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I’m blessed to have warm and interesting friends, some of
whom are, in addition, gifted writers. Here are a few of my
favorites among things they have written.
 My
friend Sandra Worth amazes me with the sensitivity and
beauty of her writing. Her three book ROSE OF YORK series,
LOVE AND WAR, CROWN OF DESTINY, and FALL FROM GRACE won the
Grand Prize in the 2000 Authorlink Competition, first place
in the 2002 Gardenia Press Annual First Novel Competition,
and first place prize in the 2003 Bay Area Writers League
Open Manuscript Competition. The first book, LOVE AND WAR,
is now available. This powerful book, impeccably written,
with its tender love story and brilliant analysis of Richard
III’s legacy, convinced me that Shakespeare completely
misjudged this remarkable king who reformed the jury system.
Not since ATLAS SHRUGGED have I been so deeply moved.
For more information and to see the movie, go to
www.sandraworth.com.
 Christopher
Woods, my supportive writing mentor and friend, is the
dynamic author of HEART SPEAK, a collection of monologues
for men and women.
Chris is a Houston novelist, dramatist, short story writer
and poet. His plays have been produced off-Broadway and
elsewhere throughout the United States. He is the recipient
of a Mary Roberts Rinehart Foundation grant and residencies
from the Ucross Foundation and the Edward Albee foundation.
This latest in his series of successes takes a fresh look at
the human condition, through the unusual medium of
monologues. Portions of the book were produced as their
season opener in 2002 by the Sol Theatre Project in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida.
The twenty monologues, ten for men and ten for women, will
hit a nerve. Those who have lived long enough and fully
enough to understand love and loss, desire and emptiness,
laughter and despair, will recognize familiar feelings in
HEART SPEAK.
Chris grabs your interest with his unconventional, quirky
characters, and leaves you wanting more. What happened to
Blossom, once she said no to the wealthy Chinese lover who
asked to change one small detail of her body? And what of
Connie, the teen-aged rebel, kicking out windows in her
struggle to escape the New Testament Therapy of Doctor
Valbona?
The men in these monologues resonate with longing and anger
and desperation. You won’t forget their passion for life.
From the Widower holding fast to his memories to the Wild
Man, with his frenetic dance, the exciting, edgy, evocative
characters have found the perfect vehicle for their
expression.
The price of HEART SPEAK is $12.00, plus tax and postage.
It is available from::
Stone River Press
2003 Corral
Houston, TX 77090
281-440-6701
www.stoneriverpress.com
 Chris’s
other recent book, is a collection of prose poems and brief
fiction.
How do I choose a favorite poem among Chris’s sensitive,
perceptive collection, UNDER A RIVERBED SKY?
I am haunted by "Woman in Stone." It led me from one layer
of meaning to another, and each time I thought I understood
all the poet meant to convey, I was drawn deeper.
"The Well" spoke with a weary, but gentle voice, of death
and other endings, of making peace with them .
"If I See Her Again" cut straight to the bone. I thought,
"Yes, that's how it was. That's what I felt." Emotions long
forgotten washed over me.
To me, the validity of poetry, its reason for being, is to
act as a mirror held before our souls and then as a
kaleidoscope, displaying the colors of our deepest selves,
reflected a thousand times by others. Christopher Woods'
poetry does exactly that.
The price of UNDER A RIVERBED SKY is $16.95.
Publisher: Panther Creek Press.
It is available on Amazon.com.
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