The Three Sisters #Excerpt by Bryan Taylor #AmReading #Satire #Religion

Shakespeare was Theodora’s favorite playwright, and she persisted in requesting that we visit the Folger Shakespeare Library. Eventually, I agreed to go to Washington, D.C. with her. A fellow participant at one of our platonic orgies had suggested that we visit Victor Virga while we were in D.C. because he was looking for people like us who would work at his new place of business. Until then capitalism had failed to recognize my unique talents, and consequently, I had been forced to live a less than luxurious life. I wanted the life of a poor, suffering artist to be a cliché, not a reality.

Victor had just opened up the Kennedy Center for the Performing Parts a few months before, and he was having only moderate success. Victor had held numerous jobs with various companies before then, but had rarely stayed with one for more than a few years because he didn’t follow the rules like he should have. Verily, here was a man after my own heart. He had gotten tired of working for others and this time was running his own business. Victor’s forte was in being able to sniff out a market, create a product or service, and provide that famous American managerial know-how to turn a profit.

He knew plenty of people from the upper crusts of society, one happy consequence of going to the right schools, and of getting fired too many times, and he was determined to use this knowledge to his advantage. Victor was corporate handsome, not model handsome, and was slim, both because he kept in shape and because he was constantly, frenetically moving around. He was headstrong with a temper, something I could easily identify with. When he was angry, he could launch into a tolutiloquent tirade that would tax anyone’s tolerance of him. He seemed to edit words out of his sentences so as not to waste time. Like the Russians, he found definite and indefinite articles to be a waste of time and rarely used them, but other than that, this capitalist had little in common with his communistic counterparts.

Some people thought Victor worshipped Mammon as others worshipped Christ, but to Victor money was just a way of keeping score. He thrived on the whole process of competition and the creative destruction that drove it. Victor knew where to build, whom to hire, how to lure the elites in, and what the elites really wanted.

Victor’s inspiration for the Kennedy Center came from one of his visits to the Bohemian Grove in upstate California which he had been invited to through his contacts in the government and in the motion picture industry. His idea was to create a year-round Bohemian Grove, though with women available, where the elites could gather. “Great nations of past had cultured demi-mondes for the rich—Japan, France, Rome. Sign of high cultural achievement. Why shouldn’t we?” Victor asked Theodora and me.

To get ideas for my artistic creations, I asked myself, what did Washingtonians want from life? Why were they in the nation’s capital? What services could we provide that would draw them in like lemmings? A visitor only has to be in Washington for a few minutes and see the marble and stone Cathedrals of Government Power that the politolatrous Bureaucrats built to themselves to realize that most of Washington’s automatons probably think God is just another taxpayer to serve them. It was quite obvious to me why there was no official Patron Saint of Government Workers.

After spending a month in the capital, the answer to my Marketing 101 questions seemed obvious. Washingtonians are a bunch of cultured, egotistical, lumpen-elitist snobs who live in their own dream world completely divorced from the rest of the country. Everything they do had to show that they The Bureaucrats are superior to the poor miserable souls in the rest of the country who only exist to pay for their masters’ existence. To ensure this, the government provides cultural events galore for its workers. One need only visit the city and see all the galleries, theaters, orchestras, ballets, and other centers of artistic creation, happily supported by government grants, to discover how true this is.

What is the essential nature of a Washingtonian? (God, I’m beginning to sound like Aquinas). Whether they are politicians, members of the military, businessmen, foreign diplomats, reporters or lobbyists, Washingtonians want power. They want to be at the center of action where they can control and manipulate their chosen area of political interference

The Kennedy Center as created as a mollitious Mecca for millionaires and politicians where all their dreams could come true. We created an ersatz cultural milieu at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Parts so visitors could escape their dull bureaucratic lives and the pressures of daily power plays to live in the aristocratic world they knew they deserved. Who in Washington wouldn’t want to bethink themselves a member of royalty served by artists who could provide mental and sexual stimulation? Money created a world of fantasy that had never existed, but which the customers wanted to believe in. Thus the Kennedy Center, which never received any money from the National Endowment for the Arts, took on those inveterate values of good taste, elegance, and culture that were the secrets of its success.

The officials and bureaucrats in Washington wanted to change the world, and I wanted to change them. At last I had the forum I needed to convert Washington to my Weltanshauung. As I saw it, in America, there was a revolving door of power between Washington, Wall Street and the Ivy League academics. Influence one and you influence them all.

Nuns just want to have fun! But when three former Catholic nuns have too much fun and get in trouble with the law, they become nuns on the run.

Driving back to Washington D.C. where they work at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Parts, the three sisters are arrested in Tennessee. After defeating the local deputy in strip poker, they escape from jail, and are pursued by the zealous Detective Schmuck Hole, who has personally offered a $10,000 reward for their capture on The 700 Club. Little do they know that when the three sisters visit the Washington Monument, their lives will change forever.

Set in 1979, The Three Sisters is a sacrilegious satire that skewers not only organized religion, but the government, the media, intellectuals, corporate greed and every other part of the establishment. Maybe not the greatest story ever told, but possibly the funniest.

Buy @ Amazon

Genre – Humor, Satire, Catholicism, Politics

Rating – R

More details about the author

Connect with Bryan Taylor on Facebook

Website www.threesistersnovel.com

#Author Bryan Taylor & How He Feels About #SelfPub

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

It would be where I live now, in southern California.  The weather can’t be beat, and Southern California has the best theater in the country, both through small and large theaters.  I live where I would want to live.

Tell us about your family?

I am an only child.  This gave me more time to read, and I took advantage of it. My parents got divorced when I was twelve, and I ended up living with my dad.  He always pushed me to be successful and always supported me in what I did, so that helped.  Also, he was a preacher, and both my grandparents were preachers, and that is where my religious rebellion comes from. I have never married and have no children.

How do you write – lap top, pen, paper, in bed, at a desk?

I always write on my lap top.  Sometimes I will print out what I have written and write on the paper to reinsert into the electronic version since there are things you can see on paper you can’t see on the computer, but 90% of the time it is on the lap top.

Every writer has their own idea of what a successful career in writing is, what does success in writing look like to you?

It would be getting people to read my novel and knowing that my book is recognized as the funniest book about nuns ever written.

It is vital to get exposure and target the right readers for your writing, tell us about your marketing campaign?

The main marketing is through social media.  I have a website to promote the book, www.threesistersnovel.com. The website includes not only information about the book and characters, but a blog and new short stories.  I have Facebook and Pinterest pages where I put up cartoons and other visuals relating to nuns.  I have put together three virtual book tours, and I have done a Goodreads Giveaway.  I encourage people to read my blogs, visit my Facebook page, and tell others about The Three Sisters.  For someone like me who has a full-time job, this works since I wouldn’t be able to take off the time for a physical book tour, assuming I would want to endure one.  The problem is this doesn’t get me in physical contact with people.  That is the best way to sell a book, but doing everything virtually, unfortunately, precludes that.

Tell us about your new book? What’s it about and why did you write it?

Nuns just want to have fun! But when three former Catholic nuns have too much fun and get in trouble with the law, they become nuns on the run.

Driving back to Washington D.C. where they work at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Parts, the three sisters are arrested in Tennessee. After defeating the local deputy in strip poker, they escape from jail, and are pursued by the zealous Detective Schmuck Hole, who has personally offered a $10,000 reward for their capture on the 700 Club. Little do they know that when the three sisters visit the Washington Monument, their lives will change forever.

Set in 1979, The Three Sisters is a humorous, adult satire that skewers not only organized religion, but the government, the media, intellectuals, corporate greed and every other part of the establishment. Maybe not the greatest story ever told, but possibly the funniest.

How often do you write? And when do you write?

I try to write every week.  I write blogs both for the company I work for as well as to promote my novel, The Three Sisters.  Since the two types of blogs are completely different, I schedule different times for each.  My writing on financial data and the stock market is done during the day and during the week.  My writing for The Three Sisters and related fictional subjects is done either in the evenings, or more likely, on the weekends.

What do you hope people will take away from your writing? How will your words make them feel?

I hope my readers will find my book funny.  I hope they will be drawn into the book and be able to associate with my three nuns and feel what they feel. I hope it will also get them to think about religion and politics and the other subjects of the novel.

What movie do you love to watch?

There are hundreds I love to watch, mainly movies from the 1930s, The Wizard of Oz, Screwball comedies like The Awful Truth or Bringing Up Baby, pre-code Warner Brothers films.  You just can’t beat the classics.

How do you feel about social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter? Are they a good thing?

I’m not much of a Facebook person.  I mainly put up cartoons and other visuals on Facebook, but only do so periodically.  I am not a Twitter person.  I don’t see why anyone cares what other people say in 140 characters or less.

How do you feel about self-publishing?

Since I self-published my book, I obviously support it.  Self-publishing enabled me to get my book published the way I knew it needed to be published.  Self-publishing gets a bad name because of the bad content that is out there.  I downloaded a book from Smashbooks last week that was not edited and virtually illegible.  That gives self-publishing a bad name.  Nevertheless, if you don’t know someone on the inside track of mainstream publishing, or you aren’t already a celebrity, publishing mainstream is virtually impossible.  For this reason, I’m glad self-publishing is a viable alternative.

Nuns just want to have fun! But when three former Catholic nuns have too much fun and get in trouble with the law, they become nuns on the run.

Driving back to Washington D.C. where they work at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Parts, the three sisters are arrested in Tennessee. After defeating the local deputy in strip poker, they escape from jail, and are pursued by the zealous Detective Schmuck Hole, who has personally offered a $10,000 reward for their capture on The 700 Club. Little do they know that when the three sisters visit the Washington Monument, their lives will change forever.

Set in 1979, The Three Sisters is a sacrilegious satire that skewers not only organized religion, but the government, the media, intellectuals, corporate greed and every other part of the establishment. Maybe not the greatest story ever told, but possibly the funniest.

Buy @ Amazon

Genre – Humor, Satire, Catholicism, Politics

Rating – R

More details about the author

Connect with Bryan Taylor on Facebook

Website www.threesistersnovel.com

Getting to Know #Author Caroline Kennedy @StephenWardBook #Politics #Scandal

DO YOU KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOURS?
If I stayed in one place long enough to meet them I am sure I would get to know my neighbours. The trouble is, with my wandering spirit I am travelling too much and too often to get to meet the people who live nearest me. I always intend to knock on their doors when I return from my travels but then put off doing it with the excuse that I will probably be leaving again in a few weeks.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF ACCOMPLISHING SO FAR IN YOUR LIFE?
The obvious answer is that I am most proud of my three children. But as far as professional achievements are concerned, I am proud that my first book, “An Affair of State” became the number one best-seller. I am proud of having worked in Bosnia and Croatia during the war. And I am most proud of something that happened while I was working there. In one of the camps outside Zagreb I found a young Bosnian refugee girl, Merima, who had lost her family after intense bombing of her village and was now completely alone. It became my mission to find her parents.

Somehow, after a couple of months intense investigation in Croatia, Bosnia and then the UK, I managed to locate them and her sister in Hertfordshire.  Her father had been medi-vaced to hospital having suffered severe injuries in the bombing incident close to their house in Banja Luka. I visited them at the hospital north of London, showed them a photo of Merima I had taken in the camp and promised them I would bring her to England when I returned from my next visit to Croatia. I knew I shouldn’t have made such a rash promise and regretted it immediately. I knew it was an almost impossible task. Six weeks later I went back to the refugee camp in Croatia and, to my horror, found it had been bulldozed and the refugees moved on to other camps. As I sat down and sobbed through frustration and despair, Merima suddenly appeared out of the rubble.

She told me through my interpreter that she had hidden when the Croatian police loaded everyone onto the trucks. We hugged ferociously. I handed her a letter from her parents and a postcard of a London bus from her little sister. I then hid Merima under sleeping bags in the back of my truck and transported her across seven borders and into the UK to reunite her with her family. It was a perilous and terrifying journey. Merima didn’t speak a word of English and was very frightened. I knew we could have been turned around at any of the borders had she been discovered. And, in the UK, I could have faced a lengthy prison term for “kidnapping and smuggling” a minor into the country. But we were extremely fortunate. And, after a harrowing trip of several days I managed to reunite Merima with her family. That was probably the proudest moment of my life.

WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE QUALITY ABOUT YOURSELF?
My least favourite quality about myself is that I am probably too self-critical. At least that is what my children tell me so I guess it must be true.

WHAT SOCIAL ISSUES INTEREST YOU THE MOST?
I am interested in several current issues – Immigration Reform, Marriage Equality and Gun Control. I worked for the Obama reelection campaign because I firmly believe his views on all three of these very important issues are the right views. Congress and the American people should embrace them.

WHO DO YOU ADMIRE?
I admire Michelle Obama because she has somehow managed to combine being a good, caring mother with the work of being First Lady. She also put her career on hold in order to support her husband which, to some, may not be considered a strength but I believe it must have taken a great deal of thought and self-sacrifice to come to that decision. I think she has been a positive force, both inside the White House and in her work as First Lady.

“How the English Establishment Framed Stephen Ward” is a major expose of a government cover-up that has lasted half a century. It is a powerful story of sexual compulsion, political malice and ultimate betrayal. A number-one bestseller when it came out in 1987 under its original title, “An Affair of State”, the book reveals never-before-heard testimony that has been uncovered by the authors in the years since the scandal broke. 

Using startling new evidence, including Ward’s own unpublished memoirs and hundreds of interviews with many who, conscience-stricken, have now spoken out for the first time, this important account rips through a half-century cover-up in order to show exactly why the government, the police forces, the Judiciary and the security forces decided to frame Stephen Ward. 

Stephen Ward is now the subject of an upcoming Andrew Lloyd-Weber musical and this book offers a wider perspective on its complex, central character as well as a broader insight into one of the greatest scandals of the past 100 years. As the authors’ research reveals, Ward’s “trial of the century” was caused by an unprecedented corruption of justice and political malice which resulted in an innocent man becoming a scapegoat for those who could not bear to lose power. 

This is an epic tale of sex, lies, and governmental abuse whose aftermath almost brought down the government and shook the American, British, and Soviet espionage worlds to their core. With its surprising revelations and meticulous research, Ward’s complete story can finally be told.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Politics, Espionage, Scandal

Rating – PG-16

More details about the author

Connect with Caroline Kennedy on Facebook & Twitter

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