FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
John Oelfke, Publisher
Central Avenue Press
(505) 256-8075
oelfkej@aol.com
http://www.centralavepress.com

May 9, 2008

Book for Writers Highly Recommended for Library Reference Shelves

ALBUQUERQUE, NM: Central Avenue Press (CAP) announces a five-star review from the Midwest Book Review (MBR) for Growing Great Characters From the Ground Up: A Thorough Primer for Writers of Fiction and Nonfiction by Martha Engber.

Growing Great Characters is "highly recommended for any aspiring writer to be and for community library writing/publishing shelves," writes James Cox, editor of MBR, an online publication for community and academic libraries in California, Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest. The review is posted on amazon along with the comments of other reviewers, who also give Growing Great Characters an overall rating of five stars:

"Ms. Engber instructs with practical exercises and examples, as well as humor."

"I've been reading (the book) with my daughter, a budding author. The text is aimed at more advanced storytellers, but even my 9 year old has found it to be very valuable."

"[Your book's] easy style and readability is a huge plus as one will be inclined to read it over and over again."

Ease of Style and Readability

Growing Great Characters ($13.95, ISBN: 067916781) is a 284-page trade paperback aimed at beginning and intermediate writers, especially those who subscribe to writing magazines and/or attend one or more of the over 400 writing conferences offered in America every year. Ms. Engber's character development process can be applied to any fiction or nonfiction project, whether screenplays, memoirs, essays or novels.

The book lists 70 examples from past and present literature covering a wide variety of genres to illustrate key concepts. Each chapter ends with exercises, which if followed, are designed to help readers grow their own characters. The book ends with a glossary, sample query letter and list of questions that can be used during the editing process.

About the Author

A graduate of the University of Missouri, Columbia School of Journalism, Ms. Engber has written about many famous people---former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos, actress Marlo Thomas, choreographer Mark Morris---for such publications as the Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Inside Karate Magazine. Besides having a play produced in Hollywood and a short story nominated for a Pushcart Prize, her fiction has appeared in Watchword, Anthology, Bookpress, the Berkeley Fiction Review and other literary journals. Ms. Engber is also a professional editor, speaker and workshop facilitator.

About the Series

Growing Great Characters is the third and most recent title in the Thorough Primer for Writers series, which is growing in name recognition among authors. The series includes Writing Realistic Dialogue & Flash Fiction and Punctuation For Writers by Harvey Stanbrough and is available for retail sales through independent bookstores and Amazon and wholesale through Atlas Distribution, Quality Books and Baker & Taylor.

For additional information, contact Martha Engber by phone at (408) 243-7662 or via email at martha@engber.com

You can also visit her website at marthaengber.com or read her blog at marthaengber.blogspot.com

Central Avenue Press, 2132-A Central Ave. SE #144, Albuquerque, NM, is an independent press established in 2001 by publisher John Oelfke and his brother, Scott. Besides the Thorough Primer for Writers series, the press publishes poetry and literary fiction.

Central Ave Press is pleased to announce the nomination of the following poets for the prestigious Pushcart Prize from the pages of The Raintown Review, CAP's bi-annual, perfect-bound print poetry journal. For submission guidelines, please click StoneThread.com/trr.html.

Melanie Houle, for "Steps": In "Steps," Melanie Houle uses just nine lines of deceptively simple blank verse and the image of a fading photograph to create a preternaturally bright snapshot of familial love and loss. Sad and sweet, wistful and hopeful, Dickinsian in its elegance and brevity, "Steps" is a beautiful little poem that will stay with a reader long after she finishes it.
Alexandra Moss Zannis, for "Last of the Wild Oats": With "The Last of the Wild Oats," Alexandra Moss Zannis has accomplished a feat that has eluded all but our most talented contemporary poets: She has written a confessional poem with enough meat on its bones to make a meal for someone other than the poet herself. Amazing.
Stephen S. Power, for "The Black Dogs of Whitechapel": Stephen S. Power skillfully blends history, myth, meticulous poetic form, and a gift for storytelling in the "The Black Dogs of Whitechapel," his grim and ambitious fictional account of the infamous Jack the Ripper murders in late nineteenth century London. To discover a finely crafted longer poem --- and a poet with the patience and skill to craft it --- is a rare thing indeed.
Michael Burch, for "Isolde's Song": Michael Burch's skillful use of iambic form and metaphor lend "Isolde's Song" a subtle emotional quality not readily matched in most contemporary lyric poetry, and make it a fine addition to the genre.
Solana d'Lamant, for "The Soul as Dill Pickle": Solana d'Lamant gives a quirky metaphysical twist to the old nature vs. nurture debate with "The Soul as Dill Pickle." The precise line structure contained in this poem gives it a formality not found in most free verse, and a gravity that belies its humorous title.
Thomas Kerrigan, for "The Dust of Stars": Thomas Kerrigan's "The Dust of Stars" is a formal poem that doesn't feel like a formal poem. His skillful use of iambic tetrameter gives his work a driving, visceral, almost hypnotic quality, and is a fine example of how the judicious choice of poetic form by a talented poet can dramatically increase a poem's impact.

Read reviewer Freada Dillon's review of Beyond the Masks. Read what reviewer Beth Morrow had to say about Writing Realistic Dialogue and Punctuation for Writers.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 13, 2005 (Albuquerque, NM): Restless Tribes author Stephen Ausherman wins the Bernheim Writing Fellowship and two National Park Service Arts Program fellowships.

CAP author Stephen Ausherman was named the winner of the 2004 Bernheim Writing Fellowship. Mr. Ausherman submitted an essay from Restless Tribes entitled "Interview With the Witch Doctor" as part of the application process.

Established in 1929, the Bernheim Research Forest and Arboretum is a 14,000 acre park dedicated to environmental research and forest preservation in central Kentucky and attracts several hundred thousand visitors each year.

Winners of the Berheim Writing Fellowship receive accommodations for up to three months at the preserve and a $1000.00 stipend to support a writing project of the authors choosing on a subject inspired by nature. The recipient of the Bernheim Fellowship must donate examples of a body of work produced during the Fellowship to Bernheim for its permanent use. These works will become part of The Bernheim Library Collection. Fellowship recipients may participate in workshops, readings, and book signings that are open to the public. Bernheim will reach an agreement regarding the work to be donated and the interaction required from each artist.

Mr. Ausherman has also been selected as the recipient of two National Park Service Summer Writing Fellowships. He submitted an excerpt of the Restless Tribes essay "Nothing Will Kill You" as part of the application process.

The National Park Summer Arts Program provides opportunities for writers and visual artists to live and work within one of the twenty-nine national parks and monuments participating in the program.

Mr. Ausherman has been selected for summer writing residencies at Buffalo National River Park in Arkansas and Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming. He will be required to produce an original work for each park's permanent collection, as well as interact with park visitors as an artist-in-residence.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 10, 2005 (New York City, NY): Two CAP titles were named as finalists in the Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Awards at Book Expo America.

Harvey Stanbrough's Writing Realistic Dialogue & Flash Fiction and Stephen Ausherman's Restless Tribes were named as finalists in the Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Awards at Book Expo America. Writing Realistic Dialogue & Flash Fiction, one of fourteen finalists in the Education Category, won fourth place, Honorable Mention. Restless Tribes was narrowly beat out by three other books in the Travel category.

Book Expo America, the largest trade show in the US, was held from June 3 - 5 at the Javits Center in NYC. It brings publishers, booksellers, librarians, and rights brokers together from all over the world to buy and sell titles. Foreword Magazine is the premier book review trade magazine for titles published by independent and university presses and is distributed to over 20,000 booksellers, librarians, and industry professionals around the world.

The Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Awards honor the best books published each year by independent and university presses from around the world. Finalists in each category are invited to BEA each year to attend the ceremony announcing the winners. Usually, three winners in each category (Gold, Silver, Bronze) are selected. In some cases the judges may select one additional title for an Honorable Mention Award.