Review 23: Sisypuss by Patricia Halloff

Sisypuss: Memoirs of a Vagabond Cat
by Patricia Halloff
Lulu Copyright: © 2007
Paperback $13.50
E-book: Free
212 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-6151-7291-0

Soon after Patricia Halloff posted her query on the “Pick Me” tab, I emailed her and asked to review the PDF of her book based on the title alone. Interesting name for a book, no? One might think, “That could only be a POD book.”

True, it is a title you might find hard to pronounce. You might want to call it “Sissy puss” and then blush about it, rool your eyes, or laugh, but I can tell you now, this book is no joke. I would say Patricia Halloff’s book now ranks in the top five books of all I have read this year.

Outside of the 23 Lulu books I have read for this blog alone, I have probably read at least that many traditionally published books for my own pleasure. If you are an animal lover, even if you are not; if you have a beating heart that society hardens from time to time, and you yearn for some emotion to remind you just how fragile life really is sometimes, how life could be much worse for you, then I encourage you to sit and spend a night with this book. It is some of the most brilliant, heartfelt, poignant writing that I have read in some time.

The name of the book comes from the Greek myth of Sisyphus, a king whose punishment was to roll a large boulder up a hill endlessly, only to have to watch it roll back down. Doomed to repeat this process over and over again throughout eternity, the word sisyphean is often used to described a task that is unending, pointless, and repetitive. Now, think about those words for a moment and think about how perfect they are as descriptions of stray pets, cats and dogs left on the streets to fend for themselves. They fight for food and shelter, fending off prey and sickness, often running away from the hands of abusive owners. Yep, it’s a cruel world and the abuse is unending. Enter Sisypuss.

From page one, when Sisypuss is born to a sickly mother who is near death , we are shown a grim world with no hope in sight. The entire book is told from the point-of-view of Sisypuss the cat and his outlook on the sinister unforgiving world. Think of the skinny cat you’ve seen in the alley behind your house, or the animal shelter you pass every day on the way to work. Think of the animal testing facilities that we deny exist. Ms. Halloff leaves no stone unturned when it comes to the harsh reality of the way animals are treated in this country. It is very real. It is no Greek myth.

Being an animal lover myself and owning two cats, I have to admit this book is not the happy fairytale cliche I was probably expecting. It is, however, a wake up call that the treatment of animals is something we should be concerned about.  Those of you who may not like books with animals as the central characters, don’t stop reading now.

There are humans in this story, but their central existence as secondary characters only serves the purpose of showing the relationship between humans and animals, as pets, and the delicate boundaries between our world and theirs.  But again, these plot lines are no walk in the park.  Booley, Sisypuss’s main owner, is battling drug use.

There is an array of other characters, both human and animal, that will definitely keep the pages turning.  At times, Halloff’s vivid writing will leave a coppery taste in your mouth.  Your chest will hurt from your heart crying out.  You may even hang your head in shame for not doing anything to help our furry friends.  But above all this, you will come away from this book never once regretting the time you spent reading it.  You will learn something, and hopefully we’ll make change.   Bravo to Patricia Halloff because her clever and informative writing demands that change!

Review 22: Out of Reality by Charlene Wilkins

Out of Reality
by Charlene Wilkins
Copyright: © 2008
$16.12 Paperback
$10.00 E-Book
267 Pages

I know what you are thinking.

“Check out that book cover!”

Maybe you like it; maybe you don’t. Maybe you think it’s lacking. Maybe it is. I think it’s perfect.

Out of Reality, by Charlene Wilkins, is one of those books that shouldn’t need a good cover to sell it. Sure, if a traditional publisher ever picked it up they’d hire an artist to do it justice, to give it the potential it would surely deserve if accepted by the traditional market.

After reading Ms. Wilkins work, my imagination went wild with ideas for fascinating artwork which would send her book flying off the shelves of bookstores everywhere. But this is self-publishing. Let’s forget the simplistic “diary-like” cover for now. Read this book, and you will soon forget all about it without me even telling you to.

Meet Kara. She’s a bit of a tom girl who doesn’t want to listen to her parents. She’s aching to skip karate class but her parents make her go anyway. She blacks out after a rough hit to the head.  She’s carried to the hospital and the readers is given a sense that things are just not right, although nothing too out of the ordinary happens this early in the story.  We then meet Justin and Leeann, who are not so ordinary.  Justin is a psychic and Leeann is a fire starter.

I like the fact that Ms. Wilkins’ has not thrown her readers into a story that seems imaginary and fantastical.  Yes, the story does lead the reader into that direction, and I must say it is a fun journey.  But right here in the beginning, these kids are just ordinary teens that could live across the street from us partaking in their hobbies and squabbling with their siblings.  It made it very easy to get to know these characters because we discover their special powers right along with them.

Also, these kids are not ready to step up to the plate and save the world just yet.  Justin questions strange dreams he’s been having about a red headed girl, learns about his special powers after a discussion with his mother, and then is more concerned with getting some homework done.  Again, the author has plotted out the story gradually and does not hit the reader right up front with a tale we wouldn’t necessarily believe in.  The slow, but suspenseful, build to this story makes it a great read!

Next we meet Elex in a world of castles and queens, worrying about Na, her friend who is strangely sick.  The two of them go off to watch a bow and arrow class, and Elex proves she has skill and is no ordinary girl.  She ends up fending off a wolf and saving Na from attack with a shield of light.

We return to Kara who is at home, but her parents reveal she is the “chosen one.”  Someone will be coming for her on this very night, but they choose not to tell Kara.  The stranger that comes is actually a guardian for Kara.  It is revealed that Kara is a wizard, like the other teens we’ve met, and they are destined to save the world.

I use the word “wizards” only because that is exactly how Wilkins has described them.  Yeah, that word alone is covered with the hype of the Harry Potter series and I seriously doubt any other good books about wizardry could ever be written without being compared to JK Rowling.  So, that is all I will mention of Potter here.  What is more important in Out of Reality is that Wilkins begins her story in a physical reality that we all know and can relate to. She uses this to her advantage in conveying a “real” comfortable world in the set-up of her book.

The story builds and takes us to an imaginary place of magic and monsters, a place of pretend many of us probably have not visited since childhood, but the author has done a brilliant job of taking us back there.  Her tale is both original and different, and one that Potter fans, eager for more wickedness and fun, would enjoy.  So step through the portal, open this book and look beyond that mysterious cover, because the “sur-real” place inside is one worth spending some time in!

Review 21: Vampire City and Tales from the Shadows

Vampire City and Tales From the Shadows
by Matthew Bellingham
Copyright: © 2008
256 Pages
$18.04 Paperback
Free E-book (Preview)
ISBN: 978-1-4303-0756-3

Okay, put all of your preconceived thoughts away. Matthew Bellingham’s book, Vampire City and Tales from the Shadows, is NOT just another vampire story. Sure, there are lots of them out there. We all know who Anne Rice is. Stephenie Meyer has earned her place on the New York Times Bestseller with her “thick” YA series. But Bellingham has actually written a book that has a bit more to offer than just some dramatic old blood sucking villains. His book has much more than bite!

The title story is actually in two parts followed by three other short stories, each having its on different set of characters and plot that attempt to keep you awake at night. We’ll discuss those first.

“Holocaust of the Dead” is a fun zombie story. It takes place in a town where strange dog attacks are taking place and turning the survivors into the undead, while one man fights for his survival. Sound familiar? Yeah, I immediatly conjured up images from movies like 28 Days and I am Legend. Here’s a taste:

Slowly he stepped towards the corner; he heard a tearing sound. Eventually he came to the Dr; the zombie was eating him. Keith was dead; his stomach had become the creature’s dinner.

It’s a quick read at 32 pages, and although it doesn’t present the reader with any new take on the “living dead” theme (does one even exist?), I still found it to be a fun engaging, and even humorous, read at times.  I think it would make an excellent graphic novel or comic.  If there are any artists out there interested in a project, maybe you should get in touch with Matthew.

Next is my favorite of the other stories: “Mars 2050.”  It’s a science fiction spin on the end of planet Earth in the year 2030.  Again, nothing new, but the author actually saves mankind in the beginning by putting us on spaceships and sending us out there to look for other planets to live on.  Scientists are immediately drawn to Mars and begin making it suitable for human life.  Just like us humans to go in and sling up a Wal-Mart and a Starbucks!  There’s already life there, but it’s not acid dripping aliens waiting to be destroyed by Sigourney Weaver.  Instead, the aliens are a bit exotic and docile, so we make some new friends.  But then things go terribly wrong!  “Mars 2050″ is actually my favorite story, and I read it twice.  Out of all 3 of the extra stories, it’s where the author’s writing style and imagination really shines.

Last is “Project Z,” where scientists are in a remote jungle and tampering with genetics to create the ultimate warrior.  Suddenly, all contact with the compound is ceased and we send in a military unit called the RAZOR to find out what happened.  Now, this story begins with potential, especially since we are obviously in the future (RAZOR travels in a really cool spaceship), but this thriller suffers from too much description and too many semicolons. The author gives too much useless detail where it’s not needed, and not enough where I did want it.  Sorry Matt!  Here’s a sample:

The squad’s Commander was Craig Hawking; he was tall and like the others was in the squad uniform, which was black with grey patches, and an armour chest plate. Craig’s hazel eyes swept over the other members of the unit: Sergeant Darren Smyth, Corporal Charlotte Jenkins, and Privates Leon Martinez, Marvin Dawson, Brian Pippin, Christopher Weaver, Nicole Trent, Patrick Williams, Alan Peters, Maria Pedro, Kristine Clayton, Neil Lewis, Peter Samson, Richard Hayes, Thomas Butler, Shawn Gray, Mikhail Francis, Matthew Black, and Jamie Cross. All were battle-hardened marines skilled in various versions of combat.

Lastly, the title story “Vampire City” is where the author has put forth his best effort.  Jason Brook, a former British Special Police member, is called to America by an old friend who believes someone is trying to kill him.  Simon, the friend, believes his neighbor is a vampire.

The story that plays out is a fun sexy twist on the vampire story as a whole, with a bit of predictable mystery thrown in.  It only suffers from the author’s love of detail that only clouds up the story and causes a reader to stumble through.  This is an old argument that I’m afraid as our attention spans decrease, the “lack of detail” side of this fuss will win.  I remember reading in Stephen King’s On Writing, that he didn’t like to spend any time on describing what characters looked like or what they were wearing.  He left all of that up to the reader’s imagination.  Bellingham, I’m afraid, spends too much time on describing appearances, and then the progress of the story suffers.  For instance, when Jason arrives at Simon’s house in the very beginning, there is no dialog for 7 pages.  We are only “told” what is happening as they first face the mysterious female vampire, rather than being shown.

Overall, Matthew Bellingham’s book is a nice attempt and has great potential.  The art gallery on his website proves that I think his writing style would be excellent for comics or graphic novels.  The cover of this book is superb, and with a little polishing and practice, I know future work from this author will be just as appealing.

Book Covers Coming Right Up

If you’ve been reading the POD Diary, then you know I recently purchased an awesome program called Book Cover Pro which I used to design the cover of my own book.  I decided to post an ad in the Lulu forum and offer my services to others who are in need of help with their book covers.  I’ve received three requests so far, and have finished one of those completely.  I’ll be posting a new tab very soon showing off these book covers for all to see.  If you are interested in my help, please email me by posting a comment to this entry.

Coming up this weekend are two more book reviews!  Do you miss Anne Rice?  Are you in love with the YA Twilight series?  Then you will not want to miss out on this next review about Vampires!  Sure, it’s an old theme that’s been worn pretty thin, but this book has bite!

Speaking of young adult tales, the other review is an escape from reality…magic, sword fights, villains, odd creatures and more!  It’s a science fiction/fantasy tale for both young and old!

We are also still searching for America!  Read the blurb down the right side of the page and submit your book today!

Happy Friday!

Review 20: Letters from David by Eve Paludan

Letters from David
by Eve Paludan
Copyright: © 2008
209 Pages
$2.49 E-Book

Eve Paludan is a busy woman: writer, photographer, editor, web designer, and artist. Just check out her CV on her MySpace page. It’s a hefty list of accomplishments of which anyone should be proud of. She should also be quite proud of a lil Ebook she’s written and made available through Lulu called Letters from David.

Thanks to email and the rising price of stamps, I’ve often wondered if the art of letter writing is dead. We’ve even given it the sluggish nickname “Snail Mail,” adopting our eager fascination with having things so immediate thanks to our ever growing lack of patience. And yet the ending highlight of each of my workdays is coming home and checking the mailbox.

On birthdays as a child, my eyes bulged with excitement over bright colored envelopes addressed to me with a funny Hallmark card and a crisp one dollar bill on the inside. My mother, with her “chicken scratch” cursive, penned letters on notepad paper to me while I was in college. Christmas cards with a quick signature still adorn my doorway in December. What would we have to say without sentiments printed by the greeting card company? Eve Paludan’s book says plenty.

Here’s the blurb from her Lulu page, which also happens to be the first paragraph of the story:

Claire Mead didn’t have her husband anymore, her children lived abroad, her income was shrinking and she hadn’t shaved her legs all winter. She hadn’t had recreational sex with herself, or laughed, truly laughed, for months. She was going broke and still cried much too easily since David, a.k.a. “The Saint,” had died, but suddenly, she realized she had something she had never once had before in her life — her freedom.

You have to admire the preservation of someone’s old journal or diary found behind glass in a museum somewhere for you to learn history or study their penmanship, or perhaps it’s passed down from generation to generation amongst family members. I tried for years to keep a journal of my personal thoughts, but writing it down went down the drain once I learned to type. Literature and Theatre has celebrated the power of the written word for a long time. I immediately think of James Patterson’s recent book about letters, and a play I saw once called “Love Letters.” It was just two chairs on the stage, back to back, with a guy and a girl sitting there and recalling letters they’d written to each other. They were miles apart now in life, but their letters always brought them back together. It was so powerful and captivating.

Eve Paludan’s book is NOT another collection of letters allowing us that glimpse into someone else’s life for a while. Yes, Dear _____, letters in italic are placed throughout the manuscript, but it is what comes between them that makes up the essence of her story. Her central character, Clare Mead, is a widow with a son away at war and a daughter in Paris, but she’s determined not to let loneliness be an illness. She refuses to succumb to it and is trying to adapt to the new emptiness in her life - this freedom. She seeks out the advice of other women like her, but soon ends up in a bit of an odd situation with her husband’s best friend, Tucker, who was also responsible for his death. A tornado is coming and the two end up taking cover in her basement, and begin to reminisce of the old days and the way it could have been.

Secrets begin to unravel as you discover Tucker was once her lover and they had a child together, but their roads in life went in opposite directions. Tucker beats himself up over the death of his friend, while Clare refuses to mourn anymore. Together, they relive the memories they shared with David, a best friend and a husband. Just as you think Tucker and Clare’s time together is building to the climactic arrival of the tornado, no weather alarm will prepare you for the secrets that are revealed in the letter than begins the next chapter! It’s a letter from David, Clare’s husband, which Tucker had been saving to give to her at a later time.

My only criticism of the story comes into play in the letters themselves. Although Paludan has used them sparingly to push the story forward, be warned that they are heavy in content that is crucial to the plot and backbone of her characters. Therefore, they can seem a bit melodramatic and even soap opera-ish at times, but they do not distract from the overall point the author wants to make.

Letters from David turned out to be a “whirl wind” of a story that I totally was not expecting. At first, based on the author’s previous work, I predicted a much heavier romance and cliche collection of predictable love letters. Not so! The story continues to build with David, the son, writing to his half sister in Paris. Although their story is told completely in letters, reading it as if you were a person in another room over hearing a conversation is quite intriguing. Paludan has written a magnificent tale of love and loss which anyone can enjoy. So, grab a box of tissues and your high school yearbooks, because this book will take you down a path off memory lane where you never expected to go!

Review 19: Sirocco Express by Tony Judge

Sirocco Express
by Tony Judge
Copyright: © 2008
189 Pages
$14.50 Paperback
$2.72 E-book
ISBN: 978-1-4092-0446-6

Traveling to foreign countries is not a pleasure I’ve ever experienced myself, but I have always enjoyed reading about it.  Christopher Isherwood and his writings about many trips to a war torn Germany remain at the top of the list of some of my favorite books.  I can now add author Tony Judge to that list. When I began reading Tony’s book, Sirocco Express, I was immediately captivated by the author’s use of description.  Here’s the very first line of the book:

The house lay so still and quiet that it seemed to be filled with cotton wool.

Lines like that in writing these days are very hard to come by.  We write what we know, because that’s what we’ve been told to do, and we know so little. Authors like William Faulkner and poet Emily Dickinson or Robert Frost had a true craft for writing those descriptive, yet simple, images that stay with you long after you’ve finished reading.  Judge indeed has that craft.

In the beginning, the reader is introduced to a young Nigerian boy named Adebayo who is perusing a copy of Treasure Island while waiting for the Reverend to arrive to tend to his ailing mother.  I immediately became intrigued with the story because it has a sense of mystery to it.  The young boy is dismissed from the room while the Reverend tends to his mother with prayer.  The first chapter ends with a strange feeling to it as if something odd has happened between Adebayo’s father and the Reverend after reviving his mother.  The author has done an excellent job of keeping you interested and wanting to know more.

The second chapter focuses on Adebayo being concerned about an article saying he shouldn’t read Conrad because of the way he depicts non-European characters.  Adebayo’s father tells the boys he should judge for himself what he wants to read.

His father’s advice on “free will” quickly becomes an anthem for the young boy who has fallen in love with 19th century London thanks to one author by the name of Charles Dickens.  During his first year of college, he becomes agitated with the possibility of his father losing his job and his family falling on hard times. For the dreamer in all of us, constantly pulled back into the realm of 9 to 5 jobs and a stack of bills that clog our dreams, Judge has penned some outstanding prose that is sure to inspire you to not give up:

When will you understand that you are invisible; that no one has the slightest interest in what you think, or feel or do?  You are as a grain of dust on the hide of an elephant.

I was instantly reminded of a line from a book that has stuck with me about how we lose our audience when our parents are gone, there is no one else that really truly cares about us and the things we do. It’s a wake up call for our young protagonist who is determined to see the world, that until now, he’s only read about. But the journey to his destination is not an easy one, as Adebayo  takes up traveling with people smugglers, armed only with a geography guidebook and his own journal. He is a reader, a writer-like many of us-stuck in an unforgiving reality with larger than life thoughts and dreams.  We add to our own personal world through observation of new places and things, which is just what Adebayo sets out to do.

Sirocco Express is a brilliant tale of one man’s determination to fulfill his dreams.  His journey echoes of the realization of how we let things stand in our way of achieving what we really want, even if it’s just to see a foreign place we’ve only read about.  Adebayo constantly witnesses the oppression of his country and people during his quest, but he never gives up.

At only 189 pages, Judge’s book was a quick read but is packed with extensive research into Nigerian history and folklore, religion, and vivid geographical information that you will be Googling long after finishing this read.  The author has labeled it as a “contemporary novel about migration,” but it is much more than that.  It is a wholesome and heartfelt adventure that reminds me of the imaginative worlds and trips I discovered and fell in love with the first time I ever picked up a book.

Marketing tools: Mailing List

How many of you mail things to bookstores and potential customers to promote your publications? Perhaps it’s a postcard, or an envelope of bookmarks, or a marketing kit. I mentioned the marketing materials that Lulu offers in an earlier post. If you’ve been reading the POD Diary, then you know I just bought 110 bookmarks and 100 postcards through Lulu. So, I began preparing a mailing list in anticipation of receiving the postcards.

While researching indie bookstores to add to my list, I came across an interesting mailing list which you can download as a PDF here. It is a 64 page list of bookstores in the U.S. and Canada, and based on the number of addresses per page I’d say it contains at least 2100 total addresses. Now, there’s no guarantee all of these stores are still in business, but I have to say the list is quite magnificent and the only one of its size I’ve found. It’s also already formatted for label printing. Based on its web address, the list appears to be the product of author Karen Chance, although I could not find a link to it on her cool author site.

Since I only have 100 postcards, I’m compiling my own list of stores which I’m researching to be sure they are indeed still in business. But I wanted to share this helpful tool with those authors who may be looking for a quick place to start with their own mailings and promotion.

LLBR Searching for America

In celebration of Independence day, Independent bookstores, and Indie authors, the Lulu Book Review blog is searching for a Lulu book about America.  How about a down home slice of apple pie good ole Fourth of July story, or any book that encompasses the independence of our country?

Here’s what we don’t want:

No terrorist attacks.

No military (although a soldier as a character is okay).

No Indian stories.

No Westerns.

No Christian lit.

No 9/11.

No Fourth of July gone wrong.

No fireworks gone astray.

C’mon.  There’s got to be something left about American values out there in Lulu land.

Any thoughts?  We’ll even buy a copy instead of asking for the PDF.

Post your suggestions in the comments sections of this post.

In-News

Welcome to July!

Normally, I would have posted this link in the POD Diary section since I came across it while working on marketing for my own book, but it was just too good not to post here on the main page.

Check out this newspage.com link which is a small directory for Independent Bookstores in the U.S. and Canada.  It’s divided by state, and although some of the addresses are incomplete, it’s a great start to finding stores in your area to call upon during a book promotion!  Booksense.com, which I did mention in the POD Diary, is now called Indie Bound. They’ve just made a ton of improvements to their site and it is much more user friendly!

Today’s indie bookstore highlight goes out to a favorite of mine in my old stomping grounds of Memphis, Tennessee.  Burkes Books was established in 1875. When I lived in Memphis, they were in a nice big building with lots of windows right up close to Poplar Avenue.  John Grisham loved to sign there (and still does), and I can still remember driving by the day Anne Rice was there and seeing a line of people outside that wrapped around the block.

They had some hard times recently, but downsized to a quaint shop in the hip Cooper Young district in the Midtown area.  If you are thinking about Memphis, get down there in September for the arts and crafts Cooper Young Festival, visit all those cool shops and restaurants, and then head over to Burkes and buy a book!  They have a fantastic collection of new and old, and a lot of signed first editions up for grabs.

So, what’s coming in July for the LLBR site?  I’ve got six more reviews lined up as promised for my summer reading spectacular, and lost more to tackle in the POD Diary as I continue to market my new book like crazy.  Join me on this self-publishing roller coaster and let’s see what happens!

Review 18: There’s No Sex in Golf by Stephen Outram

There’s No Sex in Golf
by Stephen Outram
Copyright: © 2008
144 Pages
$27.50 Paperback

My own golfing experience is lacking. Remember what I said in Review 14? I’m no sports fan! I had an uncle who let me drive the cart when I was ten, and run out and remove the flag for him. I remember games of putt-putt at the lake during holidays. I was damn good at that windmill! But with all the news of Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open a few weeks ago, the game of golf is in our face and all over the television. Like anything in our face, new interest in the subject is born. And right about that same time, an author by the name of Stephen Outram published his book, There’s No Sex in Golf. What a prime time (and excellent marketing opportunity) for a book review!

One look at Stephen’s website, and you’d think he’s a business man or some marketing mogul offering speaking engagements on positive thinking, maximizing web presence, creative writing, and publishing. And maybe he is. But all the while, Stephen’s Lulu book is right there and in your face as a tool for all of these things. While researching it, I had a hard time figuring out if this was a “how-to” book actually about the game of golf, or was it using golf as a metaphor for improving your life. It’s actually both!

Stephen begins the book with a detail description of how his father built the first golf course in Port Hedland, Western Australia in 1966. Stephen gives an immense detailed account of the experience, and how it wasn’t the best top-notch course, but it made people happy because they could finally enjoy what the area had been lacking.  Each year, the heavy rains washed all of his father’s hard work away, but when the season allowed his father and a few others got back out there and started all over again.

In the introduction, Stephen mentions that a few years ago he wanted to walk away from golf.  His own words really stuck out at me as something that is very true for any game, or for any part of our life where we have exhausted on means of pleasure or triumph.

…we give up on something when it is no longer working for us and we have absolutely no idea what else to do. Having tried everything I could think of, I simply had no choice but to walk away. Did I really have no choice, or was I just unaware of any other possibility?

We all know the answer to his question, and just a few pages later Outram brings his concept home with the notion of replacing the word “golf” with the word “life” throughout his book.  His ideas for improvement work both ways.  He asks, what would you like your golfing realty to be like, and what else is truly possible for you with golf?

Outram then presents the game itself, divided into two sections: child’s games and adult games and their differences with a sincere focus on winning and losing.  He notes the majority of golf players lose at the game.  And as we all know, winning or losing is not an indication of how we played the game.  And so is life.  There are rules, standards, judgements, presentation, and even cheating both in the game and at life.  We all know the outcomes of the latter. Outram points out that the fun of it is breaking the rules and getting away with it.  There’s an even a whole chapter devoted to Winning & Losing, and the different types of golfers there are.

I found the chapter on Golf & Sex to be quite funny, and yet quite true.  Outram compares the excitement of the game for some golfers to be “better than sex” when they get that hole-in-one, and pokes fun at how sexy golf courses can be.  Now for me, watching golf or playing it would be time better spent napping, but the author makes a good point.  Things we take pleasure in doing can have an “orgasmic” quality to them, and there’s no reason why are life shouldn’t be the same each and every day.  He closes by encouraging us to ask questions and seek answers.

I particularly liked the part about creativity.  Outram asks the following:

What creative energies do you refuse or deny, that if you received them, would manifest as the creation of YOUR golf?

Taking his advice and replacing the word “golf” with the word “life” really hit home for me.  I commend Stephen Outram for his fun and enlightening book which, being a golf fan or not, anyone can apply to in their daily lives in some way.