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A WOMAN'S SONG, the poetry collection by Diana May-Waldman, brings us poetic reflections on what it is to be a woman in the world today. Her uncensored words are raw and real with her kick to the gut style expressing her passion and a story of survival. May-Waldman writes about the unfortunate challenges in the lives of women: rape, violence, inequality, and dealing with relationships that are often unbalanced. The poems reflect the contradictions of the woman’s song – the hate, the love, the lust, the anguish, the bitterness and, on the other hand, the softness, that are all parts of the full dimensions of being and surviving as a woman. Her emotions are the palate from which the pages of this book are painted. In A Woman’s Song, Diana May-Waldman gives you a clear, direct look into the heart of a woman. With the sharpness of the words and images, this is a book that will disturb, shock you, and bring you to your knees, staring reality in the face. This is a book that will truly move you.
What they've been saying about A WOMAN'S SONG:
"A dazzlingly stark collection of poetry."
"May-Waldman's poetry portrays many challenges of being a woman--a surprising amount for such a slim volume--sad, loving, remembering, and suffering."
"[A]n endearing and empowering 21st century ode to women! Waldman's poetry speaks to many women and on many levels. She reveals hard core truths as well as self-told lies about the nature of being a woman."
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The crimes involved in the stories in PETTY OFFENSES AND CRIMES OF THE HEART may sometimes be petty – a man who leaves a bag of cat droppings on his neighbor’s doorstep after learning about his past – and sometimes involve criminal types (the career criminals in “My Life of Crime” and “Missing Pieces”). But more often the offenses involved are committed by and against ordinary people (the man in “The Nazi Next Door” who learns one evening, over a fence, that his neighbor’s father collaborated with the Nazis during World War II). And there are the mysterious offenders, such as the ambiguous interviewer in “Catching Up with Cartucci,” who unbeknownst to the interviewee, seems to have special knowledge and opinions about the latter. Some of the “crimes” in these stories run much deeper, are of a much more emotional nature. The offenders and victims in these tales have been much more tortured than by any run of the mill crime. Such as the mother in "Fortunate Son," whose son goes missing in action while on duty in Iraq, and the father in “The Duke of Broad Street” (nominated for a 2013 Pushcart Prize), who, twenty years after abandoning his daughter, shows up on her doorstep harboring a deep secret. Or the man in “A Ghost in Manhattan” who, during a lunch break, believes he sees his dead girlfriend in a crowd, walking the streets of Manhattan. Threads of danger and emotional trauma run through the fourteen stories in this collection. These are the dangers and traumas that we all risk in living our day to day to day lives, unaware of what may occur at any moment, or how our plans may be changed by the occurrence of one act, by one fateful moment. And in that moment our lives may be changed forever.
What people are saying about PETTY OFFENSES:
The stories in Mitchell Waldman’s PETTY OFFENSES AND CRIMES OF THE HEART startle a reader with sudden, uncompromising insight. They seem ordinary people engaged in ordinary lives until betrayals, accidents, and misfortune put the puzzles of their weak choices and unfair chance into stark relief when they are left with a kind of clarity they might have been happier not to have. Yet these stories are not moralistic judgments. Readers will come away from this book better for having spent time with Waldman’s well wrought characters, all sprung from the heart of an exacting writer gifted with compassion. --Perry Glasser, author of DANGEROUS PLACES
In Mitchell Waldman's PETTY OFFENSES AND CRIMES OF THE HEART, subtle paradoxes and paradigmatic shifts undermine the reader's sense of stable themes. As one example, "The Nazi Next Door" explores the relationship between two neighbors, the first our narrator and descendent of death-sentenced Jews, and the other, Borglund, the son of a Nazi collaborator. The narrator begins leaving poison-hearted gifts at Borglund's door, hoping to inflict shame upon a conscience he imagines as being free of guilt. Instead, the narrator shifts reader sympathy towards Borglund. In the final transition, a conversation reveals to both that, "thrown into the world" from the same historical events that bind their lives in opposite ways, only empathy lies in the void between them. In reaching this and other conclusions, Waldman's writing stays tight, even concise, and by not calling attention to itself all the more reveals everyday life as taking place on a far grander scale than we imagine.
-- Paul A. Toth, author of the 9-11 based AIRPLANE NOVEL
Waldman gives the reader a full buffet of crimes and offenses; from large to small, physical to mental and subtle to spectacular. There's something to chew on and sink your teeth into. --Timothy Gager, author of TREATING A SICK ANIMAL: FLASH AND MICRO FICTIONS
For those of you who enjoy olfactory metaphors, these beautifully crafted stories in Mitchell Waldman's collection “Petty Offences and Crimes of the Heart” can be described as “bitter sweet”. Each protagonist has a scar of some kind; an emotional wound which dictates their actions and the stories revolve around characters seeking to resolve these issues . . . . Some reach a level of greater wisdom and closure . . . . In other stories the characters do not enjoy the mixed blessings of “closure”, and some border on the macabre . . . . The lesson it seems from these stories is that you can use your life's experiences even when circumstances are beyond your control such as war or poverty and turn them around to move on and make choices or be a victim of your circumstances and allow them to control you. Either way there is a cause and a consequence of any action or choice . . . . Each of these stories can be read as self-contained compositions but I would recommend you read them in sequence to experience the themes to unfold as most satisfyingly do. --Dean Cowan, at Bookpleasures.com
We wrong ourselves as much as we wrong others. "Petty Offenses & Crimes of the Heart" is a collection of short fiction from Mitchell Waldman, who talks on many topics throughout recent history and the struggles to understand an impossible to understand world. With poignancy and wisdom peppered throughout, "Petty Offenses & Crimes of the Heart" is a read that is well worth considering, highly recommended. -- Midwest Book Review
. . . The stories [in "Petty Offenses and Crimes of the Heart"] leave the reader wondering who is the real criminal. . . .These characters have something to share -- something profound, something personal, and something that reveals a little about ourselves. --Muhammed Hassalani, at TCM Reviews
ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY AT AMAZON.
ORDER THE KINDLE VERSION.
~ ~ ~
What people are saying about PETTY OFFENSES:
The stories in Mitchell Waldman’s PETTY OFFENSES AND CRIMES OF THE HEART startle a reader with sudden, uncompromising insight. They seem ordinary people engaged in ordinary lives until betrayals, accidents, and misfortune put the puzzles of their weak choices and unfair chance into stark relief when they are left with a kind of clarity they might have been happier not to have. Yet these stories are not moralistic judgments. Readers will come away from this book better for having spent time with Waldman’s well wrought characters, all sprung from the heart of an exacting writer gifted with compassion. --Perry Glasser, author of DANGEROUS PLACES
In Mitchell Waldman's PETTY OFFENSES AND CRIMES OF THE HEART, subtle paradoxes and paradigmatic shifts undermine the reader's sense of stable themes. As one example, "The Nazi Next Door" explores the relationship between two neighbors, the first our narrator and descendent of death-sentenced Jews, and the other, Borglund, the son of a Nazi collaborator. The narrator begins leaving poison-hearted gifts at Borglund's door, hoping to inflict shame upon a conscience he imagines as being free of guilt. Instead, the narrator shifts reader sympathy towards Borglund. In the final transition, a conversation reveals to both that, "thrown into the world" from the same historical events that bind their lives in opposite ways, only empathy lies in the void between them. In reaching this and other conclusions, Waldman's writing stays tight, even concise, and by not calling attention to itself all the more reveals everyday life as taking place on a far grander scale than we imagine.
-- Paul A. Toth, author of the 9-11 based AIRPLANE NOVEL
Waldman gives the reader a full buffet of crimes and offenses; from large to small, physical to mental and subtle to spectacular. There's something to chew on and sink your teeth into. --Timothy Gager, author of TREATING A SICK ANIMAL: FLASH AND MICRO FICTIONS
For those of you who enjoy olfactory metaphors, these beautifully crafted stories in Mitchell Waldman's collection “Petty Offences and Crimes of the Heart” can be described as “bitter sweet”. Each protagonist has a scar of some kind; an emotional wound which dictates their actions and the stories revolve around characters seeking to resolve these issues . . . . Some reach a level of greater wisdom and closure . . . . In other stories the characters do not enjoy the mixed blessings of “closure”, and some border on the macabre . . . . The lesson it seems from these stories is that you can use your life's experiences even when circumstances are beyond your control such as war or poverty and turn them around to move on and make choices or be a victim of your circumstances and allow them to control you. Either way there is a cause and a consequence of any action or choice . . . . Each of these stories can be read as self-contained compositions but I would recommend you read them in sequence to experience the themes to unfold as most satisfyingly do. --Dean Cowan, at Bookpleasures.com
We wrong ourselves as much as we wrong others. "Petty Offenses & Crimes of the Heart" is a collection of short fiction from Mitchell Waldman, who talks on many topics throughout recent history and the struggles to understand an impossible to understand world. With poignancy and wisdom peppered throughout, "Petty Offenses & Crimes of the Heart" is a read that is well worth considering, highly recommended. -- Midwest Book Review
. . . The stories [in "Petty Offenses and Crimes of the Heart"] leave the reader wondering who is the real criminal. . . .These characters have something to share -- something profound, something personal, and something that reveals a little about ourselves. --Muhammed Hassalani, at TCM Reviews
ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY AT AMAZON.
ORDER THE KINDLE VERSION.
~ ~ ~
A FACE IN THE MOON is the story of a young man's journey down the winding road of first love and self-discover. The narrator, Jack Lohman, is an inexperienced twenty-two-year old, who was recently dumped by his first real girlfriend, and is soon to leave graduate school for who knows what. Enter Loni, a bright-eyed, free-spirited seventeen-year old who has had more than her share of experience -- she lost her virginity on her fourteenth birthday, has had more boyfriends and drugs than she cares to remember, as well as a nervous breakdown that she's trying her best to forget. From the moment Jack meets Loni, his life begins to change. She teaches him how to laugh, and makes him feel, for perhaps the first time in his life, that he can be loved without judgment. Yet, ironically, it is Loni's harsh self-evaluation that paralyzes her at times, turning the carefree, uninhibited woman/child into a speechless, listless teenager who laments the days when life used to be more fun. A FACE IN THE MOON is a story about two young lovers struggling to find each other and their ways in the world. And when a series of events keeps them apart longer than expected it becomes the story of whether their new love can survive the pressures of separation and emotional disturbance.
Here's what people have been saying about A FACE IN THE MOON:
From [the two protagonists,] two very different rebellious people, writer Waldman spins a Shakespearean-like tale with a twist. A story readers won't soon forget. . . The author fulfills the promise of his story. The emotional tides pull you first one way then the other. The rich characterizations and the deft narration all tend to hold the mind in awe as each heart tearing event transpires. . . you know these young people in this story. They are a part of your present, or your past. . . Mitchell Waldman is an author to watch. "A Face in the Moon" is just the beginning. Waldman's style, the grace with which his words flow through dark and troubling waters, offers each reader new hope even in the dark of the moon. I for one look forward to his next novel with great expectation. -- Tulsa World/Critic's Corner
A Face in the Moon is more than a coming of age story. Instead, it is an emotionally deep story that takes the reader so deep inside a lonely, sad young man readers will hold their breath knowing that they cannot escape until the book is finished. The story line focuses on the new love between Jack and Loni by leaving the audience to wonder if their relationship can survive the external attacks from friends and society and the internal battles caused by major insecurities. With more novels like his debut tale that demonstrates Mitchell Waldman's tremendous talent for genuine characters in real life settings, the author will not remain faceless for very long. -- BookReview.com
At its heart, this coming of age tale is about the life of a young graduate student . . . and his relationship with a young seventeen-year-old. . . But it's more than just a romance. It's about Jack's search for meaning in his life -- it's about family expectations, misunderstandings and disappointments. It's also about self-discovery and Jack's need to find what he wants out of life, and his search to discover what that illusive thing is....Author Waldman obviously took his time finding and developing his main characters, and got to know them very well before he started writing. Reading A Face in the Moon is like sitting on Jack's shoulder, watching with invisible expectation as he slogs his way through a very troubled time, filled with uncertainties and doubts about his life, his love, and his soul. A fine read, and well worth your time. -- The Road to Romance.
Although not my usual choice of fiction, I found A Face in the Moon an intense emotional, compelling read. . . .The characters in this are so believable, and the story still lingers in my mind even now that two other books have followed it. . . . This is a book that I think everyone could enjoy reading, no matter what their usual preferences. -- BookNet
In A Face In The Moon, Mitchell Waldman creates an interesting character study of two lost souls. The two main characters, Jack and Loni, are richly drawn, multi-faceted people with complex issues that bring them together and pull them apart. . . . This novel is full of riches, atmosphere and scenery, plot, excellent dialogue, and strong but flawed main characters delighted the senses of this reader. Other reviewers have called A Face In The Moon, "A Catcher In The Rye grown up." That very well may be true. -- Selling Writing Online
A Face in the Moon is intensely introspective and spans a spectrum of emotions from ecstasy to despair . . . it appears that Waldman intends to make an emotional connection with readers. That, he does well. It is a lengthy exploration of issues that sooner or later touch everyone. In that light, it's not so much a story to be told but rather a brief glimpse into the lives of a young man and woman struggling to find a place in life. It isn't about right and wrong but about perception and acceptance. About making the best choice with the cards you've been dealt and sometimes, just hoping you'll get a better hand tomorrow. -- The Charlotte Austin Review
A Face in the Moon . . . is a novel of the stresses about a quarter century ago of some "baby boomers" in finding their "heads" and landing on their feet while making decisions during college and shortly after . . . A Face in the Moon may be an eye-opener for readers not themselves of Jack Lohman's generation. Waldman's account of their wonderings and wanderings is detailed and his ear for their talk seems right . . . -- Bob Koch, WXXI-FM Radio
Mitchell Waldman presents to us a story that has young people leading much older lives. It's a harsh reality to know that what's in this book happens in real life. Read this book with an open heart and mind. -- The Book Review Cafe
ORDER AT AMAZON.
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Here's what people have been saying about A FACE IN THE MOON:
From [the two protagonists,] two very different rebellious people, writer Waldman spins a Shakespearean-like tale with a twist. A story readers won't soon forget. . . The author fulfills the promise of his story. The emotional tides pull you first one way then the other. The rich characterizations and the deft narration all tend to hold the mind in awe as each heart tearing event transpires. . . you know these young people in this story. They are a part of your present, or your past. . . Mitchell Waldman is an author to watch. "A Face in the Moon" is just the beginning. Waldman's style, the grace with which his words flow through dark and troubling waters, offers each reader new hope even in the dark of the moon. I for one look forward to his next novel with great expectation. -- Tulsa World/Critic's Corner
A Face in the Moon is more than a coming of age story. Instead, it is an emotionally deep story that takes the reader so deep inside a lonely, sad young man readers will hold their breath knowing that they cannot escape until the book is finished. The story line focuses on the new love between Jack and Loni by leaving the audience to wonder if their relationship can survive the external attacks from friends and society and the internal battles caused by major insecurities. With more novels like his debut tale that demonstrates Mitchell Waldman's tremendous talent for genuine characters in real life settings, the author will not remain faceless for very long. -- BookReview.com
At its heart, this coming of age tale is about the life of a young graduate student . . . and his relationship with a young seventeen-year-old. . . But it's more than just a romance. It's about Jack's search for meaning in his life -- it's about family expectations, misunderstandings and disappointments. It's also about self-discovery and Jack's need to find what he wants out of life, and his search to discover what that illusive thing is....Author Waldman obviously took his time finding and developing his main characters, and got to know them very well before he started writing. Reading A Face in the Moon is like sitting on Jack's shoulder, watching with invisible expectation as he slogs his way through a very troubled time, filled with uncertainties and doubts about his life, his love, and his soul. A fine read, and well worth your time. -- The Road to Romance.
Although not my usual choice of fiction, I found A Face in the Moon an intense emotional, compelling read. . . .The characters in this are so believable, and the story still lingers in my mind even now that two other books have followed it. . . . This is a book that I think everyone could enjoy reading, no matter what their usual preferences. -- BookNet
In A Face In The Moon, Mitchell Waldman creates an interesting character study of two lost souls. The two main characters, Jack and Loni, are richly drawn, multi-faceted people with complex issues that bring them together and pull them apart. . . . This novel is full of riches, atmosphere and scenery, plot, excellent dialogue, and strong but flawed main characters delighted the senses of this reader. Other reviewers have called A Face In The Moon, "A Catcher In The Rye grown up." That very well may be true. -- Selling Writing Online
A Face in the Moon is intensely introspective and spans a spectrum of emotions from ecstasy to despair . . . it appears that Waldman intends to make an emotional connection with readers. That, he does well. It is a lengthy exploration of issues that sooner or later touch everyone. In that light, it's not so much a story to be told but rather a brief glimpse into the lives of a young man and woman struggling to find a place in life. It isn't about right and wrong but about perception and acceptance. About making the best choice with the cards you've been dealt and sometimes, just hoping you'll get a better hand tomorrow. -- The Charlotte Austin Review
A Face in the Moon . . . is a novel of the stresses about a quarter century ago of some "baby boomers" in finding their "heads" and landing on their feet while making decisions during college and shortly after . . . A Face in the Moon may be an eye-opener for readers not themselves of Jack Lohman's generation. Waldman's account of their wonderings and wanderings is detailed and his ear for their talk seems right . . . -- Bob Koch, WXXI-FM Radio
Mitchell Waldman presents to us a story that has young people leading much older lives. It's a harsh reality to know that what's in this book happens in real life. Read this book with an open heart and mind. -- The Book Review Cafe
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NEWLY REVISED VERSION NOW AVAILABLE!
The Hippies of the 1960s rejected societal restrictions and sought their own path to new meaning in life. They immersed themselves in altruism, mysticism, the search for truth, free love, non-violence and peace. Whether they initiated the sexual revolution of the era, or merely took advantage of it, is unclear. Over the years, many of the ideals of the movement have been both diluted and incorporated into mainstream thought. HIP POETRY includes poetry, essays, and fiction from some of the most renowned and well-versed artists of our time, many representative of the hippie era, and other younger, fresher voices, but also having the hippie ethos. This is art that questions and challenges, moves and dances. In words, we see, hear, feel, and taste the heat and light of the artist. We are with these artists as they meet the horrors, pain, and suffering off the world head-on with an undying spirit of hope and peace. We share the belief that all the traumas the world has suffered are not without some sort of plausible, peaceful solutions if approached in the right way, if we deal with the problems together, sharing as brothers and sisters in a world that sometimes seems to have gone beyond madness.
ORDER THE BOOK AT AMAZON.
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ORDER THE BOOK AT AMAZON.
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IT WAS OUT OF PRINT, BUT WE'VE REPUBLISHED AT BLR!
WOUNDS OF WAR: POETS FOR PEACE brings together, in poems, stories and essays, the voices of those personally affected by war. These are voices of parents, of children, of friends, of soldiers and others who have a large stake in the wars, present and past, that our country has participated in. We hear the patriotic voices, the voices of dissent and rage, the voices of sorrow, pain, fear and tears, the voices of pride and love. All these voices are gathered together here to hopefully make the experience of war something more than another headline in the morning’s paper. An experience to be felt by us through their words, their hearts, and souls.
"Wounds of War is a collection of poems and essays, written mostly by ordinary people who both support and oppose the premise of wars. But the poems and essays are not ordinary by any means, though some will resonate more strongly with the reader than will others. Some works cover modern conflicts, such as our country's presence in the Middle East. Others cover long-ago wars-Korea, World War II, and even Vietnam, some thirty years ago now. You might find most striking the remembrances of a Vietnam veteran, whose life changed after his time in service. Or the short poem by the fourteen-year-old sister of a Marine who's serving in the Middle East right now. Or maybe the poems about Jews in World War II. This book probably won't change how you feel about war, but it will give you the opportunity to see war from another angle. These are poems by people affected by war, both good and bad, both present and past, but all deeply influenced by war in some way." -- Scribes World.
GET THE BOOK AT AMAZON
AND NOW AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME AS A KINDLE BOOK!
"Wounds of War is a collection of poems and essays, written mostly by ordinary people who both support and oppose the premise of wars. But the poems and essays are not ordinary by any means, though some will resonate more strongly with the reader than will others. Some works cover modern conflicts, such as our country's presence in the Middle East. Others cover long-ago wars-Korea, World War II, and even Vietnam, some thirty years ago now. You might find most striking the remembrances of a Vietnam veteran, whose life changed after his time in service. Or the short poem by the fourteen-year-old sister of a Marine who's serving in the Middle East right now. Or maybe the poems about Jews in World War II. This book probably won't change how you feel about war, but it will give you the opportunity to see war from another angle. These are poems by people affected by war, both good and bad, both present and past, but all deeply influenced by war in some way." -- Scribes World.
GET THE BOOK AT AMAZON
AND NOW AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME AS A KINDLE BOOK!
