Death With Interruptions

By José Saramago
First Published in Portuguese
Harvill Secker, a division of Random House
As intermitencias da morté, Copyright 2008
ISBN 978-1-60751-924-9
238 Pages

This book begins: “The following day, no one died.”

Now if that doesn’t grab your attention and spark your imagination, who knows what will!
Death With Interruptions takes a deep and prolonged look into what would happen to a people, a country, its institutions and its morals, if such an astounding event should ever occur.

What would happen to those thousands of poor souls each month that would lie in wait for a death that would never come? How would a country’s government cope with the ever increasing numbers of people that grew old but never died? How would a family cope with a forever dying loved one? What would funeral homes do, if there were no one to bury? How would insurance companies talk folks into spending their hard-earned dollars, if no death would ever strike them?

In this fantasy scenario, author José Saramago weaves a strange but almost likely tale of what might happen under such unheard of circumstances. And what about ‘death’ herself? (Yes, the author says it’s a woman!) What would she do, if there were no one to kill off each day?
Saramago, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998, brilliantly follows this line of thought to some even more startling scenarios and in the end, comes full circle to where he began. Needless to say, this is a book you will not want to put down.

Other works by this author include The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, The History of the Siege of Lisbon, The Tales of the Unknown Island, The Cave, The Manual of Painting and Calligraphy and Blindness.

To purchase a copy go to: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0151012741/?tag=yahhyd-20&hvadid=43474463011&ref=pd_sl_63a2uijj0n_e

The Two Marys

The Hidden History of the Mother and Wife of Jesus

By Sylvia Browne
Published by Dutton,
A member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
© Copyright 2007
ISBN: 978-0-525-95043-1
220 Pages

The controversy over whether Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had children began in our modern time after the release of the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln in 1982. Although a work of fiction, the authors claim to have conducted extensive research and say there are many until now, hidden truths within it.

The Catholic Church banned this book and the authors were maligned. Nevertheless, it was a best seller and got people thinking: could this be true?

According to Sylvia Browne it is. She writes that Joseph of Arimathaea, who had tin mines in the British Isles (thus was quite wealthy), assisted Jesus in his escape after the ‘crucifixion’ by bribing Pilate. Browne says along with her own research, her guide, Francine, filled her in on what actually happened over 2,000 years ago. As well, Browne says she had her own visions and actually saw events of that time unfolding.

More recently, Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code raised the issue of Jesus and Mary Magdalene again and scholars are frantically attempting to this day, to get at and uncover the truth. According to Browne the discoveries of the Nag Hammadi Gnostic writings (1945), the Dead Sea Scrolls (1947), the Apocryphon of John, the Sophia of Jesus Christ, the Act of Peter and the Gospel of Mary were vitally important, particularly since it became ever more clear that the Catholic Church picked and chose only those writings it felt reflected Jesus as the Son of God who died on the cross and Mary Magdalene as a prostitute to ensure Christ’s divinity. – and more importantly, the church’s hold on the masses through the guilt associated with good and evil.

As well, the Old Testament portrays God as nasty and vengeful, while writings excluded portray Him as an all-loving Creator. At the Council of Nicaea in the early fourth century, which was presided over by emperor Constantine, this patriarchal group could not let a woman be seen as Jesus’ wife and most loved apostle.

The Two Mary’s offers an entirely new perspective from Jesus and Mary Magdalene playing together as children, being wed at Cana (the wedding referred to in the Bible), and the escape of Jesus after the crucifixion with his mother, Mary, Joseph of Arimathaea and his wife, Mary Magdalene to Qumran. (Interestingly, Qumran means ‘heaven,’ so it was easy for those at the Council of Nicaea to claim Jesus went to heaven after his crucifixion.) Browne claims it was there that Magdalene became pregnant with their first child, Sarah.

They then went on to Tyre where they set sail for what is known today as Turkey, then on to Greece, Italy, Egypt and then Britain. When they left Britain, they sailed to Marseille on the coast of France and eventually took up residence in a small town called Rennes-le-Chateau in the south of France. Jesus changed his name to David Albenguntun and they (primarily Magdalene) continued to spread the gospel.

Basically, Browne portrays Mary, the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene as being very close, like mother and daughter. As well, they both learned and understood more of Jesus’ teachings than any of the disciples, and both has their own psychic and healing abilities. Magdalene had also done most of the teaching to the disciples, much to the chagrin of Peter, who replaced Magdalene in prominence and was portrayed by the church as its founding rock.

The Two Marys follows on the heels of Sylvia Browne’s book The Mystical Life of Jesus. Although her version of the facts sound far too fantastic to believe, Browne says her guide has confirmed that eventually, all of this information will come to light as more and more discoveries of old writings are found. Whether this will occur remains to be seen.

To purchase a copy of The Two Marys, go to: http://www.amazon.com/Two-Marys-Sylvia-Browne/dp/1605140228

Book Review: Buddha's Wife

By Gabriel Constans
Published by Robert D. Reed Publishers
Copyright: 2009
Pages: 186

Every so often, a book comes into your hands that touches you – I mean really touches you – deep in your heart. Buddha’s Wife by Gabriel Constans does just that.
Most people know about the Buddha, his travels, teachings and so on. But the author offers us a rare glimpse of Yasodhara, the woman he left behind. When Yasodhara was a mere 16 years old, Buddha left her in the middle of the night to care for their two-day-old son, Rahula, while he went off to find himself. Selfish? Yes. Was Yasodhara bitter? Of course.
One day while seeing Buddha amidst his many rapt followers, she lost it:
“He discarded us like a sack of rocks. For what? …Adoration for a coward – a man who talks about peace, but leaves his family in torment?”
Yasodhara was left to find her own peace and in her own way, she did. Though the wealthy wife of Siddhartha (Buddha), whose father was King Suddhodana, she chose to live a pious and underprivileged life- becoming a saint in her own right.
Gabriel Constans writes with great sensitivity about the pain and suffering of this woman both during her life and as she lays on her deathbed looking back over her earthly existence. But it’s not all misery, as the author lightens the reader’s load with a little female humor graciously sprinkled throughout.
This really is a book that captivates (I read it in two days because I couldn’t put it down!) and fascinates. You can pick up a copy here: http://www.rdrpublishers.com/catalog/item/3473811/6885398.htm

Ghost Stories of the Rocky Mountains Volume II

By Barbara Smith
Published by Ghost House Books 2003
ISMB 1-894877-21-7
Pages: 215

The geological grandness of the Rocky Mountains are in themselves, breathtaking but what is even more captivating are the countless legends and paranormal stories that live on there – many dating back to the 1800’s when the word was that there was “gold in them thar hills.”
The mountains themselves, wind their way from Colorado in the United States to Alberta, Canada and into Alaska – a huge area with many tales of men who set out from the east for gold and never returned – leaving just their skeletal remains behind. Others managed to settle in the area and establish the earliest towns.
One of those was Garnet, Montana, which today is known as a ‘ghost town’ that truly has its own ghosts – those of miners whose souls remain to this day. Apparently, tourists say if you listen, you can hear the sounds of horses’ hooves, wagon wheels and even a blacksmith pounding horseshoes during the day. Author Barbara Smith says that at night, one might hear the sound of a honky-tonk piano playing or the knocking of a phantom spirit at the door.
There were also a number of forts established along the Rocky Mountain range, including one in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Though now a bustling city, Cheyenne kept one reminder of its colorful past – a stone house on Park Street that is believe to be haunted by the ghost of a young cavalry officer dubbed ‘Luther.’ According to the author, the family now residing in the home live peacefully with this spirit, who has been know to show himself in full form.
Ghost Stories of the Rocky Mountains Volume II contains a wide variety of stories, not just about the mining towns and their specters, but also of haunted houses, highways and byways, haunted inns and more. If you love intriguing ghost stories and have an opportunity to pick up this book, you won’t be disappointed.

Other books by Barbara Smith include Ghost Stories of the Rocky Mountains, Haunted Theaters and Ghost Stories of the Sea.

Book Review

I’m Looking Through You
Growing Up Haunted: A Memoir

By: Jennifer Finney Boylan
Publisher: Broadway Books, 2008
ISBN - 13: 978-0-7394-9923-8
Pages: 270

After reading the first few chapters of I’m Looking Through You by Jennifer Finney Boylan, I thought I was going to learn about this woman’s experiences with ghosts in her family’s old Victorian mansion when she was a child. However, this book proved to be much more.
At the same time 13-year-old Jim was capturing glimpses of ghosts in the dark, three-story home called the Coffin House, he was also beginning to see that he was not the person reflected in the mirror. Not only did he conceal the fact that a particularly dark spirit shared the third floor with him, but he also kept hidden that what he really wanted to be was a girl.
“I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes. I have to turn my head until my darkness goes,” the author wrote.
You may be wondering how this collapsing old house got its unusual name. It seems a scientist had lived there and working a laboratory in the basement – the place where a blue mist could be seen upon occasion. When first laying eyes on it, Jim’s sister, Lydia said, “It’s like the Munsters’ house.”
It is most interesting how the author weaves this ghost story with her own self-realization that he/she was transsexual.
“Back then I knew very little for certain about whatever it was that afflicted me, but I did know this much: that in order to survive, I’d have to become something like a ghost myself, and keep the nature of my true self hidden.”
And like the ghosts who usually made their appearance during the dark of night, Jim would close his bedroom door when darkness fell, put on makeup and dress in girl’s clothes. While family and friends, if they’d know back then would have viewed his behavior as totally bizarre, Jim (now Jennifer) is able to look back on it now with a sense of wonder, as well as delightful humor.
For example, he related what happened on the evening of Lydia’s wedding. When the family returned from the reception, he saw her dress hanging in the hallway and could not resist the urge to grab it, take it to his bedroom and put it on. Then he heard the sound of footsteps in the attic. Of course, no one (of this world) was up there. When he released the trap door and went up to investigate, his father came up the stairs calling for him. Seeing the trapdoor open, his father climbed up and stood within inches of the hiding boy. He then left the attic and closed the trap door behind him leaving Jim trapped in the darkness. Worried that he might be forever enclosed in that attic tomb, Jim inched his way quietly toward the trapdoor.
“All at once the trapdoor gave way beneath me,” he wrote. “Briefly, I flew through the air; a streak of white, an inverted angel in a downward flight, like a character out of Paradise Lost. Then I landed in the middle of the third-floor hallways with a tremendous crash.”
Jim heard his father ask, “Jim, is that you?” Immediately he raced back to his bedroom, tore off the wedding gown, and stuffed the makeup and clothes into the secret panel where he hid those types of things.
Of course, life was certainly not all fun and games for Jim when he was young and he dared not tell anyone about his inner most feelings for fear of ridicule.
“I do not believe in ghosts, although I have seen them with my own eyes. This isn’t so strange, really. A lot of people feel the same way about transsexuals,” she wrote. “…Maybe some day, researchers will tell us more about what makes people see things that aren’t there or yearn to inhabit a body other than the one into which they were born.”

Jennifer Finney Boylan is author of 10 books, including The Planets, Getting In, She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders and a short story collection entitled Remind Me to Murder You Later. She has been on a number of shows including Larry King Live, CBS News’ 48 Hours, Today and The Oprah Winfrey Show. For more information on this author, you can visit her site at: http://www.JenniferBoylan.net.

E-Book Review: The Bethel Bash by Harriette J. Schwartz

Max Yasgur addressing the crowd, Woodstock 1969 Photo by HJS

Can you imagine living in a field of mud with 80 plus degree heat, rain pouring down, eating whatever you could scavenge, using worse than stinky portable bathrooms, taking in the overwhelming smell of marijuana and hash, and living side-by-side with a half a million other people day and night? Sounds like a nightmare to me.

However, for the teenagers who crammed into Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel in 1969 it couldn’t have been a happier time. They danced in the rain and mud, shared their pretzels, peanuts and other items and relished the water from outdoor hoses during the day, and slept arms over legs at night. This summer of 1969 event made history and no one who attended Woodstock, otherwise known as, “The Bethel Bash” would ever forget it. It truly was a time when people of all races, religions and nationalities lived together in peace and love.

For four days (August 15-18), Yasgur’s soggy farmland became a haven for thousands who listened to the music of such bands as Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, Santana, Canned Heat, Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Sly and The Family Stone, Joe Cocker, Janis Joplin, Country Joe (McDonald) and the Fish and of course, Jimmy Hendrix.

Woodstock 1969 Tickets Photo by HJS

For then 19-year-old Harriette Schwartz, it was an eye-opening and truly inspiring experience. She was not one who protested the Vietnam War, burned her bras or took a radical stance against the establishment. As a young woman from the west Bronx, her small world-view changed drastically at Woodstock and she realized that all people could live peacefully together if they were united in a common goal. That goal was to savor every moment of this event – to enjoy the music, dance to her heart’s content and crash beside her fellow Woodstockians for some much-needed shut-eye.

“I was soaked to the bone, hungry and thirsty but having a ball and I truly did give a care,” Harriette recalls.

Fortunately, she had the foresight to document everything she saw and felt at Woodstock and has now – 40 years later – written about the experience in The Bethel Bash: Woodstock 1969. Presented in e-book form, she offers up her memories, along with a variety of photos she took with her now ancient instamatic camera.

It’s interesting to note that Harriette initially had not desire to go to Woodstock. At the time, she worked as an administrative assistant in the Non-Theatrical Division of Warner Brothers/Seven Arts in New York where many famous actors of the day showed up. It was there that she learned about plans to film Woodstock with a crew of 100 that included Martin Scorsese. She had made friends with a young fellow named Alan, who worked in the mail room. He talked her into going, so off they went in his green Mustang convertible. And she’s glad she did.

“I was a part of a now historic group that managed to keep their cool in spite of as I personally remember them, appalling heat and horrific living conditions even if only for 3 days,” Harriette said.

They couldn’t stay for the Monday events, as she had to get back to work.“We cared for each other, made do with what we had and shared whatever little that was. Most of all, we did exactly what we all went there to do…enjoyed the heck out of the music.”

Janis Joplin Woodstock 1969 Photo by HJS

Harriette also remembers the National Guard coming to help them by dropping food from army helicopters. While a welcome site, she said it was also an unnerving experience.

“You see, they were tossing oranges along with blankets. Though they aimed to help, their aim may also have accidentally caused a concussion. I never quite understood the rationale of the heavy fruit. I ducked and let Alan catch and we managed to share an orange.”

You can relive this major musical event very soon because plans are in the works to publish her e-book since this year marks the 40^th anniversary of the event. As soon as it is available, I will let you know. In the meantime, for those of you who attended ‘The Bethel Bash,’ keep the memories close and imagine what life would be like if we all could live under such dire conditions with peace and love in our hearts. The lessons learned at Woodstock 1969 should never be forgotten.
As an after thought, it would be great if Harriette could add music from the event to her e-book. That would really set the tone and take everyone back to that wonderful time.

About the Author:

Harriette J. Schwartz is a lifelong author and writer of poems, articles and books who now works on various freelance writing projects for others as well as her own. She began her writing career by creating and illustrating her own greeting cards. Since then, she has published her work on line at Helium and Eons, and off line in Visions Anthology and Seeker Magazine.

Her published books include the children’s book, Milton Swade Counts and Lost Pallies: The Afterlife Has Found Its Voice And Now It Won’t Stop Talking! She has also written and hopes to publish The BabyBoomers Time Machine and a book of poetry called Adult Silly Stuff.

Words may be Cheap Now but not in the Future

Can you imagine living in a time in the future where every word you utter is priceless? That’s the premise for a story called WordLotto.

In our present world, many people buy lottery tickets hoping to make it big so they never have to worry about money again. Money is our most valued item and when we have lots of it, God help the person who steals it from us!

So how did WordLotto begin? Well, it all began rather innocently, or so most people thought. They worked, made money and paid the obligatory taxes to the government, always hoping to win the Lotto. But few ever won the Lotto and over the years, even the government ran out of money.

Since words were cheap, the government in its wisdom decided to capitalize on them by establishing the Word Commission, which offered a new program whereby people who agreed to be fitted with a Word Meter could use more of them. Eventually, (like taxes) it became mandatory for everyone to wear a Word Meter. However, many problems arose from this new and unusual program.

Some people who talked incessantly claimed their meters were faulty. Still others claimed that friends or co-workers were stealing their words. This situation even caused problems between couples. While men wanted to save their words for important things, women used theirs primarily to woo a man into wedlock and then nag the hell out of him afterward. And to top it off, if a person swears, he or she will get a 10,000 word fine. What a conundrum!

To deal with the thousands of complaints, a panel of commissioners heard cases and decided if they were legitimate. The problem, however, is that Word Meters were considered infallible and only a select few were ever granted more words.

The main character in WordLotto is Tom Brennan, a hardworking but rather jaded young man who works for the Word Commission. He is the first person people come to with their complaints. As he puts it, it’s a rather thankless job, as he knows most cases will never win. Basically, he calls it “a sorry excuse for a job” but he’s thankful that at least he has one.

Tom has heard just about every excuse for using up words that one can imagine. From a man named Florez, a drunk who rants on incessantly and claims his dwindling word count is not his fault to Harold, whose wife claims he lost nearly all his words talking with relatives while arranging their daughter’s wedding.

So what are the consequences of running out of words? As Tom puts it, one might as well be a “dead man walking and ready to go up in flames at any time.” Yikes!

WordLotto is a most amusing tale that will leave you laughing over the hilarious situations Tom and the other characters find themselves in because of the Word Meter. Whoever thought this storyline up is, in my estimation, brilliant!

To read WordLotto go to New Fiction at: http://www.newfiction.com.

New Fiction is an on-line resource of the latest fiction. On the site, you will find such other iSoaps (stories) as Venus de Milo, Fat Cowboy, I Betcha, Senate Parking and Jake & The Jamokies, with Sable Tooth Tigers and El Mexican Lottery coming soon. When you join the site, you can read a new installment of your iSoap every 16 hours either on the site or downloaded to your computer, ipod or cell phone – truly the way of the future for books.

Those who love fiction should also know about the New Fiction blog called iSoup Dish where you can discuss your favorite fiction or critique an iSoap on New Fiction and meet other fiction lovers. You can even submit your own ideas for new iSoaps, completed fiction and artwork. If you’ve got a voice for storytelling, you can even submit a voice sample. Go to: http://blog.newfiction.com