Thursday, August 09, 2012

Review: MY TEMPORARY LIFE by Martin Crosbie


 "Each storyline weaves together to make a literary cloth that you are likely to wear in your mind for years to come."

I don’t write book reviews that recap the story. The book description serves that purpose. I rather prefer to share my reaction to the book and how it grabbed or didn’t grab me. This one was a grabber. It’s been a long time since a book has touched me as deeply as My Temporary Life: Book One of the My Temporary Life Trilogy did. The irony was that I chose to read this particular book in order to be in a literary world far removed from the reality of daily life. Surely a storyline about a young lad growing up in Scotland would be about as far removed from my life as a forty-seven year old writer living in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Well, indeed, it was far removed from my own life. But, still the author, Martin Crosbie, found a way to subtly, and at times not so subtly, lure me into Malcolm’s world in such a way that made me think a lot about my own. And that’s just part of what makes this such a fabulous read. Crosbie’s writing style is engaging and crisp. Each word is purposeful. Each character is developed in a way that the book wouldn’t be complete without them. Each storyline weaves together to make a literary cloth that you are likely to wear in your mind for years to come.
The premise is about doing the right thing, and if you don’t do the right thing, how you may or may not move on with regrets. Starting with tough decisions as a young teenager right through is adult years, Malcolm is faced with having to do (or choose not to do) the right thing in some pretty intense situations. Malcolm is not the only one faced with the painful reality of retreating versus reacting, and in each case, it makes you think, what would I have done? Crosbie does a wonderful job of developing Malcolm’s relationship with each and every character, be them friend or foe. Through this, Malcolm’s character and personality are defined brilliantly.
This book is an enriching one that appeals to a wide range of demographics. No matter where you live, whether you’re male or female, whether you like coming of age, get captivated by suspense or are a sucker for a love story, this book has it all. But most of all, this is a book that will change the way you think, and perhaps even the way you act.


With over 130,000 downloads of My Temporary Life: Book One of the My Temporary Life Trilogy , there will be a bunch of us readers anxiously awaiting his second novel, My Name Is Hardly-Book Two of the My Temporary Life Trilogy .

This review is posted as a standing ovation with 5 Stars on:
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Goodreads.


Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Victoria's Secret vs. Dove - The Skinny vs. Voluptuous Campaigns


First - I'm so sick of the skinny vs. voluptuous campaigns.
My issue with these campaigns is that they're focusing on comparing the SIZE and LOOKS of women rather than the CHARACTER.
Who cares whether we're skinny or full figured as long as we're HEALTHY? I've been 5'8" 122-130 my entire adult life. I work out 5 times a week because I love cycling or hiking or whatever gets me outdoors and off my laptop for a while. It's how I'm built and how I live, but I don't expect to be criticized for being naturally thin and athletic any more than I would criticize a plus sized woman for her looks and lifestyle. Can't we just be PEOPLE and not judged by the scale and tape measure but by character!?
I've had women say some pretty snarky things to me for being thin and it's campaigns like this that compare body types and pit women against each other that continue to encourage body size being a factor instead of focusing on character
I can also guarantee that the women in the Dove ad were Photoshopped just as much as the Victoria Secret women...I see no cellulite or stretch marks, so how does that make them "real"?
As for the young girls and body image everyone is so concerned about: my question would be...are the ad campaign execs who put this stuff out there in the first place parents?
Talk to THEM.
Second - Why don't we see posts like this comparing men and their builds? Answer - because no one cares.