THREADS by Rose O’Flynn won the Creative Non-Fiction section of the Written Art Awards 2011. This annual literary award is offered by Rebecca’s Reads, a large US book review site. This award was founded to pay tribute to authors who are self-published or have had their books published by a subsidy publisher, small press, university press, or independent book publisher.
http://rebeccasreads.com/WrittenArtAwards2011Winners.html
Yayyyy!!!
Reviewed by Kam Aures for Rebecca’s Reads (09/11)
It is not often that the synopsis on the back cover of a book uses wording from the last page of the book, but in Rose O’Flynn’s “Threads: The Tapestry of Life,” this is the case. On the back cover the opening paragraph reads: “Three strong men, who face the horrors and loneliness of war, human brutality and the harshness of nature. Four strong women, who, left alone, endure heartbreak and incredible hardships.” Although worded slightly different at the end of the book, the meanings are the same. These two sentences pretty much sum up the entire work.
What is especially interesting about “Threads: The Tapestry of Life” is that the stories in the book are based on actual events and the author is a descendant of the people in the book. O’Flynn wrote the story using documents, diaries, and actual verbal records from the people involved.
I enjoyed reading of the family’s story. O’Flynn told the tales in a way that my interest was held throughout the entire story. The characters were very genuine and real and I was truly interested in what was going to happen to them next. Although the cover art would not be one to immediately grab my attention, once I read further in the book and realized what was depicted on the cover it was it made sense to me. I also think that it should be made more clear on the cover that this story is based on true events. I think that the book would appeal to more people that way.
Book received free of charge.
We have all experienced reading about something or seeing something which captures our imagination, and then, over a short period of time, repeatedly coming across the same subject. This is happening to me right now. I have stumbled onto so many articles, books and movies about Siberia, Stalin’s labour camps and WW2 in general that I feel that there is a resurgence of interest in these subjects. In my book, “Threads – The Tapestry of Life” the characters live through these experiences, starting with Adele’s journey to St Petersburg, where she joins the fairytale world of the Tsar’s palace as a seamstress. During the Russian Revolution, her husband, Johannes, is picked up in a random sweep by the Bolsheviks and sent to a labour camp in northern Siberia. Almost unbelievably, 25 years later, her son, Boris, is also sent to a labour camp in the far north-eastern reaches of Siberia. How their respective wives cope with the consequences of their imprisonment is one aspect of the book. The other is how the two men, at different stages in history, cope with their experiences in the gulags. Hence my active interest in tales of similar experiences. If you are equally interested click on Amazon and buy my book, either in Kindle or paperback and find out how people dealt with situations completely outside of their normal lives. Does Johannes escape? Does Boris? Are the couples ever re-united?
Exciting news…. I am visiting Ireland in May, essentially to visit my children, but I will be talking about my book to anyone who is interested and willing to listen. Quite a daunting prospect, this, of talking about my book to a group of people. I hope it happens, but will be shivering in my boots while doing it – public speaking!!!
My email address is: rosinante.rose@gmail.com
What would I have done without my clever son? He has been amazing, formatting my book for Kindle and Amazon, so you can all purchase it on one of those sites. I have actually had some sales!! Wow, thank you!!
Here on the farm, autumn approaches, and I am constantly reminded of the poem “Lake Isle of Innesfree” (WB Yeats). It so aptly describes my life here where “peace comes dropping slow”. The bees buzz collecting the last of the honey, butterflies flutter around late flowers, the mornings are crisp, though the days are still hot and we desperately need rain – it is four months since we had a decent shower. There was a fire last week, always terrifying, as in these dry conditions they move so fast, but it only lapped the edge of our property before the wind changed and it burnt back on itself, dying slowly. What a lucky woman I am, so many blessings.
Two weeks ago I received my printed books. I held the finished product in my hands and couldn’t believe that I had finally done it. I had completed and published a book. It looks great! My wonderful son then took over and wove all the technological spells that made the book available on Kindle. So now it is really out there in the wide world and I am a published author.
I believe the correct thing to do now is to create an Author’s Profile, so, if you are interested, here it is:
NAME: ROSEMARY ANNE O’FLYNN (ROSE)
BORN: 4/3/1948 (63)
EDUCATION: RHENISH GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL, STELLENBOSCH, SA
MATRIC – 1965
HIGHER ED: IMPERIAL SECRETARIAL COLLEGE – 1966
INTERESTS: READING, HISTORY, ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE, AROMATHERAPHY, PILATES, WALKING,
GARDENING
OCCUPATION: Retired !! Teach Pilates; manufacture aromatherapy products which I have developed; write; volunteer at small local library for underprivileged youngsters; garden; walk; maintain my home and pay attention to my pets
BACKGROUND: Mother Estonian, Father South African. I was born in Johannesburg. My mother moved to Cape Town on the death of my father when I was 2. I have lived in Cape Town most of my life; spent 2 years in London in 1968/69. Married in 1971, then spent 1 year in Johannesburg in 1972, where my wonderful son, Bernard – 38 . My beautiful daughter, Tammi – 36, was born in Cape Town. They live in Ireland now. Worked for PwC for 22 years, Office Manager. Divorced in 1990. I retired in mid 2007. I live on the top of Piketberg Mountain, Western Cape, SA on a farm growing black figs and pomegranates.
BOOK: In 2005 my sister and I visited Estonia. I was inspired to write a book about my family and their journeys. Many of the incidents in the book were told to me by my mother, who heard them from her mother. Significant points are:
Adele & Johannes’s meeting and marriage in St Petersburg
Their bullion trip from Kharkov
Russian Revolution
Johannes is captured
Adele’s winter walks to keep her family fed
Johannes’s death
Raja’s journey to London
WW2 arrives
Frank’s army days
Boris’s capture and exile
Maia’s attempt to find him
Enjoy reading it!!
Now this part has been exciting! Firstly, I had to choose the size of the book I wanted. I hadn’t realised that there were so many different sizes. I eventually chose 8” x 5”, which seems a comfortable size to me. Then I had to choose a background colour. In my book there is a story about the exciting life of a green coat, but somehow my gut feeling just said “red”, so red is what I have gone with. I imagined standing in front of a big bookshelf full of books in a large bookshop and I thought red would stand out. Hope I am right. Then the font sizes for the Title, Subtitle and Author had to be chosen. I wanted something old looking – does it work? The next step was to create the back cover blurb. This took several tries and suggestions from my Support Team – S. T – (children and friends). Quite difficult to get the right tone without waffling, giving away the ending, yet sounding exciting enough to entice people to buy the book. My patient agent changed things several times until the majority of us were happy with the result. Finally, there was the vital choice of a picture. After many suggestions from S.T the eventual choice is a brooch. This brooch is a family heirloom. It is a traditional piece of jewellery in Estonia – have I mentioned that I am half Estonian? The other half is South African … quite an unusual combination. The origin of the brooch was a mediaeval cloak pin which was often the sole asset of the owner. Over the centuries this pin evolved into a brooch – the bigger the brooch, the more wealthy the owner. My son thinks it looks like a Roman shield on the cover of the book, which sparked some discussion among the S.T, as it could give the wrong impression of the contents but in the end we decided to stick with it, as the brooch plays an integral part in the book. So hold your breath for my next instalment, when I will show you the cover!
Yayyyy!! All my life I have threatened to write a book. Now, after years of writing and re-writing, 4 drafts, and a huge amount of research, the book is done! I am left with feelings of exhaustion, panic and pride. Now, other people will see it – and judge both the book and me. Scary stuff. Even scarier is the thought of marketing it. The thought of asking anyone to buy anything makes me cringe.
So come on, all of you clever people out there – give me some feedback. Firstly, what do you think of the title – “Threads”? One of the main characters is a seamstress in the palace of the Tsar in 1900 and the theme of the book covers the intertwining of 7 lives over huge areas of the globe. Then, there is the subtitle – suggested as “The Fabric of Life”. Maybe “The Tapestry of Life”? Help me here.
The manuscript is currently with a literary agent who has done the editing and is busy with a cover and proof reading. This process has been interesting and, as with the entire book, a huge learning curve. Size of cover, font, colour, graphics, formatting of text are all things I subliminally knew had to be done, but really wanted some magic wand to just make it happen. Again, making selections means that you are essentially painting the cover – and will everyone like it?
Will anyone read it?
