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Author Comment:

River by the Glass is an eclectic 212-page collection of poems that explores life and the living of it. River by the Glass is a collection of poems spanning two decades. The poems, says publisher of River by the Glass, Ron Pickup of GlenHill Publications, contain a whimsical wit and metaphysical humor ~ poems such as “Carp” or “Eye” ~ and such poems as “A Poet” or “Yellow the Dead Canary.” With biting humor and haunting verse, found in “Chester and the Bluebird” and “On the Fence,” the poems reflect visual puzzles and conundrums of life, thus the viewing of the River ~ by Glass ~ through lenses, windows, screens, mirrors, and drinking vessels. Rose recalls a time in her childhood when her barefoot ways met the barbarism in the human defacement of nature ~ broken beer bottles with ugly shards of brown glass marring the lovely boulders, sand, and water purity of her favorite river haunt, the Kern River. She could never understand how people could deface the lovely places in our lives ~ the only kind of refuge from the asphalt and concrete world that levels our aspirations and deadens our nerves and senses. Yet, in a strange kaleidoscopic way, those shards of glass that derived from sand and water, seemed to glitter and demand meaning for being what they were ~ products and reality. They existed and they were there, clashing with the ideal of what she envisioned. This collection is her way of cleansing some of the unpure places in the human heart and exploring the mysteries in human behavior as well as the natural movements in nature. It is a celebration of life in the natural and unnatural worlds that collide within, and without us. Yet, it’s not a collection of judgment and critical pointing of fingers. It’s also a glimpse into the quirky behaviors of man as well. The leaving of loved ones and the world of dementia ~ the meeting with a deer that connects the aspects of wild and tame ~ parthenogenesis, gold panning, gardening, skipping stones, finding a harmonica in the river sand ~ making coffee in the morning ~ the dying of friends ~ the haunting by a black dog when even holy water couldn’t protect enough ~ contemplating the breaking of a bull pine limb while a couple sleeps ~ the celebration of a woman’s cycle of birthing coming to an end with the flow of the “Tuolumne River” ~ and poems that whimsically explore love through visions and images of the particular, spilling into the universal. All of these and more… Take a sip of River by the Glass and quench your thirst. You may find yourself drinking harder than you thought.

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Books and anthologies with editing work by Monika Rose

River by the Glass River by the Glass front cover small, A Collection of Poems by Monika Rose

Released, April 2011- 212 pages, 85 poems, photography by Tuolumne County talent Ron Pickup

River photography includes Tuolumne River, Clavey River, Stanislaus River, and more….

Publisher, GlenHill Productions, Soulsbyville

Purchase on this site.  $21.95, add shipping and tax: $28.50

 

 

 

 

Wild Edges: volume 6 of Manzanita – Poetry and Prose of the Mother Lode and Sierra

Editor: Monika Rose – Published Aug. 2010 – pub. Manzanita Writers Press – 216 pages featuring over 100 poets and fiction writers from California and the U.S. Over 30 photographers and artists featuring their work – a 16-page full color glossy spread by talented artists and photographers of the Mother Lode and Sierra – Purchase from Manzanita Writers Press for $15.00.  2,000 printed – 1,000 remaining        Wild Edges - volume 6 Manzanita anthology front coveradd tax and shipping

 Some of the writers featured: J.P. Dancing Bear, Mara Feeney, Taylor Graham, Ted Laskin, Linda Field, Jim Lanier, Ron Pickup, Helene Pilibosian, Jackie Richmond, Monika Rose, Andy Shupala, Allegra Silberstein, Laura Snyder, Norine Radaikin, Jackie Rogers, William Keener, Bill Gainer, Michael Lee Johnson, Brad Buchanan, Zoe Keithley, Shelley Muniz, Joseph Milosch, Kathy Isaac-Luke, Kevin Arnold, Moira Magneson, Barbara Leon, W.F. Lantry, Carol Ann Lindsay, James Jacobs, Jodi Hottel, Gail Entrekin, Johm Fitch, Maureen Flannery, Lara Gularte, Dianna Henning, Lisa Gelfand, Connie Corcoran, Sandy Crepps, Chrissy Davis, Donald Anderson, Dawn Bonker, David Anderson, Marta Brady, Barbara Bass, Tim Bellows, Gary Cooke, Alan Cohen, Leslie Bailey, Marcia Adams, Glenn Wasson, Dorothy Wake, Andrena Zawinski, Patricia Wellingham-Jones, Daniel Williams, Paul Willis, Brigit Truex, David Sullivan, Michael Spinetta, Robert Walton, Anne Wilson, Paula Sheil, Dave Self, Michele Rugo, Dave Seter, Scott Siegel, Anne Privateer, Mark Redfearn, Marie Ross, Nick Samaras, Zara Raab, and many more…

Cover photo by Paul Neal

 

Manzanita Volume 5 – released Sept. 2008 – 1,500 copies published – 400 remaining

Over 100 writers and artists featured – still in print Manzanita volume 5 Front cover – cover photo by John Doane

Editor: Monika Rose

Published by Writers Unlimited, sells for 15.00 plus tax, shipping

 Back cover volume 5 – photo by Ron Pickup

Poem by Jackie Richmond

Manzanita volume 5 back cover - photo by Ron Pickup - poem by Jackie Richmond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manzanita – volume 4  – over 100 writers and artists featuredManzanita volume 4 Front cover

Editor, Monika Rose – published by Writers Unlimited, 2006

Now, Manzanita Writers Press

published 2006 – 1,200 copies printed – 50 remain – sells for 15.00

Cover photo by Ron Pickup of Soulsbyville – lovely Manzanita blossoms frosted by a surprise snowstorm in the late spring

 

 

 

Ted Laskin’s collection of Short Stories and Essays

George A. Custer, Please Come to the White Courtesy Phone

Available from the author and Manzanita Writers Press

17.95 plus shipping and handling – 8.25 % tax – total: 23.00

George A. Custer, Please Come to the White Courtesy Phone - by Ted LaskinEditing work: Monika Rose  – Ed. Manzanita Writers Press, 2010

Joy Roberts – chief editor  on the project

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glenn Wasson’s collection of poetry, essays, and flash fiction

Tales Mark Twain Would Have Loved to Steal – revised edition

Tales Mark Twain Would Have Loved to Steal - revised edition - by Glenn WassonEditing work, Monika Rose, Joy Roberts: 2008 and 2010 (2 volumes)

Winner of the Readers Choice Humor Award

Available for 21.95   plus shipping, and 8.25 % CA tax

Total 28.50. 

Publisher: Manzanita Writers Press

Contact author via press

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getty Ambau’s Young Adult Novel

Desta and King Solomon’s Coin of MagicDesta and King Solomon's Coin

Monika Edited: 2009 and 2010  (not exclusively)

Manuscript also reviewed by Lodi High students

 

Paul Stein’s New Book

Be sure to check out Paul Stein’s web site as he has a new novel out called The Fourth Law. At first I thought it was the typical guy’s guy book, with commandoes breaking into a lab through the roof of the Stanford facility, Navy Seal style, but then, as I read further, I discovered it was more than a sci-fi thriller, with two brilliant, competing cousins going too far in trying to one-up each other, moving into the dangerous destruction of their lives.

It is a book about family relationships gone awry, as life sometimes forces things to go. I told Paul I cried three times in the novel – my heart aching for the family split into so many fragments. It’s a good read. The very cool part is the scientific writing and plausibility of the anti-gravity machine designed by one of the cousins–the Stanford professor.

You’ll like the book. Go to Paul’s web site:  www.paul-stein.com