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Maestro Orpheus and The World Clock
Ten-year-old Fred is visiting his grandfather, who loves to repair old clocks. But Fred would rather be anywhere else in the world, as the constant ticking of his grandfather’s many clocks prevents him from sleeping! But as the clocks strike midnight, a strange adventure begins for Fred, as he encounters the elderly Maestro Orpheus, Winder of the World Clock. Entering a vast otherworldly dimension, Fred discovers the importance of time as he explores the stories of those who came before. Together with Maestro Orpheus and the singing Lyre, Fred must face his fears as they work together to protect time for everyone.
The audiobook Maestro Orpheus and the World Clock is created by Robert Pennee and Joanne Grodzinski. This gentle adventure story strikes the perfect balance of whimsy and reality. The audiobook version enhances the story and is simply splendid, with beautifully performed classical music, engaging sound effects, and wonderful voice acting, adding even more magic to this fantastic tale.
I love good stories about time travel, and I love music, so this adventure was a perfect one-stop-shop of wonder. The storytelling is well-paced, and although a few slightly serious themes are encountered, they are handled expertly, making them appropriate for children. I also loved that the importance of music was a keystone of the book, with stories of famous composers woven throughout the narrative. In addition, the kind yet mysterious Maestro Orpheus, the inquisitive Fred, and the magical Lyre all add their own special element to the story. I simply can’t speak highly enough of this magical tale.
At just over an hour long, Maestro Orpheus and the World Clock is suitable for all ages and a perfect fit for storytime together on a chilly winter’s eve. This is an incredible story with excellent narration, acting, and lovely musical accompaniment. This whimsical tale of music, magic and the importance of time is a classic sure to find a permanent place in your heart.
Listening Length 1 hour and 4 Min | ASIN : B09XWVW9XM
Musical Soul Mates: A Girl Who Hears Music Everywhere
Musical Soul Mates is a beautiful children’s book about a girl and her love for music. The story follows young Eleanora as she dances and sings the day away. Although she’s having fun now, she’s nervous about Show and Tell at school tomorrow. Luckily, her friend Aria is there to help her come up with a solution that will help her show the class who she is and what she is passionate about. The class, and readers, will learn that music is all around us.
Author Cindy B Witty has created an educational children’s book that shows how important music can be to a person. If your child listens to music all the time, just like Eleanora, then they will love this children’s book. This book creatively shows how music can come to life and help us when we need it.
The colorful artwork by illustrator Estelle Corke really brings Eleanora to life. Readers will be able to easily identify her emotions and all of her actions throughout the story, which is important because Eleanora moves with the music.
Musical Soul Mates: A Girl Who Hears Music Everywhere is an educational children’s book that will show young readers how to handle stress with music and will show all children that music is in everything. Highly recommended to anyone who has a passion for music, or parents with kids that need help overcoming their anxiety.
Pages: 32 | ASIN: B0BFG1C86Z
What Could Have Inspired Them
Icarus Flies Home follows a Jazz bassist as he tries to publish his great-great uncle’s lost music, only to discover someone else has claimed the rights to it. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
We took a tour of one of the biggest former plantations in the South. As we toured the home and went into the parlor, the guide told talked about the famous people who had likely spent time there, including literary and film stars, people like George and Ira Gershwin. Maybe they had even passed through at some point. As a musician, I wondered what could have inspired them and what if, I wondered, they had heard something that influenced their own musical compositions?
Beauregard (“Bo”) Sonski-Abbott wants to honor a lost relative but has to overcome unbelievable odds to do so. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
He’s torn because he wants to think the best of people. He also doesn’t know how to wrap his mind around something so profound, that his relative lived his life enslaved and all he must have endured. He was a musician and Bo was trying to understand how one could still find joy amid the horrors and tragedy in a life like that.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Legacy, family relationships, love, marriage, and who really owns a song; the idea of intellectual property when a person had been stripped of all rights.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
By this fall/2022! A murder mystery about a sax player. There’s a pretty obscure event in jazz history that this book explores. It takes place in Brooklyn, NY and St. Petersburg (Russia).
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Website
Jazz bassist Beauregard (“Bo”) Sonski-Abbott finds himself reeling after learning an aging Broadway producer may have stolen a song written by his distant relative: a great-great uncle who was enslaved on one of the biggest plantations in Georgia. Bo’s journey to unravel the truth takes him from the music scene of New York to Washington, DC, only to be sidetracked by a much younger woman who threatens to tear apart his marriage and his career.
Deep In The Dark With The Art
Matteo Urella’s Deep In The Dark With The Art is a non-fiction, collaborative work filled with the voices of various creatives who have been inspired by 90s hip-hop group, the Wu-Tang Clan. This work is a celebration of urban music and culture, and the impact that this particular Staten Island-based group has had on generations of artists and hip-hop enthusiasts. With explanations behind iconic pieces of album art coupled with anecdotal stories, this text evokes a heady nostalgia for the rap scene as it was when the Wu-Tang Clan first broke into the mainstream.
Packed with dynamic illustrations and interesting trivia, Deep In The Dark With The Art will likely be a hit with hip-hop and art fans alike. From painstakingly hand-drawn images to digital pieces that were cutting edge at the time, this book explores the potent influence that Wu-Tang’s music had on those enlisted to create their album art. Even for those previously ambivalent towards or unaware of the group, the devotion pouring out of this book towards the Wu-Tang Clan is infectious.
I felt that, at times, the glimpses into the artistic process could be slightly more in-depth. I found this book to be most entertaining when read in individual sections, rather than in long sittings because, while unique and insightful, each segment is not necessarily connected to the one proceeding it. While the book is not written with a narrative structure, it is an enjoyable tabletop read because it is visually and linguistically striking.
Deep In The Dark With The Art makes one thing clear; the Wu-Tang mythos still carries an undeniable power and ability to inspire lifelong loyalty in its fans.
Pages: 238 | ISBN: 1735206903
Who They Really Are Inside
Drummond follows a young boy who struggles with fitting in and joins the marching band where he starts learning who he is inside. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
Well, I was very much inspired by the illustrations for my Drummy Drum Joins Marchy Band children’s book. Emily Hogan, my illustrator, did a fantastic job depicting Drummy as a drum among humans. I kept asking myself why is he a drum and everyone else is human? I quickly realized that his outward appearance was actually who he was on the inside! I had to expand on that idea, and the most logical place was for the next oldest readers, young adults. Although this is a work of fiction, Drummond is very much myself. In fact, most of what happens throughout the story are events that occurred when I first joined marching band. Some chapters are completely made-up storylines, but the feelings conveyed are genuine feelings we’ve all experienced in our young lives, musicians or not. Drummond, the title, gives the implication of drums, which is who he is on the inside. He just needs to find that out for himself!
Drummond goes through a lot of normal teenage troubles, but music becomes his safe haven. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
Drummond’s character development is the same as what I went through as a young adult, which is what drove this story home. My hope is that most young readers find who they are in similar ways! I want people to understand that nobody knows who they really are inside until they truly seek that information out. Don’t let life happen to you by accident, young readers. Forge a path if at all possible. I know, I know, it’s so much more easily said than done. But sometimes you have to look deep, and often it takes until you’re in your forties before you find it. Drummond doesn’t know who he is, the name gave him a clue, but it was up to him to seek it out and find out who he was inside. Lucky for him, he found himself in the music at age 13, but please don’t stop until you also find something within yourself!
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
There are so many themes and literary devices that I utilize and lean on throughout the book. The primary theme is about trusting who you are inside, and that you don’t need to change who you are to fit in. It also goes deeper than that too since older readers can also relate to this theme when finding themselves in new situations throughout life. I love the idea that readers can see that Drummond is destined to play the drums, it’s in his name! Yet Drummond doesn’t see that for himself for half the book, and it takes the other half to actually believe it. This is exactly the same concept as my children’s book Drummy, except using words to portray Drummond as a drummer rather than images. In fact, it might be the case that his name isn’t even Drummond, that’s just the way the reader portrays who he is on the inside! Drummond has a gift of talent, but he still needed to fail in order to realize that gift. Had Drummond not failed he may not have been as successful. You need to find out who you are, and fail along the way, to truly succeed in life.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
My book projects tend to pop up sporadically, but I’ve always wanted to write a book about toasters! I could get into a whole song and dance about my obsession with toasters and how it was all bestowed upon me. Instead, I’ll just note that I’m a member of the Toaster Collectors Association and have a huge collection of antique toasters, parts, and accessories. If I were to ever write a book about toasters, it would have to be something like a book of recipes from simple to advanced and would all revolve around the toaster as the only appliance needed. I’m imagining delectable simple dishes like lightly toasted bread, perfect toast with butter, and burnt toast. Then all the way to advanced dishes like London broil using only a toaster, is that even possible? We may just have to find out. Stay tuned!
Author Links: GoodReads | Website
Euphoric Wonderland
Music is an incredible force, with the power to unite people of all backgrounds over universal themes and make every kind of situation seem valid and surmountable. It also can inspire, as it does here for Ryan Becker in his poetry collection Euphoric Wonderland. Sprinkled with great references to many bands and a plethora of iconic songs, Becker creates a roadmap through his imagination, using the music he loves as the most important landmarks.
The book’s prologue is an open letter to the music and the artists that sparked the journey for Becker, giving a brief idea of what clicked for him as he listened. It focuses heavily on The Beatles, who have been well-known inspirations to countless writers, artists, and other musicians since their time. These open letters, which contain their own distinct rhythm and read as times like confessions, continue to pop up periodically throughout the book, simultaneously praising and paying homage to the music Becker has discovered.
The poetry itself is expressive and captivating. I feel that the rhyming pattern was distracting, and I would’ve liked the poems to be more free-flowing. One of the appeals for writers and readers alike is the freedom to construct a thought outside the traditional writing restrictions, especially when it comes to poetry. Becker does a fantastic job conveying emotions in his poems, making them a powerful read. One key thing the author does well is references the music that has presumably inspired his writing. There is a great deal of music history hidden here, called out either in names, song titles, and personal stories of the artists. He is masterful in discreetly incorporating things that may not be obvious in his writing. This is a nice treat because there is something new to find in Becker’s poetry, especially when read more than once.
I immensely enjoyed finding all the musical references throughout though I am sure I may have missed some. Poetry is hugely subjective and personal when it comes to the level of enjoyment, for any music lover these entertaining poems will inspire you.
Euphoric Wonderland is a humorous and engaging collection of poetry. The musical reference will bring on feelings of nostalgia for older generations, and serve as a rich and diverse introduction to younger generations that may not be as familiar with the music that inspired the works here.
Pages: 96 | ASIN : B09WHG11FP
Caravan of Pain
“A successful failure, and the honor of a lifetime.” The single line sums up the author Scott Alderman’s thoughts perfectly regarding his tour project for 2000, ‘Tattoo the Earth.’ In Caravan of Pain, Scott Alderman shares the many escapades that followed the catalyzing of his dream, ‘Tattoo the Earth’ tour, the first concert tour to combine tattoo and metal music worlds. As an initiative taken when tattooing was still underground and illegal in many parts of the U.S., this, however, wasn’t the only setback in the 2000 tour. The upfront memoir acquaints the reader with the behind-the-scenes resilience and determination involved in operating the unprecedented multi-day festival and tour.
A ten-chapter narrative, the book follows up Tattoo the Earth tour from its conception to completion, along with the many in-betweens of the challenges encountered along the way. From the unbosoming the seed of the concept to handling its various aspects, including the selection of bands and tattoo artists, and not to mention setting aside their skepticism and emotional weariness about being a part of something that’s practically a virgin idea, these chapters open the lid on stress, depression and the effects on those involved.
Caravan of Pain presents blatantly the stark image of musical bands and tattooing industries, and the genuine reaction from the audience in the late 1900s. It covers many prominent musical bands like Slipknot, Coal Chamber, Seven Dusts, and Slayer, along with the twenty metal brands of the time, and the eminent tattoo artists, all of which help to convey the pop culture of the time in a way that could not have been conveyed any more energetically. The images from the book, including those of the band artists as well as the tattooists, convey the colors and culture of the time while stirring readers’ interest in the various artists even more by letting them connect to them.
While depicting every aspect of his novel tour, the author has worn his heart on his sleeves. He has been open and sincere in his judgments on his associates, his corporate jobs, and even his questioning of the righteousness of his own conduct while putting the dream tour together. While bringing the reader closer to the reality behind the cool and hunky tattooists and band artists, as well as their lively and carefree lifestyle, the reader is also shown their true struggle to navigate life’s internal politics.
Caravan of Pain is a genuine story of perseverance, courage, resilience, and the harsh realities of the entertainment industry’s ruthless dealings. I recommend it for its candid narrative accompanied by witty comedy that covers a good deal of the history of music and tattooing. It’s a must-read for fans of 1990s pop culture and metal music.
Pages: 182 | ASIN: B09P5RJ9L5
A Sense Of Creativity
Guitar provides clear instruction and advice so readers can learn how to play the guitar and have fun doing it. Why was this an important book for you to write?
Yes, it was. What inspired me was the harmonics of the half-way points of the string tensions.
What is a common hurdle new guitar players face and how can they overcome it?
Trying to practice songs from books. But if you get the songs down and listen to yourself sound like someone else, it makes you think (big deal). Now, that’s getting ahead of yourself.
What is one piece of advice you would give to any aspiring guitarist?
Keep your guitar tuned. It really makes a difference.
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your book?
A sense of creativity.
Author Links: Workbookpress | Kendolly.net | KenJacksonBook.com
LITERARY TITAN 