tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709437616128185642024-03-12T18:27:00.517-07:00Ryan Petty, AuthorUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670943761612818564.post-34990430138595999932023-11-10T06:01:00.019-08:002023-11-10T06:49:46.194-08:00<h1 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h1><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid1pcfiGCYR-gdHCcGgR_moiP4KTnIUYpKeBjtJFXEzZ4aNPmwDyoUktWFDDRFrkqoyw102aUMSV76bFveGbyJSQxiFlWfeqdFTxdsOEOH7tzTiUkayxJesDAYqbrrE-o6n4Ijjuq4LI6Y1m9VlkIovvquDr-uJXgF3t0fEf-umRp9VkIqn7qxUazXDJGt/s640/Elves%20ad%20w%20Mary%20Lanni%20review%20quote.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid1pcfiGCYR-gdHCcGgR_moiP4KTnIUYpKeBjtJFXEzZ4aNPmwDyoUktWFDDRFrkqoyw102aUMSV76bFveGbyJSQxiFlWfeqdFTxdsOEOH7tzTiUkayxJesDAYqbrrE-o6n4Ijjuq4LI6Y1m9VlkIovvquDr-uJXgF3t0fEf-umRp9VkIqn7qxUazXDJGt/w588-h351/Elves%20ad%20w%20Mary%20Lanni%20review%20quote.png" width="588" /></a></div><h1 style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01;"> </span></span></h1><h1 style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #660000;">New Picture Book from Provision House </span></h1><h1 style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: #660000;">Engages Critical Thinking Skills</span></h1></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht0YAmXENr4suUnvD8K6r6WQe_jqHUn5ibSmkJe1c-qBreqM4z6024icR5MxcR5TFM0rz65UYHlIImctpgU8PFrOJSB33VkrOS4H0hihxLkovDkkMfDpLkAfBSbFi-dY-5wvN7KK0i_EqjXk2ulpH8S5IG_ztyT2cI9TzN1DgVr0SzwFUl0ZAjcroPQO5v/s1391/Page%201.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1391" data-original-width="1211" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht0YAmXENr4suUnvD8K6r6WQe_jqHUn5ibSmkJe1c-qBreqM4z6024icR5MxcR5TFM0rz65UYHlIImctpgU8PFrOJSB33VkrOS4H0hihxLkovDkkMfDpLkAfBSbFi-dY-5wvN7KK0i_EqjXk2ulpH8S5IG_ztyT2cI9TzN1DgVr0SzwFUl0ZAjcroPQO5v/w330-h378/Page%201.JPG" width="330" /></a></div><i><br /></i></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Elves in the Böökhouse</i></b> is a puzzle of a children’s picture book.... written by Ryan Petty with illustrations by Vera Kulikov... is about a group of Elves who take over a curbside library (aka a böökhouse) — or do they? Are they there, at all? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Do the Elves exist, in fact?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>[Note the grappling hook at the roof peak and the rope hanging down across the </span><span>böökhouse window</span><span>. Not to mention the glow of firelight inside.]</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiF4lQ6yOBsnj93eGVxaKh120db71M8U9gGnQ23KNsKNigsSXhmH0Kr5lTefdWP5s6sIlZKh2kP8sySR2xPTLWgpceI0FT6pd9DObrm-Ky5uTeVhyphenhyphenwp0RfjM0v-3nb0cTo8gRhaMKXBtcyLHTbl7CGzkeaoCdPmf0d7VNIdbzrTQ_-X7mn8bHqrntb_Iw/s936/Page%2017.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="936" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiF4lQ6yOBsnj93eGVxaKh120db71M8U9gGnQ23KNsKNigsSXhmH0Kr5lTefdWP5s6sIlZKh2kP8sySR2xPTLWgpceI0FT6pd9DObrm-Ky5uTeVhyphenhyphenwp0RfjM0v-3nb0cTo8gRhaMKXBtcyLHTbl7CGzkeaoCdPmf0d7VNIdbzrTQ_-X7mn8bHqrntb_Iw/w437-h328/Page%2017.png" width="437" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No Elf is ever seen and the question of whether the Elves exist or not... becomes something a little girl named Raye (aka the heroine) and Tummy (her cat)... don’t quite see eye-to-eye about. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6cN5zxLsuUt4C0NgOsqK1QvphRZZtCk2jiheQdUCFKNnN9ZHTmNW8DlPvFek4_2LwoeAb9OhgEqxJEtBO5ZmAooiw7A6Z0gBuILtvYHNhjTNeII_UAa3o9iUSZKVFT8ii54Ibzhx2_WztXWR5r0CMrLTN2JhBgQ6xHjKt4WdECTiByLbSF3Yb2Cscglj/s1080/Page%2014.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="1080" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6cN5zxLsuUt4C0NgOsqK1QvphRZZtCk2jiheQdUCFKNnN9ZHTmNW8DlPvFek4_2LwoeAb9OhgEqxJEtBO5ZmAooiw7A6Z0gBuILtvYHNhjTNeII_UAa3o9iUSZKVFT8ii54Ibzhx2_WztXWR5r0CMrLTN2JhBgQ6xHjKt4WdECTiByLbSF3Yb2Cscglj/w426-h422/Page%2014.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;">They have no choice but to decide for themselves each day as they refresh the stock of books on the library's shelves — replacing those the neighborhood children borrow. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidO36HWwSVFFrQIu-7gcKJ4y1yt0jqnBrl2y9lxVQL8Sp3pkCyaFFDk75Y2RV1NVDOK5oWZHPDiB5uBoc-_GCPTxii47HHpz3ahenvy7mBEtUFDbBxxW67qxvK9uOgiqY7cJoPtUjSlT4of6AAUqljTsUsVHo3SeVRzUjsp-7phIFOvdS-HBcZH3AzDATs/s4044/Page%2019.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4044" data-original-width="3871" height="465" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidO36HWwSVFFrQIu-7gcKJ4y1yt0jqnBrl2y9lxVQL8Sp3pkCyaFFDk75Y2RV1NVDOK5oWZHPDiB5uBoc-_GCPTxii47HHpz3ahenvy7mBEtUFDbBxxW67qxvK9uOgiqY7cJoPtUjSlT4of6AAUqljTsUsVHo3SeVRzUjsp-7phIFOvdS-HBcZH3AzDATs/w444-h465/Page%2019.JPG" width="444" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Clues are evident — but how should they be interpreted? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And with what consequences? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnKX7oprwUHhineQCuRUAYsYeHzXiM3vw0VI2usgM38JGSUXmhAMT0fbKQzyt5AUY7XzIB8TjTcpyuh1W8ZqS7DhX0gj0Vm3nD4K6_7j0NSM2nkBA3XhfO81BgDfkNMagdhDViHVaD86oSTvbECTUOdscqGYRl7zQFHLD0eOwYbiH5c3JRe3Vv6t9e4X0C/s1117/Page%206.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1117" data-original-width="1051" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnKX7oprwUHhineQCuRUAYsYeHzXiM3vw0VI2usgM38JGSUXmhAMT0fbKQzyt5AUY7XzIB8TjTcpyuh1W8ZqS7DhX0gj0Vm3nD4K6_7j0NSM2nkBA3XhfO81BgDfkNMagdhDViHVaD86oSTvbECTUOdscqGYRl7zQFHLD0eOwYbiH5c3JRe3Vv6t9e4X0C/w392-h417/Page%206.JPG" width="392" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>The children you get to read to will, likewise, have to make their own decisions. As the story ends, be sure to ask what they think and why. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It’s the best part of the book — no lie.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span><a name='more'></a></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLglcKrFBaQHcpVAmJ7AkcN4JmLynbJw28AGwqVpfOwJtOoOWbef4FANO2MqtkAUWKtI810GHmwav1_vsoy6XRsS0T9LATLidLQUDt_ps3k9PDRGRmIjXS-i6SLJ1vOJkrEq0-qly45JOZa0g8N2Ck8UBj146Ys_lfPrKg672As0ZzdSzZ7cE9zFSCP25D/s522/Ryan%20&%20John%20&%20Guerilla%20Picture1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="391" height="529" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLglcKrFBaQHcpVAmJ7AkcN4JmLynbJw28AGwqVpfOwJtOoOWbef4FANO2MqtkAUWKtI810GHmwav1_vsoy6XRsS0T9LATLidLQUDt_ps3k9PDRGRmIjXS-i6SLJ1vOJkrEq0-qly45JOZa0g8N2Ck8UBj146Ys_lfPrKg672As0ZzdSzZ7cE9zFSCP25D/w397-h529/Ryan%20&%20John%20&%20Guerilla%20Picture1.png" width="397" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">The author with his grandson</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">and a friend they met at the zoo.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Below <span style="font-family: Times; text-align: left;">—</span> Elf </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">gear </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">discovered in the </span><span style="text-align: left;">böökhouse.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: left;">You can, too.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_Vp3Gav9TqL80Fozv_W0CCZqQ8L4fbU5ji78Eokf9Rzc1bovi7BCg08pq6rPqYRN2CJwt5PM_j4i6fw71_GOe2tGzBho5XhbTUOiO6kqpF3uJdKuT0bCH-73sTQOXIgPSb4w2eWjav9eM7wSqNgXplfOUlAPXM6LJ3EZ19eK4SNUoa-VfuXOeidLHmiN/s1820/hat.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1820" data-original-width="1754" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_Vp3Gav9TqL80Fozv_W0CCZqQ8L4fbU5ji78Eokf9Rzc1bovi7BCg08pq6rPqYRN2CJwt5PM_j4i6fw71_GOe2tGzBho5XhbTUOiO6kqpF3uJdKuT0bCH-73sTQOXIgPSb4w2eWjav9eM7wSqNgXplfOUlAPXM6LJ3EZ19eK4SNUoa-VfuXOeidLHmiN/w210-h218/hat.JPG" width="210" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn4Kt5LdP1PEN_4f6gidjcZG3lUl5eAsmL1U0eMHhxi_i8YVn7AxKxxjHzsXxheXN4wao56WvQ12vXg-FhZ9n5cKiatrk-alKn_BrwvDxWZZHu7fwjRoLnWfMkCfRhJWkEvIK98PkRAPQEpPsEgC_QYYRsZIo5yLJ8qgokWyGaMsRPJs3LzF9_mh_RWhb3/s1074/knife.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="819" data-original-width="1074" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn4Kt5LdP1PEN_4f6gidjcZG3lUl5eAsmL1U0eMHhxi_i8YVn7AxKxxjHzsXxheXN4wao56WvQ12vXg-FhZ9n5cKiatrk-alKn_BrwvDxWZZHu7fwjRoLnWfMkCfRhJWkEvIK98PkRAPQEpPsEgC_QYYRsZIo5yLJ8qgokWyGaMsRPJs3LzF9_mh_RWhb3/s320/knife.JPG" width="320" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgikMx4X-7rofCpQtlqYZlxvEX7hUXgyzvHBpP7IM79BxOY7Okffzd6uQSLZR2jtG20BByT7GJP1Q1g8FZ0lAldngw9Eo6VEs6SM99t5JHnXZMGtp_yfqJv8aMApM0Ng48MF6kY_XQV9aWXCrfci4f6VqosJdJKm1DheFFwbgfQvpunh-y0EbAf_AkwDafN/s908/pipe.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="831" data-original-width="908" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgikMx4X-7rofCpQtlqYZlxvEX7hUXgyzvHBpP7IM79BxOY7Okffzd6uQSLZR2jtG20BByT7GJP1Q1g8FZ0lAldngw9Eo6VEs6SM99t5JHnXZMGtp_yfqJv8aMApM0Ng48MF6kY_XQV9aWXCrfci4f6VqosJdJKm1DheFFwbgfQvpunh-y0EbAf_AkwDafN/s320/pipe.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div># # #</div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670943761612818564.post-6027357870722812552021-11-08T08:03:00.001-08:002021-11-08T08:03:48.848-08:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HYAdCihONnc/YYf2j-MZp9I/AAAAAAAACB8/6oFxowAypqQoTPwk2qgwCowm7Yh6bsnqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1632/KODIAK%2Bpg_194_IMG_0130.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1632" height="274" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HYAdCihONnc/YYf2j-MZp9I/AAAAAAAACB8/6oFxowAypqQoTPwk2qgwCowm7Yh6bsnqQCLcBGAsYHQ/w498-h274/KODIAK%2Bpg_194_IMG_0130.png" width="498" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></b><br />Edmonds, Washington<br />November 8, 2021</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h1 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #990000;">Dog Hero Story Becomes </span></b><b><span style="color: #990000;">Novel in Verse</span></b></h1><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></h3><h2 style="text-align: center;"><br /></h2><h2 style="text-align: center;">Fast-Paced Epic Poem Tells Story<br />of Cross-Eyed Malamute<br />Who Defends "Un-Hunted" Backyard<br />From Predatory Coyote</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights...."</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">-C. S. Lewis</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story...."</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">-C. S. Lewis</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: center;">New Middle Grade Book for Adults, Too</h2><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In fewer than 17,000 words with 23 illustrations, Kodiak & The Un-Hunted Place: An Alaskan Malamute Battles a Coyote for the Heart, Soul, and Future of the World... </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">...tells the story of a big, cross-eyed dog—a sled dog without a sled—a family pet who rises as a hero to fight a predatory coyote for the territory of his backyard. And becomes in the process, not only the protector of the many rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks who live in his “Un-Hunted Place”—and the pride of his human pack—but in a deep, true sense, becomes himself.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kodiak is thus a classic coming-of-age story... but one with unusually high stakes... about adversity faced to the point of battle... and the growth that results from discovering and being true to one’s nature. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The author’s use of storytelling tools found in free verse poetry, rather than slowing things down, speeds readers toward an ending at once inevitable—and a complete surprise. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Written for kids, ages 9-12 in middle grades 3-6 (kids transitioning from being read to... to reading on their own), Kodiak is equally for young adult and young-at-heart readers who enjoy dog- and animals-in-nature stories—and who don’t regard them as childish. Books like Pax and The Art of Racing in the Rain, Wind in the Willows and Watership Down may not be direct matches but they rhyme.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kodiak is published with 23 illustrations by Vera Kulikov and available from Amazon in Ebook, Print, and Large Print editions. (Libraries source through Ingram.) A future audiobook is contemplated. Says author Ryan Petty: </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Kodiak & The Un-Hunted Place is meant to be read aloud. In fact, part of the revision process involved me recording it, then playing it back and editing and re-editing in that way through several drafts. The discipline of listening to the narrative read-aloud against the backdrop of silence helped me find and preserve the depth of the story and eliminate the occasional phrase too hard to say... and transform the whole of the story into something more entertaining and fun to read—a better experience for readers one very much hopes to delight.” </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"># # #</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u><span style="font-size: medium;">New from Provision House:</span></u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Kodiak & The Un-Hunted Place</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ryan Petty, author / Illustrated by Vera Kulikov</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publication Date: October 15, 2021</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Distributed via Amazon and Ingram</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ebook: $4.99<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span></span>ISBN 978-0-9354460-09-8</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Paperback: $12.99<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>ISBN 978-0-9354460-10-4</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Large Print: $21.99 <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>ISBN 978-0-9354460-11-1</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">For further information contact: </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ryan Petty</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">253-213-7719</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">RyanPettywrites@gmail.com</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">www.RyanPettyauthor.com </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">https://Twitter.com/@RyanPetty77</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Seattle, WA, USA47.6062095 -122.332070819.295975663821153 -157.4883208 75.916443336178844 -87.1758208tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670943761612818564.post-55612162098297656122016-09-17T07:59:00.003-07:002023-11-05T06:12:04.027-08:00What He Did in the War (World War II)<div>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Ryan Petty</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The other day I stopped at a Tacoma, Washington, McDonalds (the one on W 6th) for breakfast. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">There were several old men having coffee and I got into a conversation with them. One of them was an old guy in a WWII Veteran ball cap. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">As I prepared to leave, I asked him about his service, wanting to thank him for it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I asked where he’d served .</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span>In the fashion of the Greatest Generation, he said only, </span>“Europe.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Then I asked him what he’d done there, if he didn't mind telling me more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span>He said, “Omaha Beach.</span>”</span></div></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670943761612818564.post-36273586581811659252016-03-17T05:48:00.023-07:002023-11-05T06:05:31.661-08:00Quotation from J. K. Rowling - From Her Harvard Commencement Speech, Published as a Book Titled VERY GOOD LIVES<h4>
Ryan Petty</h4>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">There’s been a spate of commencement addresses, repackaged and sold as hardcover gift books. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Not that there’s anything wrong with it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The best of them are inspiring, as they should be. Certainly, this includes <b><i>VERY GOOD LIVES: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination</i></b> by J. K. Rowling (Little, Brown and Company, 2015).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's my favorite quote from her speech:</span></span><br />
<h2>
<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>“Unlike any other creature on this
planet, human beings can learn and understand without having experienced. They
can think themselves into other people’s places.”</i></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">J. K. Rowling has, of course, demonstrated her capacity to help readers do this. </span></h2><div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><h2><span style="font-weight: normal;">It's a power writers have, when we do it right. </span><br />
</h2><div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Tacoma, WA, USA47.2528768 -122.4442905999999947.0803978 -122.76701409999998 47.425355800000006 -122.1215671tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670943761612818564.post-50072864744615275832016-03-14T11:04:00.009-07:002023-11-05T06:25:05.066-08:00George Orwell on the Losses We Suffer from Pretentious, Unexamined Phrasing<h4>
<span style="font-size: large;">Ryan Petty</span></h4>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">George Orwell’s posthumous collection of essays, <b><i>WHY I WRITE</i></b>, is a marvel, published by <b>Penguin Books</b> in its <b><i>Great Ideas</i></b> series. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here’s a passage I marked from the title essay:</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“It is easier - even quicker, once you have the habit - to say <b><i>In my opinion it is a not an unjustifiable assumption that</i></b> rather than to say <b><i>I think</i></b>. If you use ready-made phrases, you not only don’t have to hunt about for words; you also don’t have to bother with the rhythms of your sentences, since these phrases are generally so arranged as to be more or less euphonious.</span>”</span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;">-George Orwell</span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670943761612818564.post-62591321839024531152015-12-14T05:36:00.004-08:002023-11-05T06:32:51.730-08:00Book Review: Diamonds Discovered in BIG MAGIC: Creative Living Beyond Fear... by Elizabeth Gilbert<h2>
<span style="color: #783f04;">New book by the author of Eat, Pray, Love is getting lots of attention.</span></h2>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #990000;">I didn’t read it so much for the grand theory of creativity (which it offers) as for the fun to be found in its narrative.</span></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Big Magic</b> delivers a good time.<br />
<br />
I read it the way tourists hunt diamonds in the roadside mines of Arkansas - occasionally finding sparklers to carry home.<br />
<br />
Here, then, are four gems by way of review:<br />
<br />
Elizabeth Gilbert describing fellow poet, now deceased, Jack Gilbert:<br />
<br />
</span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">He became a poet the way other men become monks: as a devotional practice, as an act of love, and as a lifelong commitment to the search for grace and transcendence.</span></i></b></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
Elizabeth Gilbert revealing a bit of herself and her brush with inspiration:<br />
<br />
</span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Most of my writing life, to be perfectly honest, is not freaky, old-timey, voodoo-style Big Magic.... Most of it is not fairy dust in the least.... </i></b><b><i>But sometimes it is fairy dust. Sometimes, when I’m in the midst of writing, I feel like I am suddenly walking on one of those moving sidewalks that you find in a big airport terminal; I still have a long slog to my gate, and my baggage is still heavy, but I can feel myself being gently propelled by some exterior force.</i></b></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
Elizabeth Gilbert describing the books she has written:<br />
<br />
</span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">That’s what my books are to me: souvenirs of journeys that I took, in which I managed (blessedly) to escaper myself for a little while.</span></i></b></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
And, finally, Elizabeth Gilbert saying this:<br />
<br />
</span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">If greatness should ever accidentally stumble upon you, let it catch you hard at work.</span></i></b></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
Every once in a while, reading <b>Big Magic</b>, you find gem stones like these. Put them in your pail as I did. Carry them home. Savor your memory of the good time you had in their discovery.</span><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Tacoma, WA, USA47.2528768 -122.4442905999999947.0803978 -122.76701409999998 47.425355800000006 -122.1215671tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670943761612818564.post-70485974085283299362015-11-16T05:48:00.003-08:002023-11-05T06:44:37.372-08:00Words to Think and Write By... from Author Ursula K. LeGuin<h4>
Ryan Petty</h4>
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #783f04;">Author-itative Quotations 1 & 2</span></h2>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I particularly like these passages found in the essay, “A Matter of Trust,” from the book, <b>The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination</b> by Ursula K. LeGuin:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">I have enormous respect for my art as an art and my craft as a craft, for skill, for experience, for hard thought, for painstaking work. I hold those things in reverence. I respect commas far more than I do congressmen.</span></i></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">&</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">People who say that commas don’t matter may be talking about therapy or self-expression or other good things, but they’re not talking about writing. They may be talking about getting started, leaping over timidity, breaking through emotional logjams; but they’re still not talking about writing. If you want to be a dancer, find out how to use your feet. If you want to be a writer, find out where the comma goes.</span></i></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">A wonderful essay with more to discover by reading it in full.</span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Tacoma, WA, USA47.2528768 -122.4442905999999947.0803978 -122.76701409999998 47.425355800000006 -122.1215671tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670943761612818564.post-20754968418951278412015-11-08T07:50:00.009-08:002023-11-05T06:52:39.976-08:00Kent Haruf - a Favorite Author<h4>
By Ryan petty</h4>
<h4>
<i style="color: #783f04;"><br /></i></h4>
<h2>
<i style="color: #783f04;">Our Souls at Night</i><span style="color: #783f04;">, his final book</span></h2>
<br /><span style="font-size: medium;">
I stood in a line at our public library for several months waiting to read this book. Maybe it was the anticipation, but when it was my turn, I found it brilliant, vivid storytelling with the ache of <i>authenticity</i> and <i>presence </i>and no small bit of<i> wonder</i>.<br />
<br />
Kent died late last year.<br />
<br />
The <b><i>New York Times</i></b> published an obituary on December 2, 2014, probably the only one they’ve ever published for a resident of Salida, Colorado.<br />
<br />
Kent Haruf was by day a college professor at Southern Illinois University but spent summers writing in the small town of Salida he called home.<br />
<br />
As surely as any science fiction writer, Kent invented a special world and held it in his steady gaze and populated it with stories. His world was the made-up town of Holt, Colorado, on the high plains an hour or two northeast of Denver.<br />
<br />
Each story, in the four books of his I’ve read, takes place in Holt but involves different characters leading lives that only lightly intersect. There are cross references enough between the books for consistency’s sake (so that the world of Holt holds together) but it’s like you’re looking into the heart of a prism through each of several different facets <i>and you can feel the prism vibrate with an energy you cannot explain</i>.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #783f04;">For his third book, <b><i>Plainsong</i></b>, Kent Haruf was nominated for a National Book Award.</span></h2>
<br /><span style="font-size: medium;">
And it became and remained for many weeks a bestseller.<br />
<br />
He wrote and published six novels in all, so I still have two to go. I think each of the four is a work of art for the thoughtfulness of every word choice he made and the accumulation of each of its sentences and the way each book grabbed me with character-revelations that remain etched indelibly in my mind.<br />
<br />
All four of the books have been about Holt. Not just in Holt but about it as though it were itself another character.<br />
<br />
I don’t know yet if this will be true of the other two novels (and I don’t want to be told or to read synopses - I’d rather find out by reading the books themselves).<br />
<br />
Over the next few months I plan to read both of them - slowly to make them last.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #783f04;">The Kent Haruf books I’ve read:</span></h2>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Plainsong</i></b> (1999)<br />
<b><i>Eventide</i></b> (2004)<br />
<b><i>Benediction</i></b> (2013)<br />
<b><i>Our Souls at Night </i></b>(2015)</span><br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: #783f04;">The two I’m looking forward to:</span></h2>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
<b><i>The Ties that Bind</i></b><br />
<b><i>Where You Once Belonged</i></b><br />
<br />
He also collaborated with photographer Peter Brown on a work of nonfiction: <b><i>West of Last Chance</i></b> (2008).</span><br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Tacoma, WA, USA47.2528768 -122.4442905999999947.0803978 -122.76701409999998 47.425355800000006 -122.1215671tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670943761612818564.post-89122552086302213592015-10-16T04:58:00.019-07:002023-11-05T07:21:43.594-08:00Regarding the Poet Walace Stevens<h2>
<span style="color: #783f04;">"One of the sanctions of the writer is that he is doing something that he needs to do."</span></h2>
<div style="color: #3b2821; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "Book Antiqua3", Palatino6, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<h3><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "palatino linotype" , "book antiqua3" , "palatino6" , serif;"><span>Thus spoke Walace Stevens, who crafted a poem I’ve always enjoyed </span></span></b><b><span style="color: #660000;">puzzling over: "The Emperor of Ice Cream,"<i> </i></span></b><b><span style="color: #660000;">available <a href="https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/emperor-ice-cream" target="_blank">here</a>.]</span></b></span></h3>
<div style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "Book Antiqua3", Palatino6, serif; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<b><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "palatino linotype" , "book antiqua3" , "palatino6" , serif;"><span>Stevens was a lawyer turned insurance </span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "palatino linotype" , "book antiqua3" , "palatino6" , serif;"><span>executive, </span></span></b><b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "palatino linotype" , "book antiqua3" , "palatino6" , serif;"><span>living in Hartford, Connecticut </span></span></b><b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "palatino linotype" , "book antiqua3" , "palatino6" , serif;"><span>(</span></span></b><b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "palatino linotype" , "book antiqua3" , "palatino6" , serif;"><span>the </span></span></b><b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "palatino linotype" , "book antiqua3" , "palatino6" , serif;"><span>“insurance capitol of the world") when in 1955 </span></span></b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "palatino linotype" , "book antiqua3" , "palatino6" , serif;"><span><b>he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. In its wake, </b></span></span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "palatino linotype" , "book antiqua3" , "palatino6" , serif;"><span><b>he declined an offer to teach at Harvard. </b></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "palatino linotype" , "book antiqua3" , "palatino6" , serif;"><span><b><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "palatino linotype" , "book antiqua3" , "palatino6" , serif;"><span><b>I</b></span></span><b style="color: #660000; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "Book Antiqua3", Palatino6, serif;">t </b><b style="color: #660000; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "Book Antiqua3", Palatino6, serif;">would have interfered with his </b><span style="color: #660000;"><b style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "Book Antiqua3", Palatino6, serif;">insurance-related duties.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<b style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "Book Antiqua3", Palatino6, serif;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<b style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "Book Antiqua3", Palatino6, serif;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: medium;">Thanks to David at The Passive Voice (<a href="https://www.thepassivevoice.com">https://www.thepassivevoice.com</a>) who recently shared a more extensive Stevens quote with his readers, revealing the shortened version I've used here. And to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Stevens#Career" target="_blank">Wallace Stevens article</a> on Wikipedia, which I turned to to refresh my memory.</span></b></div>
<div style="color: #3b2821; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "Book Antiqua3", Palatino6, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670943761612818564.post-49669760640501234342015-10-02T05:27:00.004-07:002023-11-05T07:26:25.423-08:00Self-Publishing Triumph - “The Martian” by Andy Weir... Movie Opens Today<h2>
<span style="color: #b45f06;">Big Day for Sci-Fi Lovers, Self-Publishers, Friends, Family & Fans</span><span style="color: #e69138;"> </span></h2>
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">A lone astronaut is believed dead and left stranded on Mars....</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In most communities, the premier showing of “<b>The Martian</b>,” a film starring Matt Damon, is today's matinee in the suburbs.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The good news is: That’s a lot of theaters.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Andy self-published the <b>The Martian</b> book in 2011 and it grew into an Amazon bestseller almost immediately by word-of-mouth.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">He sold the book rights to Crown Books in 2012; and the movie rights to 20th Century Fox.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Ridley Scott directs the film.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I don’t plan necessarily to review it; but I cannot wait to see it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Bright and early this morning, on the brink of his great success, I just want to say...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<h2>
<span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;">Way to go, Andy Weir!</span></h2>
<div>
<span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">P.S. Here's <a href="http://www.andyweirauthor.com/" target="_blank">Andy’s official web site</a><span style="color: #783f04;">.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670943761612818564.post-60923930249788584382015-09-30T07:18:00.002-07:002023-11-05T07:28:09.564-08:00Thanks for the Good Wishes<br /><span style="font-size: medium;">
In the wake of Mom passing at age 94, I want to thank those of you who responded with sympathy and prayer.<br />
</span><div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
Mom’s career was on the administrative side of public education and several years of her retirement were spent as a literacy volunteer and public library docent.<br />
</span><div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
She had a good, long life and we were lucky to have her with us these many years.<br />
</span><div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
Though Mom wasn’t a writer, per se, she left 3 volumes of memoirs, the results of her two sons working with her on personal and family history projects.<br />
<br />
Perhaps more on those, another time.<br />
<br />
:o )<br /></span>
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670943761612818564.post-70783853648981528962015-09-02T03:46:00.004-07:002015-09-02T03:46:43.952-07:00Death in the Family<h3>
Ryan Petty</h3>
<br /><br />
<h4>
I will return to blogging in late September.</h4>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670943761612818564.post-24325689956472557172015-05-17T11:03:00.004-07:002023-11-05T07:29:11.523-08:00Mom’s Favorite Saying Is...<span style="font-size: medium;">“If it is to be... it is up to me.”<br />
<br />
-Anna Marie Petty, age 94</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670943761612818564.post-8138412291373818332015-05-12T04:56:00.004-07:002023-11-05T07:32:25.301-08:00What Mom Said on the Brink of Mother’s Day<p style="text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 18px;">"If I had more energy, I'd take a nap."</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"> <br /></span><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;">-Anna Marie Petty, Age 94</span></span></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0