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11.15.15 New series focuses on women in Texas history
Texas A&M University Press has announced a new book series, Women in Texas History, sponsored by the Ruthe Winegarten Memorial Foundation.
“Books in the series,” write editors Nancy Baker Jones and Cynthia Beeman, “will focus on individual lives, events, and eras, as well as aspects of gender, race, class, and culture.”
The first book in the series is a biography, Allie Victoria Tennant and the Visual Arts in Dallas by Austin College history professor Light Townsend Cummins ($35 hardcover).
Tennant (1892–1971), Cummins notes, was “one of the best-known sculptors in Texas during her lifetime,” especially for the “Tejas Warrior” sculpture in Dallas’s Fair Park. “Her historical importance,” he adds, “stemmed not only from her art but also from her contributions to the development of cultural life in Dallas.”
And, he adds, she “played an important role in improving the status of women in Texas” from the 1920s to the 1960s.
As part of the Women in Texas History series, two previously published books are being reissued in new paperback editions this fall:
A Texas Suffragist: Diaries and Writings of Jane Y. McCallum (1878–1957), edited by Janet G. Humphrey ($22.95)
Citizen at Last: The Woman Suffrage Movement in Texas, edited by Ruthe Winegarten and Judith N. McArthur ($24.95)
Read more about all three titles on the A&M Press webstie, www.tamupress.com.
Legendary Texas Ranger: “I’m Frank Hamer”: The Life of a Texas Peace Officer by John H. Jenkins and Gordon Frost, originally published in 1968, has been reissued in a new paperback edition by State House Press ($24.95).
The 264 page biography includes about 75 pages of old photos, including more than 30 pages from the Clyde Barrow–Bonnie Parker case, for which Hamer would become best known.
“It will be a long time,” someone wrote after Hamer’s death, “before another officer as picturesque and as blunt, as stubborn and as fearless, will pass this way again.” Hamer “participated in probably more gunfights than any other Ranger of his times,” wrote longtime Department of Public Safety Director Homer Garrison, “was wounded 17 times, left for dead four times, and never once backed away from a fight.”
Texas ABC: I Love Texas: An ABC Adventure by author/artist/entrepreneur Sandra Magsamen (Sourcebooks, $12.99 hardcover) isn’t written by a Texan, but she’s on target with her clever rhyming text and appealing illustrations about armadillos, bluebonnets, cowboys, dude ranches, El Paso, football, Galveston, and so on.
“W is for West Texas, the birthplace of cowboy hats and boots,” she writes, while “X is for XOXO because we love having Texas roots.”
* * * * *
Glenn Dromgoole, is co-author, with Carlton Stowers, of 101 Essential Texas Books. Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.
>> Check out his previous Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Lit
Books received, Nov. 15
The following books have been received in the Lone Star Literary Life offices from the publishers during October and November:
Nonfiction
Aptowicz, Christin O'Keefe
Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine
Gotham Books
Paperback, 978-1-592-40925-0, 378 pages, $17.00
September 1, 2015
Texas history
Bailey, Chuck, with historical text by Patrick Cox and introduction by John Anderson
Picturing Texas Politics: A Photographic History from Sam Houston to Rick Perry
University of Texas Press
Hardcover, 978-1-4773-0254-5, 240 pgs., 268 b/w photos, $45.00
October 1, 2015
Historical fiction
Burke, James Lee
House of the Rising Sun
Simon & Schuster
Hardcover, 978-1-5011-0710-8, 438 pages, $27.99
December 1, 2015
Science fiction
Cline, Ernest
Armada
Crown
Hardcover, 978-0-8041-3725-6, 368 pages, $26.00
July 14, 2015
Poetry
Dameron, Chip
Waiting for an Etcher
Lamar University Press
Paperback, 978-0-9915321-8-6, 112 pages, $15.00
February 25, 2015
Fiction
Davis, Rod
South, America: A Jack Prine Novel
New South Books
Paperback, 978-1-60306-315-9, 258 pages, $24.95
October 1, 2014
Fiction
DeCarlo, Melissa
The Art of Crash Landing: A Novel
Harper
Paperback, 978-0-06-239054-7, 415 pages, $15.99
Sept. 8, 2015
Fiction
Farrar, Diana Finfrock
The Door of the Heart
AuthorHouse
Paperback, 978-1-4918-7124-9
July 1, 2014
420 pages
$18.99
Fiction
Flores, Carlos Nicolás
Sex As a Political Condition: A Border Novel
Texas Tech University Press
Paperback, 978-0-896729308, 406 pages, $34.95
July 1, 2015
Music history
Garrett, Danny
Weird Yet Strange: Notes from an Austin Music Artist
Texas Christian University Press
Paperback with flaps, 978-0-87565-616-8, 240 pgs., 40 color images, $29.95
October 1, 2015
Essays
Griffin, Connie, ed.
Crooked Letter i: Coming Out in the South
New South Books
Paperback with flaps, 978-1-58838-313-6, 208 pages, $25.95
September 1, 2015
Fiction
Hoover, Colleen
November Nine
Atria
Paperback, 978-1-5011-1034-4, 320 pages, $16.00
November 10, 2015
Paranormal YA fiction
Hunter, C. C.
Unspoken (Shadow Falls: After Dark Series)
St. Martin's Griffin
Paperback, 978-1-250-06709-8, 412 pages, $9.99
October 1, 2015
Historical fiction
Kerr, John C.
The Silent Shore of Memory: A Novel
Texas Christian University Press
Paperback, 978-0-87565-619-9, 312 pages, $22.95
Nov. 25, 2015
Mystery
Lenhardt, Melissa
Stillwater: A Jack McBride Mystery
Skyhorse Publishing
Hardcover, 978-1-63450-226-9, 304 pages, $24.99
October 6, 2015
Thriller
Mabry, Richard L., M.D.
Miracle Drug
Abingdon Press
Paperback, 978-1-6308-8188-4, 296 pages, $14.99
October 1, 2015
History
McComb, David
The City in Texas: A History
University of Texas Press
Hardcover, 978-0-292-76746-1, 350 pages, $35.00
July 1, 2015
Historical fiction
Perez, Ashley Hope
Out of Darkness
Carolrhoda LAB
Hardcover, 978-1-4677-4202-3, 400 pages, $18.99
September 1, 2015
Women's history
Porter, Amy M.
Their Lives, Their Wills: Women in the Borderlands, 1950–1846
Texas Tech University Press
Paperback, 978-0-89672-932-2, 256 pages, $39.95
June 1, 2015
Memoir
Riley, Reba
Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome
Howard Books
Hardcover, 978-1-5011-2403-7, 358 pages, $24.99
October 1, 2015
Fiction
Sandlin, Lisa
The Do-Right
Cinco Puntos Press
Paperback, 978-1-941026-19-9 (ebook also available), 322 pages, $16.95
October 1, 2015
Fiction
Shuler, Linda Lucretia
Hidden Shadows
Twilight Times
Paperback, 978-1-60619-009-8, 376 pages, $19.95
December 25, 2015
Texas cooking
Vick, Frances Brannen, ed.
Tales of Texas Cooking: Stories and Recipes from the Trans-Pecos to the Piney Woods and High Plains to the Gulf Prairies
University of North Texas Press
Hardcover, 978-1-57441-618-3, 352 pgs.; 60 b/w illus.; notes; index; $34.95
December 1, 2015
Contemporary romance
Wade, Becky
A Love Like Ours: A Novel
Bethany House
Paperback, 978-0-7642-1109-6, 368 pages, $13.99
May 1, 2015
YA mystery
Winn, Catherine A.
Beyond Suspicion
Poisoned Pencil
Paperback, 978-1929345106, 230 page, $10.95
Historical romance
Witemeyer, Karen
A Worthy Pursuit
Bethany House
Paperback, 978-0-7642-1280-2, 352 pages, $14.99
June 1, 2015
Romance, humor
Witemeyer, Karen; Connealy, Mary; Jennings, Regina; Jaegers, Melissa
With This Ring?: A Novella Collection of Proposals Gone Awry
Bethany House
Paperback, 978-0-7642-1772-2, 368 pages, $14.99
January 1, 2016
Texas sports
Yousse, Bower, and Thomas J. Cryan
Freddie Steinmark: Faith, Family, Football
University of Texas Press
Hardcover, 978-1-4773-0821-9, 266 pages, $24.95
September 1, 2015
Spiegel & Grau
Hardcover, 978-0-8129-9345-5 (also available as audiobook, as ebook, and on audio CD), 304 pgs., $26.00
May 26, 2015
“I’m not white, but I can feel the eyes of the few people outside on me, people who must think that I am, because I look white….This disconnect in my racial projection is one of the things I hate.… My mother was black — that counts, no matter how pale and Irish my father was.”
Warren Duffy’s father has died, and Warren returns to Philadelphia from Wales, leaving a failed comics shop, career, and marriage behind, to settle his father’s estate. Broke, Warren appears at a local comic convention with his illustrations, maybe to sell a book or two. Instead Warren discovers that a youthful fling with a Jewish white girl has bequeathed him a seventeen-year-old daughter, Tal. She moves in with Warren and while searching for a new school the pair discover the Mélange Center for Multiracial Life, which turns out to be a sort of biracial commune for “inclusion of all perspectives of the…mixed-race experience.” Is this the answer to Warren’s search for home? >> READ MORE
Cinco Puntos Press
Paperback, 978-1-941026-19-9 (also available as ebook), 306 pgs., $16.95
October 13, 2015
The Do-Right (an old Southern term for prison) is Lisa Sandlin’s first mystery novel. Set in Beaumont, Texas, in 1973, it joins the growing subgenre of Gulf Coast Noir. Delpha Wade, returning to Beaumont after fourteen years in the women’s prison at Gatesville for killing one of the men who raped her on a dance-hall floor, needs a job as a condition of parole. Tom Phelan is a Vietnam veteran opening his practice as a private investigator. Wade has a business course certificate from Gatesville. Phelan needs a secretary and takes a chance on Wade. Together they ferret out unfaithful husbands, missing persons, industrial espionage, and a serial killer. The Do-Right is a satisfying and entertaining contribution to classic noir.
Texas Books Make Great Gifts SHOP NOW!
INSIDE: Holiday GIFT GUIDE 2015
Looking for the perfect present for the Texas book lover in your life? We have armloads of ideas—from inspiration, romance to history and popular culture. Books make great gifts—especially Texas books! >>SHOP NOW
LONE STAR LISTENS interviews >> archive
Novelist Carolyn Brown's
Diamond Award —and diamond year
New York Times and USA Today bestselling romance author and RITA finalist Carolyn Brown has won the National Reader's Choice Award twice, the Bookseller's Best Award, and the Diamond Award from Montlake, the Amazon romance imprint, for selling one million books. In her 18-year publishing career this great-grandmother has published seventy-five books—all capturing the humor and sassiness of small-town life in delightfully fictional places like Cadillac, Texas. We caught up with her via email last week, and she shared her publishing story with us.
LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE: What made you want to become a writer, Carolyn?
CAROLYN BROWN: I love stories, reading them and telling them; touching people’s emotions and their lives.
How did you get your first break as a novelist?
I had enough rejection slips to wallpaper the entire White House, and I mean the one on Pennsylvania Avenue, not that little two-holer down at the end of the backyard. I’d almost given up when I decided to try “one more time” and sent two proposals to Kensington in 1997. They asked to see the full manuscripts, so I sent them. A few weeks later I got “the call” and the editor there said that she wanted to buy them both. Yes, there was squealing and tears. >>READ MORE
HOUSTON Mon., Nov. 16, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Christopher Rothko about his new book, Mark Rothko: From the Inside Out, 6:30PM
Museum of Fine Arts Houston - Brown Auditorium, Conversations with the Director: MFAH Director Gary Tinterow talks with Christopher Rothko about his new book, Mark Rothko: From the Inside Out, 6:30PM
AUSTIN Wed., Nov. 18, BookWoman, Susan Morrison reading and signing Grendel's Mother: The Saga of the Wyrd-Wife, 7PM
BookWoman, Susan Morrison reading and signing Grendel's Mother: The Saga of the Wyrd-Wife, 7PM
DALLAS Wed., Nov. 18, The Wild Detectives, Edward Carey presents Lungdon: Iremonger Book 3, 7:30PM
The Wild Detectives, Edward Carey presents Lungdon: Iremonger Book 3, 7:30PM
AUSTIN Thurs, Nov. 19, Michener Center for Writers at UT at Austin presents a reading by novelist and short story writer T. C. Boyle, 7:30PM
Avaya Auditorium, Michener Center for Writers at The University of Texas at Austin presents a reading by novelist and short story writer T. C. Boyle, 7:30PM
FORT WORTH Thurs., Nov. 19, Fort Worth Public Library - Southwest Regional, Wordslingers presents Craig Johnson, author of the Longmire series, 6:30PM
Fort Worth Public Library - Southwest Regional, Wordslingers presents Craig Johnson, author of the Longmire series, 6:30PM
DALLAS Fri, Nov. 20, Frontiers of Flight Museum, David McCullough presents The Wright Brothers, 12PM
SAN ANTONIO Fri., Nov. 20, The Twig Book Shop, Nancy West reads and signs Smart But Dead: An Aggie Mundeen Mystery, 6PM
Allende, Meacham, Benson at ticketed events this week at Austin’s BookPeople
Many new books of Texas interest are out this month—and authors of several of them will make tour stops at BookPeople this week. Tickets for these high-demand events are available in the store, 603 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin, 78703, (512) 472-5050, or at www.bookpeople.com. >>READ MORE
Texas turns out for Novel Writing Month
National Novel Writing Month continues through Nov. 30
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing.
On November 1, participants began working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.
More than 20 Texas groups, and tens of thousands of Texas participants, have registered on the organization's website for 2015. >>READ MORE
Writers’ League of Texas offers
group write-ins throughout November
This November, in partnership with Austin Community College's Creative Writing Department, the Writers’ League of Texas will again offer an opportunity for Austin-area writers to come together and enjoy a group write-in experience throughout the month.
Whether you are doing NaNoWriMo or just need a kick in the pants to finally finish that draft, this is the opportunity for you. One ticket for $25 gets you admittance to all write-in sessions. Come to as many as you need and stay as long as you can. There are 15 different sessions at three different locations. >>READ MORE
Sachse Public Library continues NaNoWriMo with sessions for local authors
That recurring dream of walking across the stage and accepting the National Book Award for the novel you wrote in just one month could actually happen, says Sachse Library manger Mignon Morse. “It’s possible,” she said. “There just may be that exceptional writer out there.”
The Sachse Public Library is participating in the National Novel Writing Month campaign, providing support, guidance, inspiration, and motivation to local writers and non-writers who participate in the unique program. The month-long campaign, known as NaNoWriMo, encourages would-be novelists to start writing their novel on Nov. 1 and complete their 50,000 words manuscript by midnight, Nov. 30. >>READ MORE
Houston Writers Guild launches Kickstarter with Dec. 3 goal
The Houston Writers Guild has launched a Kickstarter campagin to support establishment of the HWG Press, an internal publishing press that works to bring undiscovered authors' works to the public.
Thr group hopes to reach its fundraising goal to provide the opportunity to produce a series of genre and theme-bases anthologies to be published biannually. These funds will not only finance the production of these books, but also assist in the promotion and marketing needed to publicize these authors' contributions while promoting literacy.
The guild hopes to reach its $2,000 goal by Dec. 3, 2015. Learn more at
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1619951127/hwg-press-waves-series
The Houston Writers Guild is a community of writers of all skill levels striving to improve their craft and career through education, workshops, conferences and webinars. www.houstonwritersguild.org
(From organization's press release)
Christian romance novelist 
Becky Wade on her approach to fiction
Becky Wade, Dallas-based inspirational novelist with Bethany House, discusses her path to publishing—and advice to writers. Wade is the Carol Award, INSPY Award, and Inspirational Reader's Choice Award winning author of contemporary Christian romances My Stubborn Heart, Undeniably Yours, Meant to Be Mine, and A Love Like Ours as well as Love Is in the Details and The Proposal, out fall 2015. >> LISTEN NOW (mp3)
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NOW ON TOUR: FICTION
Wyoming Rugged
by Diana Palmer
VISIT WITH DIANA THROUGH NOV. 20
Nov. 16 The Crazy Booksellers Author Interview
Nov. 18 Blogging for the Love of Authors and Their Books promo
Nov. 20 My Book Fix review
Nov. 23 Missus Gonzo review
Nov. 25 Texas Book-aholic review
Nov. 27 Secret Asian Girl review
Nov. 27 Bookishjessp promo
Nov. 30 Book Crazy Gals review
NOW ON TOUR: FICTION
Freed to Forgive
by Julie B. Cosgrove
VISIT WITH JULIE THROUGH NOV. 20
Nov. 15 - Books and Broomsticks
Nov. 16 - Hall Ways
Nov. 17 - Because This is My Life Y’all
Nov. 18 - Texas Book-aholic
Nov. 19 - Blogging for the Love of Authors and Their Books
Nov. 20 - Book Crazy Gals
CONTINUING ON TOUR: FICTION
A Cold Creek Christmas
by RaeAnne Thayne
VISIT WITH RAEANNE THROUGH NOV. 23
Nov. 16 Texas Book-aholic review
Nov. 18 Because This is My Life, Y’all review
Nov. 20 Novel Reality author interview
Nov. 23 Blogging for the Love of Authors and Their Books review
RECENTLY ON TOUR: FICTION
North Beach by Miles Arceneaux
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