 | Three cheers: my novel Student Body made the 2014 Independent Authors Honors List, literary fiction category, of Australian writer and reviewer Tabitha Ormiston-Smith: http://topcatsalley.blogspot.com/2015/02/independent-authors-my-2014-honours-list.html?showComment=1423364226393#c4137229641643628472. From comments she made in the review of my book, and those of others, on Amazon and Goodreads, Ormiston-Smith seems to be a fine and eclectic reader, and a good sport as well, and I am both honored and touched. Rafeeq |
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 The 90% discount sale for the sensual, poignant drama Student Body begins at 9:00am Pacific on Monday, September 15th, with the $9.99 Kindle edition available for only 99 cents! The price will increase a dollar a day thereafter, with the sale ending Monday the 21st.
Charming young professor-to-be Rick O’Donnell seems to have it all, but he also hides a desperate secret: his brief, passionate affair with a beautiful girl who had been his own student just the semester before, and who now is a fellow teaching assistant with an office right down the hall from his. If the truth comes out, he will lose everything—his once-promising career, his marriage, perhaps even his life. This novel is the frank and intimate tale of a harrowing week and a half which will decide a deeply conflicted man’s entire future…and the lives of the women who love him. Hailed as “vivid” and “emotional,” “smoothly presented” and “carefully crafted,” with an “unexpected conclusion…both believable and satisfying,” Student Body on September 15th at last can be downloaded for your enjoyment at deep discount: http://www.amazon.com/Student-Body-Rafeeq-O-McGiveron-ebook/dp/B00IICK44Y/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1410640161.
 Student Body is, shall we say, a tad allusive—hopefully enjoyably rather than pretentiously so—to an eclectic range of works from Milton and Shakespeare through things like the Beatles and Bob Dylan. That’s just the way my mind works, apparently, so it’s how my prose goeth as well.
I wondered if any readers might wish to comment on what they found as their favorite allusion(s) in the novel, so I posted the question to Goodreads. I would love to hear back if anyone happens to stumble upon the query and then has a sec or two to respond. Any takers, dear literate folks...? Rafeeq  At last, after nearly 2 solid years of joyous artistic slavery, Student Body was released yesterday on Amazon.
Some wiseacre reminded me that this was Valentine’s Day, and in retrospect, I guess I have to admit that this is rather fitting, really. The novel is, after all, not just intellectually and artistically curious but deeply romantic as well. In a way, although the protagonist may not quite realize it, the book is a love story—two, actually, revealed bit by bit in achingly heartfelt reminiscences through which we can examine one seemingly self-assured young man not only at his most roguishly swaggering but also at his most unguarded and vulnerable. In Student Body we will not, as my main character sniffs of James Joyce’s Ulysses, explore obscure Christian heresies and turn-of-the-century Irish politics and the question of which of the author’s neighbors lived on what street, but we will indeed cover—emotionally, artistically, and intellectually—a fair bit of ground. Perhaps I am an old softy. But I believe I have captured something, or a number of somethings, about the human condition that are worthy of exploration, and are entertaining as well. I hope readers may come to think so, too. Rafeeq  Oops--just picked up a "new" (to me) copy of Starship Troopers, and after scanning, I realized that I apparently hadn't posted the previous one I had gotten either... Now, therefore, in my Heinlein Cover Art area, on the Scribner's YA page we have two new covers, plus a back.
In addition, very soon I expect to publish my novel, Student Body, on Amazon. There will definitely be another blog post then! Rafeeq  Well, as of June 2013, my former intended publisher has stopped putting out new books, so Student Body (previously planned cover art at left) now is back on the market. On the one hand, this is sharply disappointing, because at under 3 months before planned release, the project had been so close to fruition that I could almost taste it. On t'other hand, though...well, although the process is time-consuming and exhausting, it is indeed always exciting to look for new opportunities at another press. So I guess we'll just see how it goes, eh?
Rafeeq  I just picked up a weird Heinlein edition called Four Frontiers, a new-ish repackaging of his first four Scribner's juveniles (Rocket Ship Galileo, 1947; Space Cadet, 1948; Red Planet, 1949; and Farmer in the Sky, 1950) in one big hardcover volume at Schuler Books. I have all these novels, of course—often in more than one copy, really—but I just couldn't turn down the art with its Percival-Lowell-type Mars on back.
In addition, on general principle I deepened Sample #4 of my upcoming novel Student Body by backing up for a greater lead-in. I think now it gives a better flavor of what's going on. Finally, I received word from my editor at MyGreenPublisher that the novel is scheduled for release on August 23. I have been looking forward to this for quite some time, so it's very exciting to see the date set at last. Rafeeq  After hemming and hawing for awhile, I at last have added a 5th sample from Student Body, my forthcoming novel. Really, after the first few samples it grows more and more difficult to select any succeeding ones, because while I have deep fondness for particular sections, quoting them would reveal a bit more of the secrets and surprises of the plot than I want. Still, I hope the selection I have posted on the site will give potential readers a fair flavor of the text and characters so that they know what, later, they would be purchasing.
Finally, for my next irregularly scheduled update, I believe I will try to scan and add another decent whack of cover art in my "Other SF Art" section. That gives me—and perhaps other afficionados of science fiction as well—something to look forward to... Rafeeq |
AuthorAuthor of several dozen pieces of literary criticism, reference entries, and reviews; novel Student Body; memoir Tiger Hunts, Thunder Bay, and Treasure Chests; how-to The Bibliophile's Personal Library; humorous Have You Ever Been to an Irishman's Shanty?; some poetry; and quite a bit of advising/Banner training materials. Archives
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