New Edition of Jack Schaefer’s novel ‘Shane’

2017 edition of my all time favourite western novel, ‘Shane’ by Jack Schaefer, published by University of New Mexico Press and with an introduction by Robert Nott of the Sante Fe ‘New Mexican’. Nice cover illustration being a re-hued version of “Sentinel of the Plains’ 1906 by William Herbert Dunton. Oil on canvas 39 x 26 in. Nicely done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the original:

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Author Interview Published On The Writing Blog Of Fellow Author, Mercedes Fox

Please check out a very nice author interview on the writing blog of fellow author,  Mercedes Fox.

https://mercedesfoxbooks.com/meet-author-nicholas-j-ordinans/

and, while you are there, take the time to explore the rest of her site and learn about her writing:

https://mercedesfoxbooks.com/

Many Thanks, Mercedes!

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Anecdotal Story published in the May Issue of Reader’s Digest

Finally got my fingers, and my fingernails dirty, setting up my raised vegetable gardens. Finished just in time to check out the delivery of my signed contract and May issue of Reader’s Digest containing my latest anecdotal contribution to the ‘Smart Animals’ section.

2016-05-06 17.02.24

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Five star review of my first novel ‘Home Run’ on Amazon Australia!

I have only just checked out my author’s page on Amazon Australia for the first time as I operate exclusively through their US store and have discovered a very nice 5 star review of my first novel, the thriller ‘Home Run’!

I very much appreciate the reader having taken the time to post a review as, like all independent authors, my career is entirely dependent on reviews and feedback from readers. In addition, I am so very pleased that my first attempt at a novel after many years of writing short stories has given a reader so much pleasure! Thank you….

5 star review of my first novel ‘Home Run’

HR

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Preview of ‘Where There Be Tygers’ available for view on Amazon

Check it out here:

Where There Be Tygers preview

Tygers Kindle Cover

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Anecdotal Story published in the December Issue of Reader’s Digest

An anecdotal story of mine has been published in the December edition of Reader’s Digest in the section called ‘Smart Animals’. And I have just received my contract and complimentary copy in the mail 🙂

Excellent!

Thank you, Reader’s Digest!

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Back To The Future Day is here!

Guess what I’ll be watching tonight 🙂

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‘Whose Zoo’ now a full-time project, at last!

After numerous false starts and the painfully slow production of some thirty-five thousand words, my memoir of my nearly thirty years as a Zoo Keeper, both in England and Australia, is now an ongoing, full-time project!

Writing this memoir has been an unexpectedly daunting task, but after taking the time to scan many of the photographs of my zoo career, a process that helped to reacquaint me the memories and honest feelings I have of those happy and difficult years, I was fortunate to discover the guidance I so desperately needed.

This came in the form of ‘The Art of Memoir’ by Mary Karr, which very quickly made me understand why this process has taken so long and what was needed to make this book the honest memoir that I had always hoped it could be.

‘The Art of Memoir’ by Mary Karr

Mary Karr is the author of her own New York Times best selling memoir ‘The Liars’ Club’  ‘The Liars’ Club’ by Mary Karr and two further volumes:

‘Cherry’ ‘Cherry’ by Mary Karr

and ‘Lit’ ‘Lit’ by Mary Karr

Read them all.

I intend to read every word she has ever written 🙂

And, as an endnote, while scanning my photographs I came across the first publicity photograph of myself and ‘Jess’ the male Wedge-Tailed Eagle from Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria, Australia, taken on the 29th November 1984, just two months after I started as the Keeper-In-Charge of what was then known as the ‘Reptile Section’.

Jess celebrated his forty-fourth birthday on September 16h 2015 ‘Jess’ the Wedge-Taile Eagle turns 44 and was the first bird to fly in the free flight program, originally called ‘Where Eagles Fly’, but more recently known as ‘Spirits of the Sky’ Spirits of the Sky

I cared for Jess between 1984 and 1993 and my close relationship with him will be one of the many highlights of my forthcoming book. Watch this space for more news!

First Jess 29111984

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‘The Raven’ by Edgar Allan Poe for my birthday!

What a great birthday present for a lover of words. The full text of Edgar Allan Poe’s brilliant poem on a scarf!

Thank you, E! And thank you Storiarts for making it possible. http://bitsy.in/4578

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My new writing partners.

This year’s writing has started very slowly, for various reasons, but my routine has returned to some semblance of normality over the past couple of weeks.

My writing life has been greatly enhanced by the addition of a completely new means of interacting with my writing partner, Dragon Naturally Speaking,

which has, itself, been updated at very reasonable cost to Premium Version 13 following a delightful conversation with a lady by the name of Mary from the Nuance support desk in Canada. This new version improves on the already excellent Version 12 that I was already using.

 

dragon_naturally_speaking_13_premium

http://www.nuance.com/for-individuals/by-product/dragon-for-pc/premium-version/index.htm#dr_premium_benefits

I am even more excited by the fact that  I am no longer tied to my PC by a corded headset USB microphone since the arrival of a Speechware TableMike, a microphone that the makers of Dragon, Nuance, have awarded a 5 star rating. https://www.tablemike.com/en/mic

Onwards!

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