Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Audiobook

  • BACK to ONE by Antonia Gavrihel – Contemporary Romance, Family Life, Audiobook

    Antonia Gavrihel shows off superb storytelling and narration skills in her audiobook, Back to One, where passion, family, and, most importantly, friendship clash in an emotionally intimate slow-burn romance.

    When Catherine Leigh meets famous actor Kyle Weston at a Hollywood party, an unbreakable bond snaps into place. But, while Cate and Kyle each acknowledge this intense connection, their life situations make a courtship impossible. Cate is happily married, and Kyle’s career leaves him with little time for any personal ties.

    The two vow to take romance off the table and love each other as best friends—or at least try to.

    Cate and her young family help reinvigorate Kyle’s strained relationship with his son Scott, while Kyle revives Cate’s acting career. This surprisingly wholesome romance focuses on the support that two true friends can give each other, and how it forms a strong foundation to lean on during difficult times.

    Back to One, Gavrihel’s debut novel, was quickly followed up with three additional books in the series of the same name. This audiobook version brings even more vibrancy to her work.

    The audiobook’s dynamic and engaging character voices highlight Gavrihel’s entertainment background and family ties. She’s obviously comfortable in front of a microphone as she breathes life and emotion into each one of her characters.

    A captivating audio adventure from a perfect light beach read, Back to One delivers the feeling of a summery getaway no matter where readers are when listening to this engaging tale of star-crossed lovers. Gavrihel’s exceptional imagery and narration transport readers from Hollywood to Montana and New Orleans to Aruba.

    The greatest strength of this novel are the characters who bond and conflict with the perfect blend of drama and realism.

    The story’s villains are unsympathetic troublemakers motivated almost exclusively by lust or greed. Their schemes provide unending fuel for dramatic fire and leave the reader hoping their karma will come back to haunt them.

    The two incorruptible main characters stand out amidst their unethical antagonists. Cate is both flirtatious and innocent, reliant on the overprotectiveness of her older brother and Kyle to maintain her dignity and safety. Kyle fills the role of a self-identified player who feels guilty about not being there for his son while traveling for work.

    Gavrihel uses familiar romance tropes, infusing them with the atypical conflict of two lovers who attempt to put their true feelings aside for the sake of the other people in their lives.

    What makes the two characters unique is the care they show for their families and their genuine, though at times strained, commitment to platonically loving each other.

    Readers’ interest will be piqued with the ever-present question of whether or not their commitment to being friends will persevere despite their true feelings for each other. This sweet twist makes Back to One a perfect romance for readers who want some feisty drama and a bit of steamy tension, but nothing graphic, which can be a tough combination to find in contemporary adult romance.

    Ultimately, Antonia Gavrihel’s Back to One is an emotional romance that provides a unique perspective on the ties between friendship and love—and how difficult it can be to suppress the latter. Gavrihel’s impassioned narration and tension within the story create a compelling audiobook that’s nigh on impossible to pause.

    Back to One by Antonia Gavrihel is available through the above links and right here through Spotify!

     

  • DISABILITY Is HUMAN: The Vital Power of Accessibility in Everyday Life (Audiobook) by Stephanie W. Cawthon PhD – Disability Advocacy, Ableism, Accessibility

     

    In the audiobook Disability is Human: The Vital Power of Accessibility in Everyday Life, Dr. Stephanie W. Cawthon advocates for the rights and needs of a group that is often underrepresented, ignored, or misunderstood.

    This exceptional audio version of Disability is Human has a companion workbook for those interested in incorporating its ideas into programs, institutional practice, or daily life. The audio version covers the book to the last letter and is easy to comprehend.

    Cawthon contrasts ableism against accessibility, including her own experiences as a person born deaf who uses hearing aids and sign language to communicate. She tells of a time before anti-discrimination laws were enacted to protect disabled peoples’ rights and make the world available to everyone.

    Cawthon comes to this conversation with deep, personal knowledge of the issues faced by disabled people.

    As a child she received speech training at a special school for disabled children, but when she was seven years old her family moved to California and enrolled her in a mainstream Catholic school. To navigate the new hearing-centered learning environment she had to sat in the front row and read lips.

    After graduating, Cawthon went on to attend Stanford University, where she dove into early research on assessing accessibility for deaf children. This gave her the opportunity to explore what it fully meant to be disabled in today’s modern world.

    Disability is Human helps the reader understand many of the ways that one in four people might experience a disability.

    She emphasizes the need for understanding and suggests ways we can improve accessibility to a population that wants and needs to participate within this complex world—a world with buildings that lack a ramp to higher levels for people in wheelchairs, or lectures that don’t provide sign language interpreters to enable a deaf person to understand what is being said.

    Cawthon organizes her chapters around the concept of accessibility for all people, how to address some of the most glaring shortfalls, and how to discuss the topic of disability without making disabled people feel diminished or less-than. Her discussion isn’t coined in terms of victimization, but rather what accommodations could be authentically inclusive for all levels of abilities and not impose further barriers on a person who may already be struggling to engage in everyday life.

    Readers will find both expert knowledge and first-hand experience in this timely and important discussion.

    As the narrator of her own book, Cawthon reads with clarity and precision, and her years of training in enunciation and public speaking shine through. She doesn’t deviate from her text and even takes time to describe each graphic in the book.

    Cawthon lists her resources at the end of the book, guiding readers to explore more on the subject. She also includes a “Time to Reflect” section with focused questions and suggestions at the end of each chapter, and a “Creator Call Out” that offers links to other experts in the disability community who are working hard to break down barriers within their own spheres of influence.

    Readers in education, health, and business will find Disability is Human: The Vital Power of Accessibility in Everyday Life both engaging and informative. Cawthon provides valuable insights to help shape our perspective and encourages readers to engage in the conversation around accessibility in a meaningful way.

     

  • SEA TIGERS & MERCHANTS: A New American Generation (Salem Stories Book 2) by Sandra Wagner Wright, narrated by Christa Lewis – Historical Fiction, Maritime & Naval History, US Historical Fiction

     

    Sandra Wagner-Wright’s audible version of Sea Tigers & Merchants: A New American Generation, Salem Stories Book 2 continues the sagas of two prominent families that dominate the shipping industry of young Salem. Narrator Christa Lewis fully embodies the unique characters of this swashbuckling historical adventure.

    Wagner-Wright takes us back to 1790. In recently independent America, the next generation of the Crowninshield and Derby families try to continue building their fortunes on the treacherous high seas. Threats of pirates, storms, and ever-changing economies drives their fates, their successes, and their failures. Wagner-Wright’s skillful pen brings to life each young person, female and male, as they variously seek out or shun a chance at love on shore.

    Captain George Crowninshield and Haskett Derby duke it out for power and control of the Eastern Seaboard, with their families caught up in the contest.

    Wagner-Wright shows how these merchants brave great risk through maritime exploits in France, the Netherlands, the West Indies, Africa, and Asia. During their adventures on the sea, these captains fight relentlessly for the vessels—which become as famous as those captains themselves.

    Wagner-Wright’s expert knowledge of this time period allows her to illustrate the nuances behind each family’s successes, humiliations, and failures.

    She explores a patriarchal society’s desire to control the lives of their women and offspring in pursuit of building empires. We become familiar with the strong women and daughters who support their men and help them make decisions to promote their children and businesses.

    Sea Tigers & Merchants recreates the courting process of early Americana, along with other rules and rituals of society at the time. We are taken behind the scenes to see how the women smooth the ruffled feathers of their proud and arrogant husbands, tempering feuds between fathers and sons. Wagner-Wright shows these patriarchs both at their most effective and their most flawed. This lends her male characters a sympathetic human element while highlighting the female power behind these strong men who depend on their women for guidance and counsel.

    The post-revolutionary times may have put the war behind them, but they are still fraught with aggressions by the British crown and pirates on the high seas. Wagner-Wright’s historical representation of this period brings to life the real threat imposed by an angry monarch at the mariners of the newly formed nation.

    The historical exploration of trade, politics, and romantic alliances in Sea Tigers & Merchants will appeal to any readers who appreciate the revolutionary period in America.

    This audible version will further engage and delight listeners through a combination of Wagner-Wright’s masterful storytelling and Christa Lewis capturing the voices of these myriad family members who helped shape a nation.

     

  • DIOMEDES In KYPRIOS: Diomedia Series Book 2 by Gregory Michael Nixon – Myths & Legends, Historical Fiction, Bronze Age

    Gregory Michael Nixon’s Diomedes in Kyprios, book 2 in the Diomedeia Series, continues the adventures of the godlike yet all too human hero, Diomedes of Tiryns, as he seeks to discover a meaningful destiny in the chaos of the Bronze Age Collapse.

    We begin after the fall of the Hittite Empire, four years after the destruction of Troy. He emerges from the dark river that runs through the underworld where the sacrifice of the Hittite Great King has just occurred, and he has rescued the Hittite Queen from certain death. Nearly drowned but still alive, he recalls only that he had vowed to reunite with the former Queen of the Hittites, the woman he loves named Lieia, at Paphos on the island of Kyprios (ancient Cyprus).

    Lieia must undergo her own “odyssey” to get to Paphos to meet Diomedes. She depends on her band of protectors, but they pay for fare aboard a ship with evil men who cannot be trusted.

    After many adventures, Diomedes arrives in Paphos and is recognized from Troy by the Akhaian (Greek) warriors already there. He becomes a war leader and seeks to unite the Peoples of the Sea gathered on the island of Kyprios for chaos is descending from the end-of-the-era Bronze Age Collapse. He attains his goal and at last meets with Lieia, who through incredible circumstances has also arrived and been acclaimed as the Goddess of Paphos.

    After a murderous shipwreck, Lieia has struggled to shore and, because of her extraordinary beauty, has been mistaken for a new incarnation of the ancient Kypriot Goddess of Love. The people save her and celebrate her arrival. She is proclaimed Aphrodite—born of the sea foam. She is made Goddess-Ruler of the city, but this makes her enemies, and she becomes uncertain who she really is.

    Diomedes and Lieia rule together, he as military commander, she as goddess-queen. Lieia must overcome the dangerous witch, Myrrha, who challenges her power. Diomedes, in his turn, must deal with two vicious villains who caused Lieia’s shipwreck and the beautiful youth, Adonis, Myrrha’s son, who seeks to kill him and become the lover of Aphrodite.

    Nixon draws heavily on ancient legends to write these larger-than-life characters, threading them through this novel with great artistry. This is a short book yet a memorable epic, whose vivid setting and colorful characters will stay with the reader long after finishing the book.

    In this Audible audiobook version, the narrator, Simon de Deney, captures the dramatic flair and clear articulation one would expect in mythic Greece, among the Hittites, on ancient Cyprus, and all the places this adventure takes us. De Deney is an actor whose classically trained voice will hold the readers’ full attention, leaving them with the metallic dust of the copper mines of Kyprios in their eyes and the sea spray of the vast Mediterranean on their lips.

    For first-time readers/listeners of this series, Diomedes in Kyprios can be read as a stand-alone for the previous book is summed up in flashbacks and a chronological prologue. It will appeal to myth lovers of all ages, but also to those drawn to historical fiction based in the ancient Bronze Age and the mysterious Peoples of the Sea (and, of course, to lovers of historical romance). The book contains serious historical credentials, for the author suggests realistic interpretations of a number of unexplained mysteries of the Bronze Age Collapse.

     

  • WOMAN STRONG by Anna Casamento Arrigo – Poetry, Family & Relationships, Political Strife

       

      Anna Casamento Arrigo’s Woman Strong showcases themes of love, heartbreak, death, disease, and political strife.

      In the newly-released audio version, Casamento, with the help of her narrator Valentina Latyna, captures the essence of life and living. Latyna brings these poems to warm, sensuous life. Her accent, at once elegant and romantic, lifts the poems off the page and gives them voice.

      The pearls strung into Woman Strong’s beautiful strand of poetry will stun and amaze readers. Many of them speak to the strength of women, as can be expected from the title, but many others talk about the fragile nature of life, of love, and of time.

      Each poem explores a theme, some overlapping, and all of them provide the hope that we are strong enough to survive anything.

      Casamento’s reminiscences of childhood show a creative mind already at work bending metaphors and figures of speech as she scrapes a knee or witnesses a transgression.

      One poem stands out in particular, the three-part “Just Ice.” In part I, it discusses an old woman who is the butt of the neighborhood jokes because she doesn’t like dogs pooping in her yard. Casamento gives this invisible woman a voice and reveals her as human. As a young woman, she brought conversation and blueberry muffins.

      The muffins appear again in Part II, where she talks to a veteran in the hospital, who is “between knowing and accepting.” Vincent had fought in a war seeking justice but failed to find it. Instead, he lost his limbs, and now questions justice as he calls it “Just Ice.”

      In part III, she enters a church, hoping to find justice when a woman who wears a smile “between knowing and accepting” joins her. “Just Ice” kept repeating in the silence.

      Casamento laments that humanity cannot exist in a world filled with just ice.

      In “Exorcizing the Monster,” she tells of a day she becomes faceless, and as she writes, she exorcizes the monster, Cancer.

      “Woman Strong,” explores hell and heaven separated by a fissure, where Casamento finds herself with an inescapable truth. She grows through the pain of her uncertainty, remembering her art and her passions, which become her solace.

      “Clothing Drive” is about mining for memories, and “Wanted Desire” takes us to the edge of sensuality through her masterfully descriptive language.

      Her title poem “Woman Strong,” as most of the poems in the collection are, is lyrical and powerful with images of strength as a mother, and the power as a lover to reveal the source of every woman’s strength: perseverance, patience, and love.

      Casamento’s thoughtful words come clearly through Latyna’s heart-felt and skilled readings.

      Take this collection of poems with you on your next long walk. You won’t be sorry.

       

      5 Stars! Best Book Chanticleer Book Reviews

    • On the 4th Day of Christmas Chanticleer gave to me four ISBNs! | The 12 Days of Christmas 2023

      Celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas – One Day at a Time

      The 4th Day of Christmas

      The Four Calling Birds are meant to represent the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

      Also, the Fourth Day of Christmas is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, and it is considered a day for children. The feast honors the male children who were killed by King Herod in his quest to find the potential usurper (Baby Jesus) to his throne. Today, the youngest member of the family is in charge for what to do, where to go, what to eat for the entire day. The day is also known as Childermas.

      Some say Four Calling Birds (song birds). Some say Four Colly Birds (black birds). And then, there is this person’s interpretation of Four Calling Birds on Reddit:

      Is this a conference call?

      “But Jiminy Crickets, it’s after December 25th! Is it not too late for the 12 Days of Christmas?” you say.

      Not to fear, Chanticleerians! The 12 Days of Christmas begins on December 26th! And it continues to the 6th of January – Three Kings Day. The four weeks leading up to Christmas are known as Advent.

      So if you haven’t finished wrapping presents, sending out those cards, and baking cookies—don’t worry. Just get it done. Eight Days left until Three Kings Day! 

      Happy Holidays to You from the Chanticleer Team! 

      On the 4th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

      Four Calling Birds

      Three French Hens

      Two Turtle Doves

      And a Partridge in a Pear Tree 

      On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, Chanticleer brings to me…

      Four ISBNs! (not ASINs)

      An ISBN is the identification number that is unique to your book.

      ISBN is the International Standard Book Number

      Authors in the US need to pay for their ISBNs from Bowker, but in Canada they are provided to authors directly.

      Why Self-Published Authors Need to Own Their Own ISBNs

      1. Owning your own ISBNs gives you complete control over what is entered into your book’s metadata.
        1. Metadata is the descriptions and categories that help libraries, bookstores, wholesalers, distributors, global supply chains, and, most importantly, readers worldwide discover your book.
      2. ISBNs are non-transferable from the owner. ISBNs establish your book’s identity and authorship.
      3. ISBNs never expire and there are no renewal fees. However, you cannot reuse an ISBN once it has been assigned.
      4. ISBNs come with unique barcodes.
      5. In the U.S., Bowker is the only official source of ISBNs.
      6. Bibliographic immortality

      As you may surmise, there are many details to learn about ISBNs about when and why they are necessary along with the few cases where they are not.

      Here are a few handy links:

      Your Book’s Many Forms

      One thing to keep in mind is that each version of your book’s publication should its own ISBN. This means that each of the following needs a separate ISBN to be easily distributed:

      • Hardcover Edition
      • Paperback Edition
      • eBook Edition
      • Audiobook Edition

      You can see on Bowker, where ISBNs are sold, that there are huge savings to be had by buying ISBNs in bulk. Of course, this ISBN information is most applicable to the United States. Other countries have different rules and costs associated with an ISBN, so if you live outside of the US, you should do your research on ISBN rules and expectations. The discounts can be pretty sudden!

      • 1 ISBN is $125
      • 10 ISBNs are $295
      • 100 ISBNs are $575
      • 1,000 ISBNs are $1,500

      ISBNs are non-transferable, and if they’re bought in someone else’s name, they can’t be transferred to another name. That’s why it’s always good to be cautious when buying an ISBN from a third party from anything under the standard price.

      There is one type that doesn’t require an ISBN is your book on Block Chain / Bit Coin because each block chain book has its own unique code. If you decide to have your book available on Block Chain, our advice is to check out BookChain, out of Montreal, Canada.

      There are three basic ways to sell your book, print, ebook, and audiobook. For print, we’ve already discussed several ways you can go through that formatting, which also applies to ebooks. 

      We’d also like to pause and take a moment to mention Bookchain. Bookchain is one of our close affiliates who uses a unique blockchain (the NFT technology associated with Bitcoin) to track books and book sales. You can learn more and sign up for Bookchain here.

      bookchain logo

      For Audiobooks, you’ll also want to consider professional help. This isn’t just for voice actors, but also for audio software. Many people may be familiar with Audacity, a free audio recording software that was designed with music and mixing in mind. It takes a little bit to learn how to use it, but once you have a few basics dialed in, it becomes much easier to use. In a pinch, like Microsoft Word, Audacity can work to create an audiobook recording for your story, but it’s not what the program was specifically designed for. 

      What we recommend is Hindenburg

      Hindenburg is audio recording software designed to create excellent, professionally mastered audio for your stories. There’s plenty of support to learn how to use it, and longtime Chanticleerians like CC Humphries are experts with it, creating Audi-worthy creations regularly. And Hindenburg will format your audio book for the myriad of audio book platforms that are out there. Hindenburg is known for their incredible customer service and support team. 

      Stay tuned for the 5th Day of Christmas!

      And just for fun: 

      We now have: 

      • Four Partridges and Four Pear Trees
      • Six  Turtle Doves
      • Nine French Hens
      • Four Calling Birds  

      The Chaicleer Rooster logo wearing a santa hat

      Our favorite part about having the 12 Days of Christmas is that we can have the time we need to celebrate with our loved ones. We have time for wrapping presents, meeting with friends for hot cocoa, and continuing to prepare the Chanticleer Authors Conference and the 2023 CIBA Banquet and Ceremony.

      Wishing you Happy Holidays from Chanticleer from Kiffer, Sharon, David, Dena, Vilina, Scott, Anya, and Argus!

    • Rebecca Dwight Bruff – Chanticleerians in the News! Award Winning Trouble the Water to be preformed July 9-Oct 2

      We expect great things from our authors, and they always deliver!

      Trouble the Water by Rebecca Dwight Bruff with the Overall Best Books of 2020 Grand Prize Ribbon

      Overall Grand Prize Winner for her wonderful book Trouble the Water, Rebecca Dwight Bruff’s work now comes to life on stage!

      Trouble the Water follows the incredible Robert Smalls who was born enslaved. He liberated himself and others, served five terms in the US Congress, and introduced compulsory public education. He changed countless lives.

      The 202 Best Book Grand Prize Badge for Trouble the Water by Rebecca Dwight Bruff
      Want to compete for the prestigious CIBA grand prize? Enter today!

      His story – his life and legacy – is inspirational and aspirational. And mostly unknown.

      Bruff reveals the true story of the life of Robert Smalls. Set in the Civil War era, we follow Smalls as he navigates through a life of enslavement, the dangers of war, and a desperate attempt at escape. Trouble the Water is a moving tale of slavery, perseverance, war, freedom, and love.

      Rebecca Bruff earned her Bachelor’s degree in education (Texas A&M) and Master and Doctorate degrees in theology (Southern Methodist University). In 2017, she was a scholarship recipient for the prestigious Key West Literary Seminar. She volunteers at the Pat Conroy Literary Center in Beaufort, South Carolina. She’s published non-fiction, plays a little tennis, travels when she can, and loves life in the lowcountry with her husband and an exuberant golden retriever.

      A Green tree encircled by the words "Will Greer's Theatricum Botanicum"

      Her play opens at Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum where it will run from July 9th – October 2nd. Freely Adapted by Ellen Geer and Directed by Gerald Rivers. If you’re in the area of Topanga, California during its run, we recommend checking it out!

      If you can’t make it to the play, the book and audiobook is now available wherever books are sold! The audiobook, narrated by Director Gerald Rivers, is worth giving a listen!

      We hope that, like us at Chanticleer, you will be moved by Robert Smalls’s courageous life of thoughtful, compassionate leadership

      Why did Bruff write this story?

      I’m a writer. I believe that the stories we read and write and tell have the power to shape and change our lives. I believe that – because a story changed my life.

      Nine years ago, when I lived in Texas, I visited the lowcountry. It was my first experience here, and it was brief, but we made time for a carriage tour through the historic district of Beaufort. And that’s when I heard a little bit of the story of a man named Robert Smalls. I’d never heard his name, and I’d never heard the story. But he intrigued me. His courage, and his heroism, and his contributions, and legacy intrigued me.

      His story ignited my curiosity. Curiosity led to exploration, and exploration led to discovery, and I discovered how little I knew about our history. I discovered how little I understood about the experiences of enslaved people in our country. I discovered that some stories get amplified, while other stories get silenced.

      Click here to read the rest on her website

      Congratulations once more to Rebecca Dwight Bruff on her Overall Grand Prize Win, and we’re delighted to crow with you about this most recent accomplishment! We look forward to what’s next!

      ***

      Cover of Trouble The Water by Rebecca Dwight Bruff

      “The must-read story of Robert Smalls. An Inspiring story of courage that we need today. It rings with heroic action along with thoughtfulness and sincerity that will keep you going until the end. A must read! Five Stars!”
      – Chanticleer Book Reviews

    • BLOSSOM — The Wild Ambassador of Tewksbury (Audiobook Review) by Anna Carner – Animal Rights, Friendship, Environmental & Naturalist Biographies

      BLOSSOM — The Wild Ambassador of Tewksbury (Audiobook Review) by Anna Carner – Animal Rights, Friendship, Environmental & Naturalist Biographies

      One woman’s encounter with a rescued deer turns into an unanticipated life-changing experience in Blossom — The Wild Ambassador of Tewksbury, the audiobook.

      Author Anna Carner lived in a horse-friendly farming area of New Jersey in 1999, when she encountered a newborn fawn, barely breathing, near her home. The animal seemed to be communicating its need to her, and, with some experience of animal and human care, Carner set out to revive the fawn. She took the baby deer into her house and nursed her back to health. When she and her husband, Pino, saw the fawn curled up asleep with the family dog, the couple knew they had a new pet. Her name, Blossom, seemed suited to her sweetness and soft, gentle beauty.

      Caring for animals was not uncommon nor unfamiliar to Anna, who, with her husband Pino, housed horses and raised alpacas on their property. But bringing in a fawn was different because some community members considered deer a nuisance and hunting a sport to be enjoyed. As Blossom grew, she would venture farther away from home for more extended periods. Anna and Pino circulated “please, don’t shoot Blossom” posters to bring awareness and compassion for not just the friendly deer but for all deer. While many championed Blossom’s safety, others did not.

      Narrator Petrea Burchard breathes life into the audio adaptation of Anna Carner’s captivating and moving memoir. Setting the tone from the get-go, Burchard’s soft, silken voice immediately draws readers in as she deftly prepares the groundwork of bucolic Tewksbury scenes that are mere façades to the danger lurking in its midst. Carner’s memoir functions more like a mystery thriller; its well-balanced mix between the first-person narrative and engaging dialogue and emotional roller-coaster scenes provides Burchard plenty of room to use the full range of her vocal skills.

      Carner’s encounter with Blossom pushes her to recall childhood memories she’d rather leave behind. She can’t since the parallels of victim and rescuer between her present and past are too powerful to dismiss. While much of the story centers on the present, Carner appropriately shifts to disturbing but at the same time thought-provoking moments from her dysfunctional youth. The alterations may not be unusual from a reader standpoint but challenging for a narrator since Carner’s memoir includes a full cast of mostly secondary characters—neighbors, hunters, veterinarians, supporters—many of whom play critical roles in the direction of the story.

      However, from a listener standpoint, three characters besides Anna take the front-and-center stage to shape the narrative. When Burchard morphs into Caruso, the Carner’s opera-loving and chattering parrot, her comical voice provides a definite mood change that lightens the story’s continual underlying tension focused on Anna’s incessant worry that a hunter will take Blossom down. The story’s tenor shifts again with the introduction of children’s voices, particularly Viola, one of the young burn-unit patients whom Anna befriends while in the hospital. Burchard’s attention to narrative details enhances the innocence and compassion as the girls converse with one another, discussing life issues. Lastly, another voice change, when Anna receives phone calls from a creepy stalker. Burchard’s gravelly tone against the terror in Anna’s voice could easily make one think the story was a Stephen King novel; it’s that spine-chilling.

      Audience listening level: Light profanity and sexual references (mainly dealing with animals) make this perfect for middle-graders on up.

      Riveting from beginning to end, Blossom—The Wild Ambassador of Tewksbury audiobook is a powerful story of love, determination, and hope for the betterment of wildlife conservation that won First in Category in the CIBA 2019 Journey Awards for Memoirs and Biographies.  A highly recommended listen!

    • BLOSSOM – The WILD AMBASSADOR of TEWKSBURY by Anna Carner – Wild Animal Rescue, Memoir, Nature & Ecology

      BLOSSOM – The WILD AMBASSADOR of TEWKSBURY by Anna Carner – Wild Animal Rescue, Memoir, Nature & Ecology

      Author Anna Carner was living in a horse-friendly farming area of New Jersey in 1999, when she encountered a newborn fawn, barely breathing, near her home. The animal seemed to be communicating its need to her, and, with some experience of animal and human care, Carner set out to revive the fawn.

      She took the baby deer into her house and nursed her back to health. When she and her husband, Pino, saw the fawn curled up asleep with the family dog, the couple knew they had a new pet. Her name, Blossom, seemed suited to her sweetness and soft, gentle beauty.

      But the couple lived in an area where some people consider the deer population a problem; pests to be eliminated, hunting a necessary and enjoyable sport. As Blossom grew and began to range out with other, wilder kin, Carner realized she would have to take extreme methods to shield her from danger.

      Carner and Pino created posters with the animal’s picture and a plea not to hurt Blossom. Some neighbors were sympathetic, but others were cynical. Some even made a practice of stalking Blossom and harassing Carner. One man claimed to have the deer in captivity, demanding a ransom for her return. Carner’s efforts to protect Blossom gradually took root in the community and soon neighbors joined in; other stray deer were saved and adopted. A widespread movement was started that included the possibility of spaying by vaccination to limit the deer population without the violence of hunting.

      In writing her memoir of the years with Blossom, Carner revisits her own past and the violence she suffered as a baby at the hands of her father; injuries that required hospitalization and subsequent treatment for much of her youth. These recollections give her empathy for Blossom and other suffering creatures, and no doubt the reason she is passionate about her role as a rescuer.

      Blossom, as she so vividly describes her, was an ideal patient and pet that seemed to speak at times, and to obey commands almost like a canine. The deer’s sensitivity to her human caregivers is perhaps extraordinary or may reflect what many “wild” creatures are capable of, given a chance. The chapters are interspersed with poems by Jeanne Hamilton Troast, a fellow animal enthusiast. Through action and rich, well-crafted dialog, Carner highlights her endeavors to promote better care of all animals based on the experience she and Pino shared as they cherished their time with Blossom.

      Carner writes both for convinced animal lovers and, additionally, for those who may never have given the issues much thought, offering strong evidence of the worth of living in harmony with deer and other creatures whose perceived harmfulness has been to some extent created by our human rules and boundaries, not by their natural inclinations.

      Not just a sweet deer with a fantastic story, Blossom is the subject for the Nat’l Geographic NATURE documentary. To view a 4-minute video of Blossom’s story please click here.  Blossom was also featured in National Geographic’s Nature presentation, “The Private Life of Deer.” Please click here to see the film.