I may have mentioned misc.writing before. In case I haven't, it's a newsgroup and you can access with a news reader such as Free Agent. Also, most browsers let you type in news:misc.writing instead of the usual http:// type of address.
Anyway, this week, I want to tell you about the Book Turners Club. This Club was established "to ensure that books written by the denizens of misc.writing receive the glory and notice that they deserve." Members of the club (and you become a member by reading the post on misc.writing about the club) take on the responsibility of going to local book stores and searching for the books listed in the message.
Once you get to the book store, you are supposed to locate any books on the list that are shelved with only their spines showing. These books must be "turned so their front covers face out (hence the Club's name.) Move books from dark dingy corners to brightly lit main racks (the Bestseller rack is a good place.) Books that shriek "Buy me!" and jump into your arms must be obeyed."
Wendy Chatley Green, keeper of the list, notes:
"These books are listed in no particular order, which saves wear on the List Keeper. It also forces everyone to notice the books of other writers while searching for their own. By fiat of the List Keeper, magazines and journals edited and/or published by denizens of misc.writing also are listed. So are regular columns in magazines, newspapers, and journals. Said magazines and journals must be stocked by bookstores, newsstands, or other stores so that they also may be Turned. E-zines, Web pages and other 'Net publications are not listed because the inability to Turn them frustrated too many BTC members."
"Remember: any book published by a regular, semi-regular, or irregular poster to misc.writing is eligible for the list. Books by one-shot posters (i.e., "Here's my info--send me the list by e-mail since I don't read the group") are ineligible. The BTCL is sometimes posted monthly. Other times, it isn't. Void where recommended by the Health Department."
The List
Stephen G. Esrati
Comrades, Avenge Us (an historical novel about the hunt for Nazi
war criminals who abused American and Allied prisoners of war.) Available
only from him at $7.50 (postpaid) to U.S. addresses. Write stevstamps@aol.com
for info.
Dinty W. Moore
The Accidental Buddhist, Algonquin Books, 1997
Fred Willard
Down On Ponce, Longstreet Press, ISBN 1-56352-431-7; Release Date:
7 October 1997
Angler24@aol.com
Sane Living, an illustrated gift book of uplifting philosophical
observations, Bartlett Publishing, Van Nuys, CA.
Carol Schmidt
Silverlake Heat, 1993
Sweet Cherry Wine, 1994
Cabin Fever, 1995
-- lesbian mystery novels published by Naiad Press:
