Ban the Martian Spiders!
Hi,
I'm back with spiders on Mars, book bans, and book reviews.
The Spiders from Mars
The non-human bad guys in my books hail from Mars. At least that's where they were before they arrived on Earth. (But are they really from there? I digress.)
The primary reason the aliens had for decamping the red planet was probably a dearth of mammals to munch on. But maybe the spiders had something to do with it, too.
The surface of the fourth planet warms up every spring (Mars has four seasons, just like Earth, only they're about twice as long.) This heats up carbon dioxide ice, which melts into geysers of gas that create those creepy spider-shaped holes.
The picturesque view of Mars through optical telescopes is what sparked the imaginations of authors like H. G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Since then we've sent several different probes and landers to our second nearest neighbor and now we know what's really up there, and it's no less fascinating.
Book Bans
Book bans are back in vogue. They never go away, but we're currently seeing organized efforts to toss books out of libraries based on general topics, rather than the routine attempts to eliminate individual titles.
So, it was refreshing to see some research showing that making a variety of books available to teenagers and letting them decide what they want to read helped rather than hurt them.
Here's a quote from the research cited in that article:
Interviews and observations across two school years indicated many of students’ preferred books were those they considered ‘disturbing’ – narratives that revealed difficult and complex realities about humanity and that frequently caused readers to be confused or uncertain, which might be deemed ‘incomprehension’. This reading provoked self-reflection and meaningful conversations that students linked to social, intellectual, and moral transformation.
Given the opportunity to choose what they could read, the kids opted for books that dealt with difficult subjects. And as a result, they were more empathetic and better able to communicate.
It helped them grow.
This is the best case against book bans I've ever seen.
Kind Words
I sent Shadows of the Past to Independent Book Review a while back and received some kind words. They'll be posting the review on their site soon, but I have a copy I can use for promotions.
It seems like the book made their reviewer think:
Shadows of the Past is a refreshing and reflective read. It feels especially emotional as I follow the news of international military invasions and occupations in our time. Reading Emil and James gave me some hope that there are good men on the ground who can see past narratives of disposable people, who are shocked by deaths of civilians and soldiers with equal, lasting measure, and who can’t help but think about how it could and should have been avoided.
This was the motivation I needed to buckle down and get to work on Clouds in the Future.
If you've read Shadows, please consider leaving a review where you bought it, and it Goodreads and Bookbub. If you haven't, you can find it here
See you soon!
Refer a subscriber to my list from this link, to get a free ebook copy of Shadows of the Past!
Eric Goebelbecker
Trick of the Tale LLC
25 Veterans Plaza #5276
Bergenfield, NJ 07621-9998