Review: TURN

As I have written at least a few times, I don't watch much television. Aside from news, sports, and an occasional movie, I simply don't find it worth the time. Every now and then, though, I make an exception to the rule and latch onto something like a sci-fi junkie binging on Star Wars films or a romance fan exhausting the Hallmark catalog.

This month, I took a turn at TURN. For three weeks, I watched all four seasons of the AMC series, currently available on Netflix, and immersed myself in the American Revolution. Based loosely on the exploits of the Culper Ring, an unlikely group of citizen spies based in Setauket, New York, TURN: Washington's Spies gives viewers an unvarnished look at colonial America from 1776 to 1781.

In the series, we see not only the cunning cabbage farmer Abraham Woodhull, the focus of the production, but also his childhood friends, such as the diligent Major Benjamin Tallmadge and the folksy smuggler Caleb Brewster. Women, including Woodhull's wife (Mary), his former fiancée and confidante (Anna Strong), Peggy Shippen Arnold, and her servant Abigail, play equally compelling roles.

I appreciated the series' even-handed approach. Though AMC gives us the nastiest villain I've seen in decades in Lt. Colonel John Simcoe, it provides sympathetic portrayals of other British officers, including John André and Edmund Hewlett, and nuanced treatments of George Washington, Benedict Arnold, Charles Lee, and other patriot leaders. It gives us far more gray than black and white.

Though TURN does take a few liberties with the historical record, it more than compensates with a realistic depiction of the times. Viewers can smell the smoke and carnage on the battlefield and the stench of a prisoner ship. They can see the fear on the faces of men as they shed their uniforms and step behind enemy lines.

I would recommend TURN to any fan of history and drama. As compelling television, it does not get better than this. Rating: 5/5.

A first draft for novel fourteen

I needed seven weeks and enough keystrokes to fulfill two NaNoWriMos, but I got it done. Hours before the vernal equinox, an occasional time-travel catalyst in the Carson Chronicles series, I finished the first draft of the fourth CC book and forwarded it to the first of ten beta readers. I intend to publish Caitlin's Song, set primarily in Boulder, Colorado, in 1962, by the middle of June.

In the meantime, I hope to convert more Kindle-only books to audio and print. I sent the print edition of Mercer Street to Amazon today for final approval and plan to process at least one more American Journey book before returning to my current work in progress.

Seven of my fourteen novels, including the entire Northwest Passage series, are now in print. Twelve are available in audio format. Indian Paintbrush, narrated by Allyson Voller, is set for a spring release.

Fortuitously for me, I had the chance to discuss spring releases and older books today at the Sixth Annual Henderson Libraries Local Author Showcase. The extravaganza, which drew sixty authors and hundreds of book lovers from around southern Nevada, was a resounding success. I hope to do more such events in the future.

A meet-and-greet for March

Experts advising authors rarely stray from the message. If you want to sell books in a highly competitive marketplace, they say, you have to get out there and interact. You have to meet and greet. Engage.

It's not bad advice. Even in a world where millions of books are sold through online retailers like Amazon.com, there is no substitute for face-to-face marketing. So on Saturday, March 23, I will do just that.

Along with fifty-nine other authors from southern Nevada, I will participate in the Henderson Libraries Local Author Showcase. The sixth annual event, at the Paseo Verde Library, begins at 10 a.m.

I plan to bring copies of my first six novels to the event, which is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Nevada Arts Council. I encourage readers in the area to drop by and say hello.

In meantime, I hope to finish the first draft of my current work in progress. Caitlin's Song, the fourth novel in the five-book Carson Chronicles series, is still set for a summer release.