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Sharing our love for authors, and the stories they are inspired to tell.

New On The Shelf At Fiction Books This Week

Yvonne5 min readMay 12, 201318 comments

Picture of an English red post boxMailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house during the last week.

Be warned that Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Mailbox Monday, is currently ‘on tour’ and being hosted by a different blogger each month.

Your host for May 2013 is: Abi over at ‘4 The Love Of Books’

So why not stop by, leave a link to your own Mailbox Monday post, oh! and don’t forget to leave a comment for Abi, after all, we all like to receive them!

This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

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This was another of those surprise emails, direct from the author, which periodically land in my ‘in box’, as a pleasant and unexpected surprise! Fantasy isn’t a genre that I tend to read on a regular basis, however the premise of all the music being stolen from the world, is a particularly intriguing one, especially with the clever name that Earl has chosen for his  main protagonist!

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‘TALE OF THE MUSIC-THIEF’

Music is being stolen. From everywhere. Not just the printed pages and the crystals that playback music, but from the very minds of the people. The latest victim of this theft is the City-Along-The-Lake Opera Company. Their latest production is shut down opening night because no one can remember a single note or word of the opera. Allegra takes it worse than others. From her childhood she’s been surrounded by music. Now that her clan from the Great Steppes is dead of a sleeping plague she has only the song memories left to remind her of who she is. But those memories scare her, she’s afraid of the pain they will cause her. She has buried them under hundreds of other songs she’s learned since then. Now that those songs are disappearing, the past is rising in her memories. Allegra tries to hide at home but when the isolation gets to her, she dons the disguise of Allegor, a traveling troubadour. One night, as she plays one of the few local songs she has left in her memory at a local tavern, she feels the music being stolen as she sings. She also sees a strange man in a traveling cloak, carrying what looks to be like a teapot made of crystal. She tries to talk to him but he escapes the tavern. Suspecting that this mysterious man may have something to do with the disappearing music, Allegra sets out in a pursuit that takes her far down the South Road. Using a magic map she tries to catch the music-thief. But she only has until the music-thief reaches Town-Where-South-Road-Forks. After that the magicked map will be useless and the thief will escape with all the music.

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EARL T. ROSKE

Profile picture of author Earl T. RoskeThe first story Earl recalls writing, was in the second or third grade and was about a sad baby whale. He also illustrated and bound it. Alas, being a military brat and having moved many, many times, it and most of his early writing has been lost. Earl does have one story, which he wrote while in his first year of the Marines, however he proclaims it so immature that it will be cremated with his body, so that it can never come to light. 

In 2007, wishing to take a writing class, Earl signed up for playwriting at Foothill College. The intent was that he would take the class to interact with writers and work on his dialogue skills. He had planned on doing this for a year and then moving on, however such was not the case, because after having his first 3-page play cold read in front of the class he was hooked.

As much as he liked writing fiction, there is something to be said for “seeing” your words on a stage. It also didn’t hurt that the first 10-minute play he wrote was chosen to be part of the Santa Cruz Actors’ Theatre’s Eight Tens @ Eight. Looking at his resume for play productions, it’s obvious that he has done fairly well in the 10-minute play arena, although he is still working on a producible full-length play. His short plays have been pretty successful and have been produced in festivals and productions from New York to California,  Singapore to India.

Earl currently has two collections of short stories and a novelette available on Smashwords.

Earl is also a proud and newly minted father. Brienna was born 12 December 2012. This has greatly impacted on his  writing in both positive and negative ways, although he also has the most patient and encouraging wife a person could ever wish for.
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When asked just what inspired him to write ‘Tale Of The Music Thief’, this is what Earl had to say …
Music inspired Tale of the Music-Thief. I’d been reflecting about how personal and how universal music was. How it could bring people of different backgrounds together. How it could unite people. Music has so much power in it. And my thoughts moved to how people see music differently. There are those who collect it, those who write and perform it, and people like me who are just happy to have it as part of our life. Then I began to look at the dark side: what if all the music disappeared? The imagination train took on a full head of steam from there.

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I can’t wait to discover all your own great new finds this week … so please stop by and share your link

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Yvonne

I can’t remember a time, even as a child, when I haven’t been passionate about books and reading.
I began blogging, when I realised just how many other people out there shared my passion for the written word and I have been continually amazed at the wealth of books that are available and the amount of great new friends I have made, from literally 'The Four Corners Of The World'.

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18 comments

  • I’ve not done my Mailbox meme as yet but like you I do so enjoy visiting all the mailboxes to see what the most interesting books are

    Reply

    • Hi Mystica,

      I quite like it when the host posts the link early on a Monday, or on a Sunday afternoon.

      With the time differences, if the link isn’t posted until Monday am, US time, that’s early afternoon here in the UK and I am at work by then. By the time I then get home in the evening and get my link up, all you folks have already linked up and made your visits.

      I try to visit as many different sites as possible, to check out the diverse range of books and authors you have all found during the week. I have received so many great recommendations this way and also hooked up with some of the authors, who are looking for overseas bloggers to review.

      I shall do my best to stop by tomorrow and see what gems you have found this week.

      Enjoy your Sunday.

      Reply

    • Hi Harvee,

      I don’t read too many fantasy books, unless as the result of a specific request from the author or publisher, neither am I an avid music listener, however the premise for this story, of all the music in the world being stolen, is pretty compelling to say the least.

      Forgetting people’s names and birthdays, is worrying enough, but the concept of not being able to remember any of the music I know, worse still, knowing that it is slowly disappearing from my memory, would be a terrifying experience.

      Thanks for stopping by, your comment is appreciated and I hope that you enjoyed your Mother’s Day.

      Reply

    • Hi Elizabeth,

      You have no idea just how many times my finger has hovered over the publish button, rather than the update button, on oh so many posts. Reading my half finished, unedited ramblings might have been fun for you all out there, but I can assure you it would have been even more embarassing for me!

      Personally, I like to find a monthly meme host who is on the ball and considers the time zone differences for us non US contributors.

      I hope that you are enjoying your Mother’s Day and have a great week

      Reply

    • Hi Nikki,

      I have never really noticed you focusing much on fantasy books, so perhaps, like myself, you find the premise for this book just a little unnusual and intriguing.

      I must say, that if I am ever sat listening to music, then the thought of what would happen if it all disappeared tomorrow, never really enters my head, let alone if someone was to steal it all!!

      This should be an interesting read.

      Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your comment and hope that you have a good week.

      Reply

    • Hi Pat,

      Yes, this is the strangest premise for a book that I have come across for some time.

      My last fantasy read was similarly ‘off the wall’, so it has to be something to do with the way an author of fantasy books thinks! … Very ‘outside the box’ … I just don’t have that kind of imagination, I’m afraid.

      Thanks for visiting today, your comment is much appreciated.

      Reply

    • Hi Tracy,

      This does sound like a unique premise for a story, doesn’t it?

      There have only been a couple of reviews published so far and those have been fairly middle-of-the-road, so I am more or less starting with a clean slate on this one.

      Thanks for stopping by, as always I appreciate your comment.

      Reply

    • Hi Mary Ann

      I’m quite intrigued to find out just why the thief is stealing all the music, what he plans to do with it and just where the crystal teapot fits into the equation!!

      So many questions, but then I guess that’s the art of drawing the reader into the story just by reading the synopsis.

      Thanks for the visit and for taking the time to comment.

      Reply

    • Hi Mary,

      This is certainly going to be a book unlike any I have read before and in the fast changing world of the fantasy genre, is certainly an intriguing premise for a story.

      The author, Earl Roske, has also written several collections of short stories, including one, ‘From The Angry To The Sublime’ which is a collection of ghost stories with a difference and I quite fancy trying that at some time.

      Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you have a great week.

      Reply

    • Hi Vicki,

      Fantasy writing isn’t a genre which I gravitate to naturally and I don’t think it ever will be my first choice. However I have read some really good examples from the genre since I started blogging and receiving author review requests and this one in particular is very intriguing, with its unique premise.

      Whilst we both enjoy music and we very often go to concerts and recitals, I very seldom sit at home and listen exclusively to music. I couldn’t imagine a world however, where all the music had disappeared and I am intrigued to discover just why someone has decided to steal it all!!

      Thanks for stopping by, I always appreciate the comments you leave.

      Reply
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I can’t remember a time, when I haven’t been passionate about books. My library collection is mostly fiction, from a diverse range of genres and authors.

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