Introducing MEMORIES OF JAKE

So I just released another book, Memories of Jake. This makes six … five novels and one non-fiction memoir.

For thirty-some years I was part of the theater community where I live, directing high school and community musicals (that’s what the memoir, entitled “More Fog, Please”: 31 Years Directing Community and High School Musicals” is about). So when I released my first book in the fall of 2013, How I Grew Up, it was a Big Deal. People knew me as a theater person, and now I was trying my hand at writing. I appreciated the congratulations and the book sales. When I released the second novel, Eli’s Heart, it also created a bit of a stir.

Since then hardly anybody blinks when I release a new book. I suppose that’s what happens to most of us, though, and one of the reasons writing can be a lonely endeavor. I keep remembering Anne Lamott’s comment in Bird by Bird, “Writing is its own reward.” And in most ways, that is a truth.

I really love it, though, when somebody buys a book. I love it even more when somebody buys a book, reads it, and WRITES A REVIEW! That’s a standing ovation. With each novel I have worked at improving my craft. I think all the stories I’ve told are good stories, and people seem to have enjoyed reading them. I think Memories of Jake is my best effort to date, without question.

So this blog post is pure, shameless self-promotion (it comes with the territory). I would love for you to read my story. And if you love it, please write a review. Here’s one that was definitely that standing ovation:

Susan Moore Jordan’s extraordinary new novel, Memories of Jake, is dedicated to “all those whose souls have been bruised by war and with admiration for those who found their way back to life through the power of creativity.” In Jordan’s story, wars can be personal struggles as well as political conflicts, and the power of creativity may extend to the expression, pain and redemption of love itself.

A horrific childhood trauma forges the bond between brothers Andrew and Jacob Cameron. As adults, their experiences in Vietnam seem somehow to resonate with the childhood drama. Amnesia enters the picture, but to say more would give away the intricate and sometimes shocking plot. As in Jordan’s other novels, music plays an important part, in this case the glorious requiems of Verdi, Fauré, and Brahms, especially Brahms. 

Although Memories of Jake is a free-standing book and may be read on its own, many of the affectionately-drawn characters will be familiar from Jordan’s Carousel Trilogy (How I Grew Up, Eli’s Heart, You Are My Song) and Jamie’s Children. In fact, Andrew and Jacob are the little boys who witnessed a murder in the first book of the trilogy. In Man With No Yesterdays, scheduled for release in the fall, Jacob’s account will take front and center. - Michaele Benedict

 cover by Tristan Flanagan

Memories of Jake is available on Amazon, paperback and Kindle:

https://www.amazon.com/Memories-Jake-Susan-Moore-Jordan/dp/1544274203/

or visit my website www.susanmoorejordan.com

A Montréal Connection in Cincinnati

I’ve been spending a lot of virtual time in Montréal, a city I would love to visit again. Recently while reading about the Basilica of Notre-Dame I came across the name of the pipe organ company Casavant Frères, which opened a flood of memories from a time in my past, while I was parish secretary for the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Hyde Park, Cincinnati.

Sometime in the early 1960s, I believe 1964, the church opted to have a pipe organ installed, and purchased the instrument from that Quebec company. A search revealed the company, considered one of the best in the world, is still active and producing these wonderful instruments. I don’t recall what kind of organ our Casavant replaced, but I’m guessing probably an electronic instrument of some kind.

We were aware the installation would require a considerable amount of time and had made accommodations for that. What we didn’t understand was how much space it would require. When the team pulled up to the church in a large eighteen-wheeler, our immediate problem was language. They spoke very little English. Nobody on the staff spoke French … I had one year of college French, primarily a diction class which had been a requirement for my vocal music major at the College-Conservatory of Music.

So beyond wishing them good day, asking their names and introducing myself, asking them how they were and were they hungry, we were at an impasse. Fortunately, a young member of the parish had spent some time in France, and a phone call resulted in her arriving on the premises pretty quickly.

“French Canadian is quite different from that spoken in Europe,” she told us. “But I’ll do the best I can.”

Our new French Canadian friends broke into broad smiles when Barbara started talking to them. The language barrier between two different kinds of spoken French was surmountable, especially because when they needed they could write things out. The written language is the same.

The next obstacle was a real game changer. None of us had given serious thought as to what a pipe organ actually consists of. The team began to unload the tractor-trailer, and as pieces were brought into the sanctuary the magnitude of this undertaking became apparent. Some of the pipes were over half the length of the sanctuary. A number of these large pipes had to be laid across rows and rows of pews. And there were so many of them! All summer events that year had to be moved to the church’s undercroft or to an outdoor location. Services, weddings, baptisms … anything and everything.

To the best of my memory, it was about a three month process to install the instrument. But it was worth every second of it. The sound was glorious, and we had an inaugural concert by the great concert organist E. Power Biggs. By then our friends from Quebec had returned to Canada, but they left a memory of dedicated craftsmen who loved what they did. And could they ever put together a pipe organ.

Casavant-Frères, je vous salue!

I Was Cyber Attacked and Lived to Tell About It

I hesitated to tell this story because I still feel incredibly stupid that I allowed it to happen. I know, I know … but still. I thought I was smarter than that. It was a few weeks ago. I finally decided to share because maybe somebody will read this and avoid the mistakes I made.

It all started as I took a few minutes away from writing and scrolled quickly through my Facebook News Feed, pausing at what looked like an interesting link. MISTAKE #1: I didn’t check to see if a friend had “liked” the page. It was three images of three fingers on a hand. There was a diagonal line across the fingers in each image, each lined up somewhat differently, and there was a comment something like “Learning this saved my life!”

Clicking on it resulted in very nasty stuff happening. First a siren blasting through my speakers, then dire warnings flashing on my monitor advising me to call “Microsoft Support” IMMEDIATELY with a phone number. I called. That was MISTAKE #2.

Male voice with heavy accent telling me I probably had a Trojan or some other equally horrible infection and my computer was on the verge of disappearing before my very eyes. Mind you, I’m still buying that this is Microsoft Support I’m talking with. Eventually … MISTAKE #3 … I gave this clown permission to operate my computer remotely. NEVER EVER DO THAT.

He showed me all kinds of stuff about all the errors in my computer that the infection had been causing for MONTHS on end and offered to set me up with a sure-fire fool-proof one hundred percent guaranteed super-duper anti-virus/malware/spyware/kitchenware program that would mean I would never ever have to worry about my computer being infected again.

Then the money pitch came, and the guy on the other end of the phone admitted well, no, I wasn’t talking to Microsoft Support anymore, but some other outfit and for a measly $199 for a year they would take my computer and put a fortress around it. Or, if I’d pay $499, they would do it for five years.

The alarm bells finally started going off and I FINALLY started asking the right questions and eventually just pulled the plug. Literally. Had I ever been had. So I took a deep breath, rebooted the computer, immediately went into all my banking websites and changed all passwords, changed passwords on my email and anything else I thought might be sensitive, ran scans with everything I have installed on my PC (including Malwarebytes, which is running constantly). I also found the software he’d used to access control of my computer and uninstalled it.

Then I contacted my “computer guy” Bob. “You’ve probably have had calls like this before.”

“Every day,” he said cheerfully. “They just want money. You did all the right things. Just keep an eye out for anything weird, and if something shows up bring the computer down and I’ll take a few more steps to wipe it clean. Oh, and if somebody calls you and wants to do a remote fix, because now they have your phone number, just tell them you took your computer to your computer guy.”

Well, I was lucky. For about two weeks I was hit with a barrage of emails attempting to lure me into clicking again onto a link which might have caused a repeat of the experience I had, or maybe worse, but eventually those stopped because I kept throwing them into junk mail and requesting the sender be blocked.

Lesson learned. These days the first thing I do when I boot the computer is run a scan of Advanced System Care and then Windows Defender. So far, my computer is doing great. And I hear all you Mac users snickering out there. That’s okay. I LIKE my HP PC. 

And I have a great computer guy. If you need one, PM me and I’ll give you his contact information.

Thoughts on JAMIE’S CHILDREN

An invitation last week to meet with members of a local book club resulted in excellent feedback for Jamie’s Children, my most recently released novel (July, 2016).

            This was only my second book club meeting and it was great. The members were very welcoming; there were a dozen people present who had read and apparently enjoyed the book, and they had excellent questions. We enjoyed a lively discussion for nearly two hours. I loved sharing with them my reasons for writing the book, how I had created the characters, and why I had chosen to deal with bipolar disorder through my character Niall.

            It was also great to hear that they enjoyed reading about the music in the book. It's a challenge to try to describe the emotions evoked by music, and knowing I succeeded encourages me to continue writing about it.

            It was a lovely evening and a confirmation that I had written a book which people not only enjoyed reading, but which made them think. I don’t believe an author can ask for more.

            Earlier that week I also received a new review which again was a confirmation that Jamie’s Children opens a door on a subject which needs to be better understood, mental illness. Reviews are so important to a writer. This one was thorough, but really, just a line or two saying you enjoyed the book and/or found it meaningful is important.

(5 Stars) Beautiful Book Lighting the Darkened Corners of the Mind, February 20, 2017

By 

Amy Romine

This review is from: Jamie's Children (Paperback)

I was hesitant in reading this novel as it confronts in stark, realistic detail, the mania, rock bottom and everything between of a major depressive disorder. While the main characters struggle with several different aspects of depression, anxiety and mania, the novel addresses all of the mental health conditions with a subtle rawness of a skilled composer.
Jamie’s Children is a lovely novel about family, love and hope. It also shines a light on many of the dark corners we do not want to acknowledge. As a woman who has faced several different facets of depression from manic, to major, to suicide, with her immediate family, the descriptions of these debilitating diseases can at times be difficult to read. All of that being said, I would encourage anyone interested in understanding the meaning and depth of what is experienced by the person with any mental illness to read this book. While it supports the family it also reflects the struggles of living with someone experiencing mental illness.
While mental illness is a theme in the book, the savior of creativity in all forms, music, written, and observed is a good balance to the heaviness of the topic. Handled with reverence and love, Jamie’s Children is definitely a labor of love by author Susan Moore Jordan and I applaud her on a beautiful and inspiring story!

            Jamie’s Children is available on Amazon, paperback and Kindle, and the print edition is on sale at the Pocono Cinema and Cultural Center whenever the theater is open.

            https://www.amazon.com/Jamies-Children-Susan-Moore-Jordan/dp/1533512922/

An Excerpt from JAMIE'S CHILDREN

My most recently released novel, Jamie’s Children, has received excellent reviews but it would certainly be great to have more! Here are a couple of thoughts from reviewers:

“Jamie's Children is beautifully written and moving, flowing like a well-orchestrated symphony with complex interludes and counter melodies. But it's the character development that really makes the story engaging and causes you to keep turning the pages. Jordan has a knack for getting inside her characters and making them come alive. Her vivid descriptions of Niall's manic-depressive episodes drew me in to his character and showed me another side of this disorder. The love scenes between Laura and Lee were beautiful and tender.”

“In Jamie's Children, I found stirring, in-depth characters that became like part of the family. Susan Moore Jordan has detailed the agonies and triumphs of Jamie's Children, Niall and Laura, so that you are feeling their pain, and rooting for their happiness. With a lovely flow and elegant imagery, this book was compelling to read and thought-provoking ... well worth the read.”

All my novels are available on Amazon, Kindle and paperback, and local folks can pick up a paperback copy at the Pocono Cinema and Cultural Center whenever the theater is open. Here’s an excerpt from the book: it’s Niall’s twenty-first birthday, and he and his sister Laura are in Aspen, Colorado, where Niall has met the girl of his dreams.

*****

When Nate started playing “Turn, Turn, Turn,” everyone in the room was singing along, and several other guitarists started jamming. Niall was annoyed with himself for not having brought his guitar, but how was he to know he’d find Nirvana in Aspen, Colorado? Bonnie excused herself, and Laura had an amused look on her face.

“Should have brought your guitar, honey,” she said.

“Yeah, you’re right. I sure should have. But it’s fun to listen, anyway.”

Bonnie was standing beside him and said, “Why listen when you can play?” and pulled a Martin guitar from behind her back. “Happy birthday, my love.”

Niall couldn’t believe his eyes. Bonnie and Laura laughed and high-fived each other.

“How on earth … ? Where did you … there’s no guitar store in this town. Is there?”

Bonnie said, “No, but there’s a local gentleman who was willing to sell one of his Martins to us. Happy birthday, Niall!”

He took the beautiful instrument and ran his fingertips over the polished wood, feeling how expertly it had been crafted. He’d held a Martin before; Jack used one and he let Niall play it a couple of times. He handled the instrument almost reverently. Jake, the tavern owner, brought the guitar case over.

“Everything you need, I believe. Extra strings, picks, a capo, a tuner, the strap,” Bonnie said.

Niall set the bottom of the instrument on his knee, held it upright by the neck and turned it slowly, admiring the workmanship. I have a Martin. I can’t believe it. He continued to examine the guitar, and it dawned on him he was holding a D-28. Holy shit. Not just a Martin. The best Martin.

“Bonnie … do you know what a great guitar you and Laura gave me?”

Bonnie laughed. “Oh, you mean because it’s a D-28? Yes, we were told that’s kind of special. A special Martin for a special man.”

People nearby overheard, and when the song was finished one of them spoke to Nate who said, “We’ve got a birthday boy in our midst, folks. How old are you, son?”

All three of them … Niall and his two women … answered in unison, “Twenty-one.”

Cheers, claps and whistles from the group. “Give this man another beer!” “Hell, give him however many he wants!”

Niall was busy tuning the guitar. It was a magnificent instrument and he thought about protesting the gift; he had a good idea what it had cost. But he had fallen in love with it. No way am I going to give it up. And besides, they must have gone to a lot of trouble to arrange the surprise. How could he deny them the fun they’d obviously had?

The next song was John Denver’s “Country Roads,” and Niall didn’t require much urging to join in. Bonnie was sitting close enough to hear him sing, and she said to Laura, “Niall really does have a nice, smooth sound. Perfect for folk music.”

Others sitting nearby heard him as well, and when they’d finished the Denver song, someone spoke to Nate who turned to Niall and asked him, “What’s your fav’rite, bro?”

“‛The Sound of Silence,’” Niall said immediately.

“Come and sit here with me … what’s your name, son?” Niall told him. “Good Irish name, Niall. You Irish?”

“Yeah, I am. Well, my dad’s folks were.”

“Come sit with me and let’s you and me sing your song, whaddya say?”

Niall moved over willingly to join Nate, and on the night of his twenty-first birthday, Niall Logan gave his first public performance, singing Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” with a guy named Nate at a folk jam in Aspen, Colorado, while his sister and his new-found love listened with pride and delight.

Links to all my novels can be found on my website:

http://www.susanmoorejordan.com

Please visit and leave a comment!

Families

At a recent Writers’ Conference a literary agent who had looked over part of the novel I hope to release in the spring made this comment: “Memories of Jake has the potential to become a moving family drama.”

When I consider the books I’ve written over these past three and a half years, all of them are about families. How I Grew Up tells the story of the Stewart sisters, three young women who have to put their lives back together after one sister’s estranged husband shoots and kills their parents and another sister’s husband. Eli’s Heart is about a budding romance between a young pianist and a girl he loves which is detoured for a time by his domineering mother. You Are My Song is the story of a young tenor and his wife, and the families of both are an important part of the story. And Jamie’s Children is the story of that tenor’s son and daughter, talented young people who have their own challenges to face.

With Memories of Jake I continue with this theme of family, going back to How I Grew Up and following the sons of the man who murdered their grandparents. What happened to those two boys after that event? They later both serve in the Vietnam War and are deeply affected by it. These may seem like dark themes, and in a way they are, but in all my books I focus on the creativity in the lives of my characters. Music and art help them to face these challenges and heal.

Every family has challenges to deal with, some more difficult than others. And most families have shared memories of happy times as well. The Stewart sisters manage to go on; the two older sisters remarry and have happy lives, the youngest sister pursues her dream of becoming an actress. The pianist’s mother eventually learns to love her daughter-in-law and appreciate the happiness she brings to the man who bears the double burden of musical genius and a serious congenital heart defect. The tenor and his wife suffer a devastating loss and also brilliant success.

These are all stories of people that are, well, ordinary people in many ways. People who laugh, love, weep, rejoice, and find richness in their lives through their creativity.

People my readers tell me they come to love. That is immensely gratifying to me. You might enjoy meeting these people … all my novels are available on Amazon. Winter is a great time to curl up with a good book!

Covers by Tristan Flanagan

All books available on Amazon, paperback and Kindle. 

Links can be found on my website, www.susanmoorejordan.com

Why I Write

The title of this blog post gave me some trouble. I tried hard to come up with something clever and eye-catching in the hope people would be intrigued enough to read it, but nothing seemed to work. Part of the reason for this: I am deeply immersed in my sixth novel, Man With No Yesterdays; and my fifth novel, Memories of Jake, is in the hands of my Beta readers.

I don’t know about other authors, but when I have my head that far into a book (in this case, a two-book series) I think of little else. I try not to do this when I am driving, and I don’t do it when I’m giving voice lessons, because that’s also a passion. But I can wash dishes, run the vacuum, feed the cat, eat a meal, and not even be here. It’s great.

So that’s why I write. It still surprises me that being near the end of the “ten” part of “threescore years and ten” I have found this new passion that absorbs me. It’s even difficult for me to remember the first four novels in detail … particularly as I’ve worked on this two-book series over the past ten months. They’ve all been good stories which people have enjoyed reading, and I’m grateful for that. Even more, I’ve found that the ability to grow as a writer is exciting. Jamie's Children shows definite improvement from Eli's Heart. Memories of Jake is even better. 

A Beta reader for Memories of Jake sent me a note yesterday: “By the way, this is a very engaging and well-written book. The characters come alive, and I had tears in my eyes a few times. It’s amazing how you spin the story out a little at a time, but everything is important and relevant and keeps the interest. You have artful descriptions that paint a picture, but you don’t overdo it. The dialogue is great, I think I’m watching a movie. Must be your background in theater. You know how to set up a scene!”

At that point she was up to Chapter 11, about a third of the way through the book. It was truly a thrill to hear these nice words, because it told me two things: 1) I had another good story for my readers, and 2) I was telling it better.

That “growing as a writer” comment reminds me how that was an important part of the process in directing a stage musical. Watching the show take shape and the actors, musicians and techies fall in love with what they were doing, making it their own, was the part of that job I enjoyed the most. When they took ownership of the production, I had done my work.

Teaching people to use their voices better is much the same process. I give them the tools to grow vocally and musically, but eventually it’s up to the student to learn to understand and to use them to get the best results. And sooner or later, some of them do “get it.” Those are the students who go on to perform, to teach, to find a way to be a part of the vocal arts.

Directing and teaching have both been passions and immensely satisfying. But writing gives me one thing more. For the first time, I am creating. These books are my work, they are who I am. And for the rest of my life I hope ─ no, I pray ─ that I am able to continue to write. Because it’s become as vital to me as breathing.

It’s nice when I sell a book. It’s nice when someone tells me they’ve read one and loved it. But I have found writing to be its own reward. I think I read that somewhere!

 Please visit my website for more information and links to the Amazon book pages: www.susanmoorejordan.com