Book Notes: Former Spokane author writing personal blog
Though he now lives in Ohio, the prolific science fiction writer John Dalmas spent the better part of two decades living on Spokane’s North Side.
It was in the basement of his duplex apartment that he wrote a number of his 27 novels, which include such titles as “The Regiment,” “The Helverti Invasion” and “Fanglith.”
Dalmas sent out an e-mail recently, announcing that he now is writing a blog.
“(I)t has a growing and varied content, including history, philosophy, personal history, ecology, cosmology, politics, science, poetry, the spirit,” Dalmas wrote. “If you’re curious, visit it at www.johndalmas.com.”
You can get a better idea of who Dalmas is and what he writes by going to his Web site: www.sfwa.org/members/dalmas.
By the way, Dalmas has kind things to say about Mark J. Ferrari’s novel “The Book of Joby” on Amazon.com:
” ‘The Book of Joby’ is an ambitious story splendidly written,” Dalmas wrote. “His major characters are beautifully rendered, and his secondary characters treated in as much depth and detail as appropriate.
“God is – well, someone you’d love to know and be mentored by, and Lucifer – Lucifer is a psychotic mess, a terribly cruel and dangerous psychotic mess, while his minions … you can see why they ended up in Hell. You’ve known others like them, and so has Ferrari, I’m sure; he depicted them so aptly. Lucifer deserved them.
“Ferrari’s scenes and visuals are as richly imagined and described as you might hope for, from someone who for years has been a successful artist and illustrator.”
Awards galore
This just in from Ivan Doig’s publisher, Harcourt: The Seattle-based author’s novel “The Whistling Season” has been nominated for what’s being called “the world’s richest book prize,” the $200,000 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
A short list of finalists will be announced in April, and the overall winner will receive the award in Dublin in June.
Doig’s novel already has won the American Library Association’s Young Adult Alex Award and a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association award.
“Four writing students in the University of Idaho’s master’s of fine arts program have had work accepted for publication.
Leslie Einhaus’ essay “Keeping Up Appearances” is one of 12 included in the forthcoming book “Silence Kills: Speaking Out and Saving Lives.”
Four poems by Jerry Mathes have been accepted by Montana State University’s literary magazine Read This, and Mathes’ poetry collection “The Journal West” will be published in February by Lewis-Clark Press.
Three poems by Tiffany Midge will be included in the anthology “America, What’s Thy Name? The ‘Other’ Poets Unfurl the Flag,” edited by Frank X Walker.
Larry Mayer’s short story “Love for Miss Dottie or Some Crazy Pain” will be included in the “Best New American Voices 2009,” due in November from Harcourt.
Review news
Whitworth University theology professor Gerald L. Sittser is getting good reviews for his new book, “Water From a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality From Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries” (IVP Books, 364 pages, $22).
In a starred review for Publishers Weekly, the magazine’s reviewer wrote that the book “offers a compelling history of spirituality. While many such histories focus on the early martyrs of the faith and medieval mystics, Sittser’s singular study demonstrates that contemporary Christians drink from a deep well of spiritual practices as they become part of the cloud of witnesses to the faith.”
Book talk
“Tinman Book Club (“My Sister’s Keeper,” by Jodi Picoult), 6 p.m. Wednesday, Tinman Art Gallery, 811 W. Garland Ave. Call (509) 325-1500.