Ben East Books

Tag: Writing

  • Mission Accomplished

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    Ben East
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    War Novels for the War on Terror Thirteen years ago Sunday former President George Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq. Over his head a massive banner proclaimed, “Mission Accomplished.” What followed this publicity stunt—he arrived on an aircraft carrier off the coast of California riding in a Navy jet—were years of insurgency…

  • Get Pumped–The Cover Issue

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    Ben East
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    I never pictured myself a graphic designer. But in putting out Two Pumps for the Body Man, I had the chance to try my hand. Here are a few samples I drew up before arriving at the finished product. Classic cover sheet for SDDTS material. Wait, SDDTS material? Too racy.  Too much desert. Creepy in a…

  • Review: The Brothers Connolly

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    Ben East
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    Ted Prokash employs a rich, poetic voice to tell his story of middle America, giving The Brothers Connolly the quality of an epic. His narrator breaks this novel free of its small-town confines. The writing, here, is the main event. Prokash is skillful and convincing in his portrayal of life in Napawaupee, Wisconsin. He renders with equal…

  • The Well-Dressed Reader

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    Ben East
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    Contrary to the rumors being spread by Amazon, no Ben East apparel is currently available at the B.A. East author page. Sorry to disappoint loyal readers. http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00N1YVQOG

  • Writing is physical

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    Ben East
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    …and sometimes writing’s purely physical, like when you’re in the middle of editing copy in Word from a comfortable, seated position and you find yourself needing to hand-write a note, but that’s got to be done in the specific place where you organize all the notes pertaining to the next draft you have planned, but you realize you’ve left…

  • You’re not anti-social

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    Ben East
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    Dear fellow writers and artists, The Washington Post on Friday helped explain your anti-social tendencies. Revelation: you’re not misanthropic; you’re smart. What you’re working on has been equated to finding the cure for cancer. Research published last month in the British Journal of Psychology by two evolutionary psychologists from the London School of Economics and Singapore…

  • NINE

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    Ben East
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    Mothers, fathers, Diamond’s calling: Little League begins. Sons and daughters, Grab your bats. Days are growing long. Pitcher, catcher, Batter, Ump: Eyes quick on the ball. Windup, pitch, Swing and hit, Field and throw and tag. Line to Center. Ground to short. Hit and run and slide. Bases loaded, Batter up, Knock it past the…

  • Foreign Service Writers

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    Ben East
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    The March issue of the Foreign Service Journal covers the annual book fair and includes a call for FS-affiliated writers to submit news of forthcoming and recently published books for the November round up. Authors are also invited to submit work for review on this blog: I recently reviewed retired FSO James F. O’Callaghan’s No Circuses. See below. From the FSJ…

  • “Blog Thing”

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    Ben East
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    Two years ago I published my first book review. It was for a work of non-fiction by Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Bryant Wieneke. A returned volunteer myself, I did the review to satisfy a couple of urges. First, it was a service to a comrade, albeit one I’d never met. But we had the same fire…

  • Infidelities for Valentine’s Day

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    Ben East
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    It’s just like Michael Hemmingson to be gone. Just when I wanted to thank him for his black Valentine’s Day messages. There’s a world of hurt in his collection Pictures of Houses with Water Damage (Black Lawrence Press, 2010). It’s a numbed kind of hurt, the kind of pain felt after a breakup, whether you wanted to…