Shameless Plug

By Tracy Astle

Today I want to give one of our wonderful members a shameless plug - and be thinking because I'm going to ask you to do the same later.

Quite some time ago there was a blog contest going on that offered a different prize every day for the duration of the contest. (It was at least a month and may have been longer.) I scanned the list of goodies offered and salivated over some of them, but one in particular had me crossing my fingers and chanting, "I hope I win that one. I hope I win that one. I hope I win that one." The prize? A manuscript critique by a published author.

I won! Woo hoo.

That's how I met Jennifer Griffith.Those of you who know her know that she is upbeat, kind and very helpful. Those of you who've read her know that she has an easy, charming style to her writing. That's why I spent the last several months stalking Amazon and following every Facebook post by Jolly Fish Press. I could not wait for the release of her latest book.



Big In Japan is the story of Buck Cooper, a likable Texan, who, in spite of his overly abundant size, feels invisible. When Buck takes a last minute trip to Japan with his parents, he finds himself an unwilling participant in a nationally televised comedic Sumo match that's used to get the audience fired up before the real matches begin. Next thing he knows he's "big in Japan," being hailed as the most natural talent in the history of the sport. Invisibility? Gone.

Since my purpose here isn't to write a full on review, just to tempt you, I'll leave it at that, except to say that even with no particular interest in Sumo, or even Japan for that matter, Jennifer kept me turning the pages and loving every minute of it. I kept playing the "I'll stop reading at the end of this chapter" game and losing terribly. I just had to know what was going to happen to Buck and Chocho and Reggie and Wally Wada. Love these people.

Yay, Jennifer!

Now it's your turn. What are some of your favorite books by the gifted writers among us?