Friday, March 18, 2011

What ever happened to...?

You ever have one of those moments when you suddenly recall an author you used to love? It happened to me the other day. I'm reading Bone Worship by Elizabeth Eslami and on the back cover is a blurb from David Haynes, including that he is the author of The Full Matilda, which I hadn't heard about.

I read his novels Live at Five and Somebody Else's Mama years ago, but I didn't know Haynes had another book out. Turns out it was released in 04 and I missed it. The bad news is how easy it is to miss hearing about a book even if it's by an author you enjoy. The good news is that now I have another book to add to my TBR list!

Live at Five made me laugh out loud with its story of a black newscaster and the little old ladies who would write him letters telling him to cut his hair, and Somebody Else's Mama is a very touching story of a woman and her elderly mother-in-law. Both novels tell universal tales and were beautifully written. I'm looking forward to The Full Matilda and hoping that Haynes has another new one soon! Seriously, don't sleep on David Haynes.

Oh, and I'm really enjoying Bone Worship too. The main character Jasmine reminds me a bit of Shay from my novel Orange Mint and Honey (which was a March selection of the Best Damn Creative Writing Blog's new book club). Both are nerdy college students a little too smart for their own good in some areas and hopelessly lost in others. Readers looking for more biracial characters (as in The Girl Who Fell From the Sky--climbing the New York Times best-seller list!) will want to check out this story of a half-Iranian and half-white young woman trying to figure out her father and herself.

1 comment:

Karen L. Simpson said...

I had David Hayne for my very firt intensive workshop at Hurston Wright back in in 2004. He was a great teacher very caring I still remenber the thing he taught in class but you are right I haven't heard very much about him since