Weather Report, July 11

THIS WEEK’S CURRENTLY FEATURED BOOKS, “CALIFORNIA TRANSIT,” BY DIANE LEFER, AND “THE GULLWING ODYSSEY,” BY ANTONIO SIMON JR., CAN BE FOUND BY SCROLLING DOWN BELOW THIS POST, ALONG WITH THE FIRST TUESDAY REPLAY.

I’m always looking for encouraging signs when it comes to this project, and I believe I’ve noticed one — more and more, visitors to the site are clicking on books that have been previously featured. In other words, an author’s relationship with Snowflakes doesn’t end with the blink-of-an-eye week in which his or her work is featured.

Meanwhile, beginning next month, we’ll start a new monthly post in which Snowflakes authors talk about how their books were conceived, written, published and marketed.. Several writers have already volunteered to contribute to this.

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UPCOMING ON SNOWFLAKES IN A BLIZZARD

“THE WINTER DANCE PARTY MURDERS,” BY GREG HERRIGES.

Note: Greg is, himself, a musician, which gives him an insight into the rock n’ roll culture.

He writes: “This is an alternate history of what became of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper when their plane went down that frigid night just outside of Clear Lake, Iowa, after their great show at the Surf Ballroom. But it is a lot more than that; I wanted to take all the 1950s and 1960s rock conspiracy theories and dovetail them into a spoof, and satire of rock culture and mania, conspiracy theories—connect them all somehow, and turn it into a comedy to make a sad song better. I saw it as a grand put-on. I think that is what it is.”

“WATER: NINE STORIES,” BY ALYCE MILLER.

Alyce writes: “The collection was put together after the stories were written, when I realized that some version of “water” was a connecting theme, from water in a bucket to the expanse of ocean.

“I rarely write with ‘book” in mind.  I’m drawn to characters and less to plot.  What’s more interesting to me is why people do what they do, even if it’s not in their best interests. If I’m working on short stories, I do them one at a time and then take a look at what I see in the mix if I think some of them might work in a collection. The stories in this collection were written over several years.”

“SKY: CHILD INTERRUPTED,” BY BILL WEST.

According to Bill:

“Sky: Child, Interrupted is my memoir of my family’s nightmarish experience with Child Protective Services after they had ( many would say, including myself, UNJUSTLY ) snatched away our daughter, Sky. She was 2 and a half years old at the time. It’s a multi-emotional, funny, sad but crazy Love story with the primary focus being … ‘Will this mismatched, kooky but likable, couple be able to save their marriage and regain custody of their daughter while battling a powerful system of corruption?'”