Buying how to books without being able to browse them is always a risky proposition. I thought though, that I had made a good choice with this Teach Yourself book, 'Writing a Romantic Novel and getting Published.' I am familiar with the Teach Yourself line of books and have always been impressed with their quality and this is a quality book. Just not what I thought that it would be.

The author, Donna Baker is apparently a popular author in Britain, with Mill and Boons books, Harlequin if your in America, and she refers often to her own books, and other books from the same genre in this how to book. I do not want to write Harlequins and this book is written mainly for people who want to write a Harlequin romance. Unfortunatly that is not apparent with the fifty tag lines that are provided for the book.

Ms. Baker spends the first couple chapters of the book justifying writing romance novels. Really, if I felt the need to justify wanting to write romances I WOULD NOT HAVE BOUGHT A BOOK ON HOW TO WRITE THEM, Jeeze.

Those points aside, it is a good how to write book in general and a good reference on how to write Harlequin romances. I guess what I really did not like was her constant self-promotion. Writing a Romantic Novel has so much personal information about Ms. Baker that it is as much a book for fans of her other books as it is a how to book.

It takes the novice author from the beginning when one creates the characters to the end getting it to the publishers in a clear and concise manner. It is for the would be author of shorter 55,000 to 60,000 word romance's. However, her admittedly good writing advice can be found in a Readers Digest, 'how to write', book. If you just want to get started on a novel go ahead and browse those. Their titles generally indicate when the books are for a special market like science fiction or the short story market unlike this book. Buy one of those if you want a good how to book.

Though this concise, thorough, 162-page book is written by a British romance writer, it is still very helpful for American writers interested in the mechanics and market for short contemporary romance novels, the area in which the author has specialized.

Though her book is not as fleshed out as The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Your Romance Published by Julie Beard (a much larger book), Ms. Baker does an excellent job of pointing out the unique aspects of romance compared to other types of fiction. I will not list all the topics covered in this review, since you can click on the Table of Contents, index and browse 24 pages of the book on this web page. I, personally, found her sections on plotting the most useful parts of the book--very helpful!

For anyone interested in writing romance, Writing a Romantic Novel is well worth adding to your collection of how-to books.

Young Man with a Horn (1938)(Dorothy Baker)

This novel, loosely based on the life of jazz great Bix Biederbecke, is one of the seminal tales of the gifted but tragically self-destructive artist. Rick Martin, the young man with a horn, is consumed by music but destroyed by bad booze, evil women and by his own impossible musical ambition.

There is a school of thought, of which this novel is emblematic, that true geniuses are tormented or even driven mad because they apprehend things that are beyond the comprehension of us mere mortals and become frustrated in trying to realize them fully and/or express them in terms that we can comprehend. (I saw this theme repeated most recently in the excellent movie Pi). It makes for some entertaining fiction, but it's a load of piffle.

GRADE: B-

Check out the excellent film version of the novel: -Young Man With a Horn (1950)(directed by Michael Curtiz and starring: Kirk Douglas, Doris Day and Lauren Bacall)

This is the classic story of an artist who devotes himself to his art and dies young -- only the artist is one Rick Martin, one of the best trumpet players ever, and the art is jazz music. Reading this book -- though the prose is so lyrical, you don't read it, you hear it -- you will find yourself in a world of speakeasies, big bands, and the Harlem Renaissance; but the story is universal, and Rick Martin a tragic hero on par with Jay Gatsby. Highly recommended, especially to fans of jazz music and anyone who wants to know how the "Jazz Age" got its name

The title comes from the Great Fire of London, which was started by a baker to Charles II. One trivia bit from the book is that the Bakers' Company put up a plaque in 1986 acknowledging their role in the fire's start, but with enough lawyer weaseling to preclude any modern claims for damages.
Before reading, I assumed from the title that the subject would be 17th century at best. Happily for my interests, the book was commissioned by the London Bakers' Company as a sort of sequel to Sylvia Thrupp's 1933 work (The Worshipful Company of Bakers: A Short History) and it contains much pre-16th century information.
Information in the book is somewhat disjointed; the author jumps around from topic to topic and from era to era. It also skims the surface rather than being as in-depth as I would like. Still, there are lots of intriguing excerpts for someone interested in baking history -- and if you're not, you probably wouldn't pick this up in the first place.

this insightful work expands greatly upon already existing media studies maxims put forth by authors such as ben bagdikian and michael moore. it hones the point that the people must be able to make informed decisions in order to rule a democratic society, thus naturally prompts the question: are we truly democratic if advertising distorts our information?

Dr.Baker's cooperation with David Lane represents the blended effort of an esotericist and a recovering alcoholic to provide a guide to alcoholism.This is a unique,theosophical treatment of the problem,taking into account factors such as karma,the etheric body,the astral body,also the soul's purpose and the deeper meanings of alcoholism and its subtle effects on a number of occult components of the afflicted.Very interesting, though short are the flower remedies recommended for the recovering alcoholic.The picture emerging from this kind of treatment is one of hope for the addict and enlightenment for the esoteric healer.

The editors perform a much needed service to all those students of the New Testament who can't remember the marvels of Koine Greek morphology and syntax. Each word of the Greek New Testament is analyzed in terms of tense, number, person, gender, etc. A simple alpha-numeric code provides the key to parsing any word. Companion volumes by the same authors use this analyzed text to provide lexical and grammatical concordances of the entire Greek New Testament. A most useful study companion for students and scholars alike.

Ancient Civilizations: Almanac is a two book series that covers twelve civilizations. Book 1 covers 1) Egypt, 2) Mesopotamia, 3) Israel, 4) Phoenicia, Syria, and Arabia, 5) Asia Minor and the Black Sea Region, 6) Persia, and 7) India. Book 2 covers 1) China, 2) the Americas, 3) Africa, 4) Greece, and 5) Rome.

These books contain some interesting pictures and informative sidebars, but it is a very low-level introduction. That is to say, that while they are broad in reach, they are very shallow in detail. In general I would call these books a good resource for a High School level reader.

Having collected auto racing memorabilia for years I have often wondered why someone hasn't come out with a definitive resource. Well, here it is! While it is very small in size it is not short on value. Covering everyting from driver profiles to open wheel racing this is the ultimate source. It's a shame that it gets buried on the book shelf because of its size, but good things really do come in small packages! Outstanding!

This book is spooky....All I can say is: whatever Baker and company got into, it has rubbed off on this book. Creepy stuff started happening to ME after I got it, and that is almost enough to make me a believer...as for the writing it is taut, kind of like true crime writing, but very readable. This book is worth your time and money. You won't be let down.

Freudians may explain Baker's attraction to controlling men by the absence of fatherly affection in her life, since he is noticeably missing from her autobiography. However no matter how difficult her relationships with these men were, she admits to having a sensitive disposition which eventually crumbles into 2 breakdowns and 3 year depression, which kept her unemployed. Baker presents her major breakdown in the late 1960's with inner dialogue which is painful to read, although this style is used amusingly in her coverage of the making of the film Harlow. Perhaps Baker's reasoning can be faulted since her inner logic reveals the way up and out of her depression, whereas other sufferers of depression are often trapped within their repetitive circlic thoughts. From a showbiz autobiography view, Baker's book is entertainly written, with anecdotes from her days in vaudeville, the Actors Studio, Hollywood, and her 8 year stay in Europe, where she would meet her current (at the time of writing) husband, and finally choose a non-dominating partner. She has tales of Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Shelley Winters, Elia Kazan, Ben Gazarra, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds, Robert Mitchum and Jerry Lewis. She considers Dean to be asexual rather than homosexual, based on the non-threatening nature of his friendships with women, and says he spent time with the cowboys only for "research" for his role in Giant. Baker vividly describes the riot at the premiere of Giant, the factions on the set, Dean's cruelty to Natalie Wood and his dislike of Dennis Hopper, which is ironic since Hopper has always claimed to have been close to Dean. Apparently Tennessee Williams first choice for Baby Doll was Monroe but we aren't told why the casting never eventuated, but Baker's description of Monroe at the Actors Studio - "She let her body language do most of the talking" - is funny and accurate. Baker mentions that in But Not For Me Clark Gable had shared secrets about being in front of the movie camera that no amount at the Actor's Studio could have provided, but doesn't disclose those secrets. She also lists titles that her contracts with first Warner Bros and later Paramount made her was unable to play - The 3 Faces of Eve, The Brothers Karamazov, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and a TV special dancing with Gene Kelly. When Monroe is fired from Fox, Baker says that she saw her sitting every night at La Scala's looking unkempt and despondent, highlighting the falseness of Monroe's claim that Fox wasn't "where she lived". Baker had suggested Monroe go to Europe but Marilyn said she couldn't because she was alone. Baker too would be fired from her studio, be despondent, but eventually go to Europe, alone, but perhaps because Baker had children to send over to be with her, she survived.