An interesting mix of family antedotes and winemaking information. Alligator Dreams is a must-read for all wine lovers. The Winemaking Timetable and Vineyard Timeline are outstanding. Kate May's photos combined with Richard Paul Hinkle's prose create a lasting impression of Anderson Valley, Mendocino Ridge and Greenwood Ridge Vineyards.

Solid Gold Diamond Platinum Selection

"Spellbinding! Barnburning thriller with an incendiary climax! (Thanks for the wine)"

Any aspiring writer should be grateful for this anthology to study. Although the considerable diversity here does not a completely unified voice make, each article (previously published in Writer's Digest) has tips and inspirations for the aspiring novelist. From Richard Russo's exploration of place and character to mystery novelist Sue Grafton's use of a journal to get her right brain going-from Jeanne Cavelos's observation that horror is a genre uniquely dependent upon emotion-and what scares you is the secret source of fear-this book is a diverse gold mine of writing technique nuggets. Here you will find James Patrick Kelly talking about the need to "murder your darlings"-the phrase that Stephen King borrows in his On Writing book. Helpful boxes of related books, how to write proposals and Evan Marshall's chapter on novel synopses (which I didn't even know existed!) for agents; personal anecdotes and articulate easy-to-read tips from authors either great or best-selling or both make this a useful, inspiring, and exciting book-perhaps the best overall I have read on the craft of fiction. How does screenwriting relate to novel writing? How do you create a believable character? How do you integrate exposition? How do you create suspense? How do you revise or deal with criticism? What means emotion and motivation? These are the kinds of core questions addressed in this fun technique book.

I have several excellent books on screenwriting, which is a topic of strong interest. I happened to see this at a library, checked it out, and decided I had to own it. Unlike "Story" by Robert McKee, which is a wonderful book, this book has the viewpoints of several different writers. I find the pages very exciting, because you see the world better and differently as you proceed. Another book that did that for me was "The Stanislavski System" by Sonia Moore. Or earlier in my life, "Gestalt Therapy Verbatim" by F.Perls. Whereas some books are like a river that flows gently, this book delivers a series of aha moments. I am not a beginning writer, but beginning in fiction.

Complete Handbook of Novel Writing is a collection of articles and interviews with successful novelists. Notable authors include Octavia Butler, Margaret Atwood, John Updike, and James Patterson. The individual chapters are pithy yet comprehensive. I particularly liked the chapters on using specific details and what makes them work, point of view, editing tips, and helpful hints on specific genres: fantasy, mystery, horror, suspense, romance, and Christian fiction. Much valuable information here that writers can return to for reminders as their writing skills mature.

This book will get you writing and keep your writing at a higher level.

~review by Joan Mazza, author of six books, including Dreaming Your Real Self and Exploring Your Sexual Self.

I think I read about your book in Essence or saw it on Oprah, can't remember, but I am so glad that I did. It has helped me start a book club with a few friends that enjoy reading, but also just enjoy the company of other african-american women. It's a great way to get away from the husband and kids and bond with your friends. One thing that we are going to add to our club is a community kitchen, we will be cooking with one another also.

Great book!

Where else can you find: 1. The history of African American reading groups in America 2. The history of African American literature genres 3. The history of the only African American national reading group network

4. Previews of the works and interviews of national best-selling, award winning authors

This is a goldmine of information!!!!

This book is just what I needed to start a book club in my area. I have not quite read all about the different authors. Telling us from start to finish is the best outline I have ever read in starting a project like this one. Thanks so much for sharing a book like this for African American women.I will keep you in touch about the one I am going to attempt to start here in Columbia ,Tn.

THE GREENWOOD TAROT IS A REMARKABLE DECK THAT DEPLICS THE FOUR SEASONS AND THE EVER TURNING WHEEL. YOU HAVE TO DO THE WHEEL CHART EXERCISE INORDER FOR THE REST TO FALL INTO PLACE. I PAID 75 FOR MY DECK THEY ARE NOW OUT OF PRINT.

I have owned this deck for quite some time. I am very satisfied with the symbolic content of this deck, which is a mix of world culture without being so complicated that one has to understand in depth every culture it draws upon. This deck is not in the traditional configuration of the average tarot deck, some of the cards have been combined to create new cards such as the "Blasted Oak" which is actually a combination of the Hanged Man and the Tower. Whereas in a traditional deck one has the Moon card, in this deck you have "The Moon" card and another major arcana, lunar card, "Reflection." This removes some of the ambiguity of the singular Moon card, where the querent asks, "Does is represent the actual moon, or does is represent illusion or deception?" The Devil has been replaced with "The Guardian," which is a propped up bear skeleton at a cave entrance. It is a powerful statement about the relationship between fear and imagination and self limitation. The whole deck communicates in this manner of mystery, harmony and contradiction.
The illustrations are eye catching without being so complicated that the querent or reader gets lost in the picture. The only reason I would not recommend this to a beginner is that if you learn this deck, you will not be able to use all that you learned in order to read other decks based on the traditional Rider-Waite configuration. The books that one buys that can be applicable to any deck, may not work with the Greenwood Tarot, simply because the cards are produced in a truly unique fashion in terms of symbolism, configuration and value.
The deck promotes an egalitarian mindset. It is also steeped in ecological themes. It is an excellent deck for NeoPagans because it does away with the Abrahamic symbolism found in more traditional decks, such as the Heirophant, and Judgement and The Devil and replaces those figures with NeoPagan principles that often deal with the same issues from a vastly different mindset. This is the best deck and competes artistically and philosophically with the Crowley Deck, which is quite a feat when one looks at the multitude of cheap tarot knock-off decks that are vapid, cheesy and useless.

I am also a big fan of Chesca Potter and am fortunate enough to have several prints from this deck. I have both this deck and the Celtic Shaman's Pack. Chesca Potter is uniquely able to express the shamanic experience of ecstacy powerfully and with wonderful artistic technique in a Celtic context. She is able to express the contradictory feelings of movement and serenity, ecstacy and immanence, nature and spirit. She has a wonderful sense of color.

I am a college student having some programming knowledge but totally new in dynamic/ data-driven web creation. I found this book really helpful to get started from static to exciting data-driven stuff with ASP and MSDE. Although WebMatrix has a limitation(which was developed by a team of people from Microsoft at their spare time), it's a real great tool for beginner to get to know how to install database engine, create a data table, link to your web form with drag-n-drop and some hands-on coding (provided in the book). If you need to go on to industrial level, this book or WebMartix won't help.
Chap 1 starts with step by step instructions on how to install .NET framwork, MSDE (you need this if you don't have SQL running), then WebMartix (which has its own web server, you don't need IIS to run samples from the book). One of the great styles of this book is easy-to-follow-and-understand examples which has "Try It Out" & "How it Works" section which explains the code line by line in detail. I found Chap16 and 17 really helpful for general knowledge on "Web Services" and "Beyond WebMatrix," but make sure you finish this book first, then go on to more exciting Visual Studio .NET (which is a "bigbrother" of WebMatrix)
Oh..2 case studies at the back of the book, which explains step by step how to make a guestbook, reconizing customer and "log-on" stuff..and the CD includes some software WebMatrix, MSDE, etc..
Thanks to David Sussman and Wrox P2P

Simple, practical and it really work out for beginner to get into the .net world with good understanding. I think that it is good for the adcadmic institue to use this book for .net beginner class too.

As an experienced programmer in the IBM mainframe world I found David's book just the right blend of theory, humor, and practical examples. The code examples are clean and easy to follow and work! The extra attention to the setup of IIS, MSDE and WebMatrix was especially helpful. This is a great book to get started with ASP.NET technologies using a great tool "WEBMATRIX" . This book is for beginners so experienced ASP programmers will not find it advanced enough. And it is not a web HTML/CSS book....

dungeon crawl, puzzles, mystery, intrigue, politics, saga, love, hate, murder,.. everything is here. this was the first box i ever bought for AD&D and the group was so swept up into it that we would play for hours and love every minute of it we couldnt wait for the next session, most of the time we would decide to play the very next day

In Ed Greenwood's finest adventure, the most famous super-dungeon of the Forgotten Realms comes to vivid life in this grim, inspiring masterpiece of dark dungeon delving. The format is totally open-ended - the upper-works are exhaustively and ingeniously described over 160 pages, and the new monsters, cunning traps, and 4 colossal poster maps will tempt you to create your own endless evil schemes to fill out the rest! A dungeon so deep that even Elminster has no idea what lies below... a true classic, and highly recommended.

This is a great campaign for the beginning player for Forgotten Realms. A great buy, and a must have for any self-respecting DM or player. A perfect addition to anyone's collection.

Was someone spying on me my whole life?? This book seemed to be written just for me (aren't I special). It has tips on how to overcome writer's block, how to make realistic and loveable charachters, building seamless plots, and even includes stories of young writers who made it big.

This book has been very helpful and I would recommend it to anyone who has hopes of writing and maybe publishing a great book someday.

When I first borrowed this book from the library, I thought, Hey, It Looks OK. I'll Borrow It. I read the book that night and WOW! There's thing's you should know about your writing spot, a quiz to help start you in a good genre, personally for you, and even real stories about young writers you've made it. This is such a good book to buy or at least read and take notes off of.

In So You Wanna Be A Writer?, freelance writer and editor Vicki Hambleton and classroom teacher Cathleen Greenwood effectively collaborate to provide a superbly presented "how to" guide for young aspiring writers on how to practice and improve their writing and get what they write published! Young writers are shown how to begin a career in writing; explore different areas of writing (poetry, journalism, fiction, nonfiction); find creative ideas for improving their writing; and a wealth of practical advice for approaching publishers and getting published. So You Wanna Be A Writer? is enhanced with a current and extensive list of magazines, websites, contests, and book publishers actively soliciting "kid authors". There are illuminating profiles of ten "kid authors" who are already accomplishing their literary dreams by writing and getting attention for their work and thereby serve as illustrative examples for others. Whether a young author is writing to make money, advance a cause, or just for fun, So, You Wanna Be A Writer? is a strongly recommended and invaluable resource on how to begin!

This is a great book. It's has tons of valuable information. Not for the guy who loves pictures. Your coaches and captains should have this book. It will make you a better coach, and improve the quality of your club's play. If you want to keep losing, but have the best parties, get some other book.

Bob

Great, great book. Both for the new rugby player and the old hand. Only criticism I have is that more illustrations and diagrams would be helpful for the total newbie. However, since that wasn't the intended audience it only becomes a problem because there's nothing else comparable out there. Like the Bible, everytime you read it, you learn something new every time. Or something that you weren't ready to understand before becomes suddenly clear. A must-have for the rugby obsessed.

"Total Rugby" is essential reading for players and coaches - and useful for fans. The book covers the essentials of play, from novice to advanced. "Total Rugby" plus a rulebook will take you a long way in the sport. It's not just for 'students of the game'! Leave behind the 'it's just smear the queer' and 'if I hit 'em hard enough we'll win' attitudes and learn something about your sport. You'll never win against skilled teams until you ingrain the information encompassed by "Total Rugby". If you're ready for advance tactics and strategy, check out "Think Rugby" by the same author.

Although I found the ending somewhat rushed and the character of Zac Randolph more interesting than the laconic Tyler, the undeniable chemistry between Tyler and Daisy mixed with the land rights intrigue makes for an unputdownable good read. The character of Daisy is especially fun to watch and grow. One thing I really liked about her is just how closely she resembled her father in her stubborn behaviour and how author Leigh Greenwood managed not to beat the reader over the head with it, he (yes, Leigh is a MAN) lets you figure it out for yourself through the character's behavior. I am glad that this is part of a series, because these are characters I would love to spend some more time with. Highly recommended.

This was my favorite of the series. I have fallen in love with the whole bunch. The characters are so interesting and fun. This series is addicting. One will never be enough so buy them all and lock yourself away for for a grand old time.

By the age of seven Tyler Randolph has been so emotionally abused by his sadistic father he no longer allows himself to feel anything, not when his brother go to war, his father deserts them or when his mother dies. He doesn't think he deserves his place in the family or his share of the family wealth.

Determined to make it on his own, Tyler heads for New Mexico and the lost gold mines. The only problem is that his birthday is in six months and he has promised to take one of the jobs his brothers had to offer if he fails to find gold by this time. Tyler can't bear to be a further failure and plans to dissappear when the time comes. When he rescues an injured beauty he has no place to take her but to his prospector's cabin high in the mountains. Taunted as the ugly Randolph, Tyler is hiding his handsome face behind long hair and a heavy beard. Daisy can't help but feel he has something to hide. Somehow though Tyler can't seem to want to hide from Daisy. Not his face and not his heart.

Daisy has been told what to do all her life and Tyler is the first man who seems to think she's capable of taking care of her ranch herself, she loves him, but doesn't want to give up the independence he's taught her to cherish. Finally she realizes that, though Tyler can do everything better than she, he has a scared little boy inside of him that needs her as desperately as she needs him. When she realizes Tyler sees himself as her partner, not her master, she knows she can trust him with her heart.

The Last Safe House is a fictional story with non-fiction stories in it. It tells about people in slavery during the mid eighteen hundreds. I recommend this book for kids 7 years old and up. They will enjoy the excitement of the story while learning about all the great African-Americans. I would give this book a four and a quarter stars. I think that you will have a good time with this book.

Wow, does it make for persuasive argument if I just say this book is good? No, but Barbara Greenwood's "The Last Safe House"" is a must for anyone interested in the topics of slavery, underground railroad or 19th century history, (America or Canada).

What makes this book so special is that it is so much more that just a young adult novel. Yes, there is a fictional story being told here, but mixed into the fictional story are non-fictional side bar stories. So for example when the story starts to tell of a nefarious slave catcher, the author stops the fiction and starts giving us a real background of slave catchers and how they operated. Basically the footnotes for her story become part of the story. And believe me it is not distracting at all. It's almost like Barbara Greenwood is sitting us next to a fire and telling us the story and pausing every once in a while to more fully explain some things.

I also loved Heather Collins's illustrations. We are not talking the fine art you occasionally see in juvenile books, but we are talking very functional drawings that not only add to the story but to our general understanding. I would love to have a poster size picture of her drawing of "A Cotton Plantation."

In addition to the great design of this book, there are some story details that are often skipped over in many other similar type books. First off, she tell the story that slaves were still not completely free even if they made it to Canada. Also while Canada may have been the land of the free, it was not completely free of prejudice.

I collect books about the underground railroad as a hobby. And Barbara Greenwood's "The Last Safe House will be one of my most recommenced reads.

Snip, snap, snout, my tale is told out . . . . :-)

The Last Safe House is a blend of good research, good writing, enjoyable illustrations and activities to make the subject come alive for children. Greenwood spins a simple central tale of an escaped slave family and one of the families who helps them reach freedom, and uses this story as a springboard to a larger picture - the history of black slaves in America, the hero(ines) of the Underground Railroad, the whole question of justice and prejudice. Greenwood does not sugar-coat the issues or her characters - her protagonists are real children, who sulk, bicker and wish to be popular just like children do in every age. There's also a delightful lack of smugness about the presentation - this isn't a 'look at the wonderful white family helping out the poor black refugees' story, or even a 'look at the wonderful Canadians saving people from the terrible Americans' story - it's a book that examines a huge and complex issue in childsize pieces, in a sensitive yet sensible manner.

In my opinion, this book is award-winning material...it has solid worth, and the illustrations and activities combine with the adventure in the story to produce a captivating whole (for children and adults alike). Bravo to Greenwood and Collins!