Saturday, December 14, 2019

James Martin Peebles The Man, The Mystic, The Seeker of Truth, Historical Biography by Linda Pendleton

New Nonfiction Book by Linda Pendleton,

James Martin Peebles, The Man, The Mystic, The Seeker of Truth. Historical Biography 1822-1922



“If I know my own heart, it beats in accord with the divine effort to better humanity, and throbs in tenderest love toward all races and the people of all lands.”~Dr. James Martin Peebles, Immortality, 1880

A compelling historical biography of an extraordinary man, James Martin Peebles, an intellectual, reformer, physician, author, who, with his remarkable achievements and his fascinating life story is a testament to the connection between creativity, freedom of thought, and humanity, all embraced and overshadowed by the world of spirit. 



~Linda 

Friday, July 5, 2019

Publishing on the Moon






Publishing on the Moon:
On this day in 1994, Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com. As an author, publisher and disabled shopper, I thank him. I’ve been with Amazon for over 20 years now, and they reminded me of that with a gift recently.  I recall my resistance to using my credit card online—but I believe in the beginning I could call and give my card over the phone.  Jeff Bezos had said back then, he wanted the biggest bookstore in the world.  It reminds me of the publishing contract Don Pendleton had with the late New York publisher, Donald I. Fine, which included Fine’s publishing rights on the Moon.  (Don and I laughed, at the time)  Maybe that is what Bezos is working toward with his space program.  After all, Jeff Bezos is a visionary, and thank goodness, he is.  I never could have published 78 books, and also foreign language books at foreign Amazons—without Jeff Bezos’ vision.   

~Linda Pendleton



 

Friday, June 7, 2019

While Writing






"Often while writing I haven't the faintest idea where a line came from, or a character, or an idea. Very often they come while I sleep, in the shower, while shaving, while hurtling along a crowded freeway in my car–and sometimes they come with such force that I am half-crazy until I can get somewhere and write them down. If you don't write them down quickly, you often lose them because they surface very briefly in the shifting seas of consciousness and then disappear back into the chaos. But most often and most routinely these inner movements come to me while I am seated at the keyboard and inviting them to come dance with me."
–Don Pendleton, A Search for Meaning From the Surface of a Small Planet


Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Stewart Edward White, early 20th Century Writer





The beginning of adventure novels for men—1901-1920 period.    
A few months ago, I wrote an article for Paperback Parade about Steward Edward White, an early 20th century writer of popular adventure, Westerns, and nonfiction about birds and nature.  He was a conservationist, naturalist, and big game hunter, and his love for nature, conservation, and adventure were to become very much a part of his literary works over his long career.  He enjoyed writing about pioneers, the West, logging, gold mining, and nature.  Stewart once said his books, including his novels, were stories based upon his actual experiences.   
Stewart’s first book, The Westerner was published in 1901.  He was twenty-eight years of age.  That was the beginning of his successful literary career and he would go on to publish more than 50 books and short stories, including Westerns, pioneer and adventure stories, children stories, and nonfiction, over his career that lasted until his death in 1946.
Two of his novels, The Blazed Trail (1902) and the Riverman (1908) were about logging in Michigan.  His  book, The Forty-niners, the California Gold Rush (1918) is an excellent book on the gold rush.   A number of his novels were made into movies and television series.  I've written new Introduction to some of his books. 
As the 19th century was coming to an end, literature centered around women's fiction, written by women.  Best-sellers were stories of childhood, sentimentality, sugary optimism, and overcoming adversity leading to happiness.  It was the success of Jack London's Call of the Wild (1903) that apparently identified the need for men's novels.  According to The Popular Book: A History of American Literary Taste, by James D. Holt and published 1950 by University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Jack London's story "was a perfect symbol of masculine yearning for the primitive."
Holt stated that "other men wrote books largely for their own sex and came to the forefront of popularity with fiction about the outdoor life, set mainly in the Yukon popularized by London, or on the last frontiers of the Northwestern United States and Canada.  Among the most popular authors of this school were Stewart Edward White, Rex Beach, and James Oliver Curwood, all of whom came to prominence just after the opening of the century and made the best-seller lists off and on into the 1920's with new novels, or stayed in high popularity through reprints." 
I was interested in Stewart Edward White partly because of his later nonfiction writing of the paranormal and life after death.  In these nonfiction books he treated the adventure into the world of spirit in very much the same way as he did all his other adventurous journeys throughout his life.  The style of writing reflected that enthusiastic sense of adventure and exploration, even though it was a journey into the unknown, into the self, and into the after-life.  He was able to write about the adventures beyond the veil in very much the same passionate way he wrote about nature and the earthly frontier.    


Tuesday, February 19, 2019

The Executioner, Don Pendleton Creates Mack Bolan 50 Year Anniversary book



Don Pendleton Creates Mack Bolan



50 Years Ago, Don Pendleton envisioned a fictional character that would soon become a literary bestseller and a phenomenon through which the new action/adventure genre emerged.  Mack Bolan, a professional soldier, highly trained and skilled in the use of military tactics and weapons makes a life-altering decision after the tragic death of his family—his war is at home, not in the bloody fields of Vietnam.  Mack Bolan takes on a one-man war against the evils and corruption of the Mafia.  



This book gives Don Pendleton's insights into the creation of his fictional character, Mack Bolan, and explores why Bolan continues the popularity with readers many decades after he was created. 



Linda Pendleton, wife of the late Don Pendleton shares a look-back at two inspiring men, one, a talented author, the other, a skilled fictional hero.  Don Pendleton's Original Executioner Series of 37 novels, and a Mack Bolan Short Story, continues to be published for fans and new readers to enjoy.  

Now at Kindle and in print.  Coming to other ebook retailers on March 1st