 10,000 miles away on Easter Island could have traveled to the Colorado Plateau.
*** A fascinating tale of espionage, packed with deceit, double-cross, thugs and assassinations linked to a terrorist plot to destroy a major Western power facility.
*** An examination into scientific protocol for analyzing archaeological artifacts belonging to ancient civilizations.
*** And, a colorful panorama, as seen through a naturalist’s eyes, WALKING EARTH transports the reader through some of the West’s most spectacular landscape, weaving a tapestry of Navajo mythology and culture.
Wow! A South Bronx “Memoirito” about boyhood and Catholic school by David Perez, with illustrations by the cartoonist George Perez. On April 21, the Latino Books Into Movie Awards were announced at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. David's memoirito was recognized in the Comedy Category. This is the second year for these awards, which were started by the Latino Literacy Now project, a non-profit organization founded in 1997 to promote literacy, culture and education. Judges included film industry professionals: producers, directors, screenwriters, and film financiers.
"I'm delighted with the news, and who knows, maybe Wow! will grace the silver screen one day," says David. "In the meantime, please remember that Wow! is always available in print and ebook editions through Amazon. If you live in Taos, NM, you can also purchase my book at Moby Dickens."
Arcadia Publishing presents a book on Taos featuring historic photos for their Images of America series.
The Images of America series celebrates the history of neighborhoods, towns, and cities across the country.
Images of America: Taos by Lyn Bleiler
Available for sale at the SOMOS office.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to SOMOS.
New Mexico author Summer Wood follows her first novel Arroyo with Wrecker, an affecting novel about the rearing of a lovable boy, with destructive tendencies, named Wrecker. This is a story of love and family among a ragtag group living on the outskirts of society.
Bloomsbury USA is going to release the book in paperback with a new title: RAISING WRECKER. Watch for it September, 2012!
In Vocabulary of Silence, Poet Veronica Golos takes the fragments, the bits and pieces that reach us from the battlefield, and weaves them with a morality and a sorrow, to make us understand both our helplessness and our responsibility. http://veronicagolos.wordpress.com/2011/02/05/vocabulary-of-silence/
Taos resident AVIS VERMILE has entered the age of electronic publication with her just released e-book, The 23rd Psalm: in Your Own Words. She creates a context for us to make the 23rd Psalm come alive for ourselves. She shares her reflections and experiences and invites the reader to explore where these same words might take us, to see how they might illuminate our internal and external worlds. Vermilye uses her own experiences as an example of where one might go in such an exploration, and encourages the reader to do the same. Blank journal pages at the end are provided for the reader to jot notes, divine whispers, personal interpretation of the familiar psalm. The book can be downloaded from www.fum.org/shop and will soon be available on Amazon/Kindle.
