New Book Alert: Grey Pine
I love books. I love writing. I love reading. I love the world of the printed language and stories. One thing the internet has blown wide open is the world of book publishing and promotion. More authors than ever are finding a marketplace for their art online. I have been able to discover more new (or new to me) authors online than I ever did when I used to just haunt libraries and used book stores. It’s been bliss for me.
And thanks to the internet, I am able to introduce you to T. Lloyd Winetsky, a writer who might just be the best new author you never heard of. His novel, Grey Pine, is his first published book and represents his new path in life. A teacher by trade, Winetsky survived both a brain aneurysm and stroke, and was inspired to retire from full time teaching and begin writing fiction.
Grey Pine takes place in 1980 and in the days of the Mount Saint Helens eruption. The story follows Phillip Stark, a science teacher, as he experiences the wonderment and opportunity for scientific experimentation that comes along with ash fall from the volcano. The community around him is fraught with chaos as a result of the volcano and his own life takes on a parallel of disruptions. Its man versus nature AND man versus himself, all in one package. The story touches on youth suicide, clinical depression, racial tension, alcoholism, and an unpopular war – all social issues that are just as keenly poignant today as they were in 1980. Because of the social relevance of the story, I think Grey Pine is a novel you need to read in order to see how issues in our society do not change as much as they live on to affect new generations.
You can read free excerpts of Grey Pine today on the author’s website. You can also contact the author. I have to admit that one of the most compelling things about online marketing of books these days is the way authors are making themselves available to their readers. It brings a level of intimacy to the reading experience that cannot be matched. I relish the opportunity to directly contact an author with questions I have about a book I have enjoyed.