Hi, Patrick,

A great success story.

Hi, Patrick,

I am sending you a separate email with a few suggestions.
Overall, this is a substantial literary undertaking containing great potential.

Rob Tucker, Author

Hi, Robert,

I enjoyed your observations and ocmmentary. The article actually sounds like the beginning of a memoir or could become a development of "Chicken Soup" like articles from other pet owners undergoing their golden years.
Nice interesting and insightful writing.

Rob Tucker, Author

Thank you for your comment. Goldens are wonderful family dogs.

> > Hi, Patrick,
> > Your comments are refreshing to read in a world and societies in which religion has become a political and polarizing element, rather than unifying the human condition through acceptance of its diversity.
> >
> > My recently published novel, BYRON, addresses this very issue in an in-depth dramatic and contemporary context, intolerance related to gender, race, and religion through the narrative voice and experience of a young woman growing up in a southern mill town in Louisiana.
> >
> > If you might be interested, please visit my author website www.byronnovel.com.
> **************************
> Rob:
> I am totally interested.....please post an excerpt from your book as an "Article" to our group; and have links in there to where people can buy it (i.e. online bookseller?) here is the group

Hi, Patrick,

At your invitation, I'm joining the conversation as you recommended.

There is a key scene in my novel, BYRON, that addresses the group discussion. It is a court hearing in which the defense attorney is educating the prosecution. I can't include the scene verbatim, but the reference made is as follows and underscores that all religions came into existence to establish specific cultural standards of shared social values (including health and well-being), ethics, and some manner of spiritual recognition or connection depending on different cultures.

Not all religions accept or endorse the dogma of one religion being any greater, more true, more significant, or more powerful than another. Looking back through history, the premise of religions is based on a common mythology of an ascended being to whom is attached a myriad of myths and stories. Many are written down, but they are no different than the oral tradition of establishing the importance of these spirits or beings than early tribes using them to describe the unexplainable and unknown. In todays societies, cultures, and subcultures, they have the advantage of being communicated in written, verbal and other forms of media.

For example, the Bible is a chronology of the Jews in Biblical times, but it is filled with myths and stories to explain little understood phenomena just as in non-Christian religions, including tribal beliefs. It is only a book of facts if individuals or groups choose to perceive it in that manner. In other words, it is a personal view or experience shared by many, but not all, just as the Koran of the Islamic faith or the Tao Te Ching of the Chinese Taoist religion are other books that are perceived by other individuals and groups as being the definitive "Word. "

A second example is that evolutionary principles do not contradict the purpose of the Bible and of Christianity or any other of the eleven major religions and hundreds of denominations in the world today. In addition to a way of believing, as you pointed out, there are ethics regarding a way of living.

Most men and women attempt to achieve the highest possible good by adjusting their lives to some power in the universe. We usually call this power God and he/she/it comes to us with different names depending on the culture of origin and what part of the world and conditions in which you happen to live: Allah, Brahman, Buddha, Ahura Mazda, Jehova, or a universal force called Mana.

We know from anthropological and scientific studies by learned scholars that religions exist among tribal peoples of Africa, Asia, Australia, North and South America, and the Pacific Islands. Most of those tribal religions center on such practical needs as food and fertility, and the health of crops, animals, and people. Their images and idols represent symbols of spiritual and ethical principles that are close to those of major religions, including Christianity. These people are not pagans or followers of Satan. They are human beings and their beliefs are not inferior to established major religions. In place of sacred written literature, they have ceremonies and rituals that are passed along from one generation to the next, just as the major religions have ceremonies and rituals and symbols and icons. People identify these powers, regard them with awe, and seek good relations with them through prayer, worship, and personal behavior. There are also many people who do not have such a spiritual need and their lives are exemplary.


From my website, there is a direct link to the Amazon.com book site which features a search inside the book feature so that readers can sample the opening chapter which establishes the direction the story will take and the premise of concern. The home page of my website provides a discussion guide for readers, which is also contained in the book appendix.

I'm not certain how to go about posting an article on gather directly related to your personal site, so I'm just contributing to the discussion.
The author/book website does provide thoughtful, provocative, and challenging questions regarding our mutual topic of interest.
www.byronnovel.com

Thank you again for your invitation and your thoughts on this subject.
Rob Tucker

I think you have a great website and promotional vehicle for your book with an on-going series to connect with readers. I would like to add my thoughts regarding the power and importance of readers.

I believe that reading a book you enjoy is a unique and individual experience. When you really like a book, you will recommend it to another reader, who will also have a unique and individual experience.

Reading a book is not a group social activity. It's not a concert. It's not watching a movie or television. It's the psychological and emotional connection between your life and the meaningful impact of the words the author offers to you on those pages. A great value of belonging to a book club is the opportunity to share reader perceptions in a group with common or uncommon interests.

Writing a novel and eventually having it published is a humbling experience. Writing is not glamorous. It's hard work to do it well and manage to enter and be accepted in the political business environment of the publishing industry. I encourage readers to appreciate the efforts of writers. You may be an audience of one, but cumulatively, you are an audience of many and what you have to say about your reading experience is important and significant.

Given the proliferation of electronic modes of communication, interest in reading does not seem to have diminished. More and more books are being published and more people are reading them. What is nice to see is that there are books of all kinds that are written to the preferences and expectations of a diverse range of readers. Clearly, any given book may not appeal to all readers and rarely does. Sales figures are not necessarily an accurate index for reader preference.

Any book you pick up has a sociological context. From a marketing perspective, the criteria that readers consciously or unconsciously use to select a book does provide insight to writers and publishers and makes for an interesting discussion regarding reader personality, life style, and social and cultural influences and how these characteristics might determine what approach a writer uses in developing a book project.

Writing a book is a personal subjective creative design and development process that parallels the design, development, production and sale of almost any manufactured product. The requirements and sequence are similar from the initial input, writing and internal and external feedback, through the final output or accepted manuscript which passes on to production and marketing.

Considering that a book may begin as an original creative work without the writer knowing the potential audience, eventually the realities and financial metrics of a highly competitive marketplace exert a primary influence over the book as a product when encountering editorial preferences of publishers and their target audience(s).

Interestingly, writers experience creative satisfaction but readers decide the success of a book.

I enjoyed your article and share your enthusiasm.
I'm visiting your website and would also like to share my author sites for my first two published novels. www.byronnovel.com and www.chanceofalifetimenovel.com.

I recently posted an article to the gather book site entitled THE POWER AND IMPORTANCE OF A READER, which relates to your information.

Thank you.
Rob Tucker