Author Behaving Awesomely: Joe Basara

With all of the authors behaving badly, I thought I'd highlight an author that responded very well to what was ultimately not a positive review.

The book in question was Cypress Lake and it was written by Joe Basara.

It ended up not floating my boat (sorry, couldn't resist the pun) and I left a rather lukewarm review. Joe was incredibly understanding about what I wrote and he admitted that he knew that the book wouldn't have an exceedingly wide appeal. I know that my biggest issue was that it was a bit slow and as someone who didn't grow up in the era I just didn't get some of the references and topics. (A co-worker of mine had read the book and loved it, so that's proof that the book has merit.)

He was so wonderful about everything that I've remembered his name years down the road and I'd even written about him back in 2012. I'm a little sad to see that he hasn't published anything since 2012, when he released Sale Day at C Mart and Fred's Golden Years.

I'm not sure what he's up to now (a Google search doesn't bring up much), but I hope that he's doing well.

In the meantime I'd recommend that you check out his books and keep this in mind: impressions, both good and bad, leave lasting memories. In the case of Joe Basara, it's a good one.

Authors Behaving Awesomely: The Good Guys and Gals

You know, with all of the authors that do things that could and are considered to be awful behavior, we sometimes forget about the ones that show amazing behavior. I thought I'd highlight a few of them, especially the ones that are indie and/or self-published.

• Joe Basara. (Cypress Lake)

I came across Basara years ago via Amazon when he'd sent me a copy of his book Cypress Lake for review. The end result was that while Basara has skill, it was ultimately a book that just wasn't my thing. He was nothing but gracious when it came time for me to tell him this and he encouraged me to post my review. Basara is one of those authors that I really can't recommend enough just based on his personality. If you like surreal works or are familiar with 70s era Florida, you should check Cypress Lake out. 

• J. A.  Konrath (The Jack Daniels Mysteries)

I'll admit that I've never read his books, but I do remember coming across the author one day when he came into the bookstore I was working in. He was nothing but a gentleman and was genuinely happy to talk about his writing. Unless I've missed something, Konrath has always been a gracious man when it comes to his fans and reviews. 

• Naomi Clark (Wild)

OK, this one is someone that I know, but the point here still stands that she's an insanely kind person and reacts well with her readers. I remember cringing once when I didn't like one of her books as much as I wanted to. Rather than go off on me (which she could've since we're friends and if you can't go off on your friends, then who can you go off on?), she was incredibly nice about it. Definitely one of the good ones. 

• Stacia Kane (Downside Ghosts)

I've had no direct interactions with Kane at all, but I've constantly heard people crow over her books and how good she was about interacting with readers. More specifically, about how she tries not to be one of "those" authors when it comes to negative reviews. It doesn't hurt that she's also spoken out in defense of reviewers.

• Karina Cole (Fighting for her Soul)

This is another one that I haven't any direct interaction with, but I heard about her via one of the Goodreads forums. She received a negative review on FfhS and rather than get angry, she was incredibly polite. The reviewer had commented that the book could use a good editor, which Cole took to heart advice-wise. She not only thanked the reviewer but also offered her a free copy of the book once it got through the editing process. I'm closing this list off with her because it's just such an amazing example of awesome author behavior. Not only did she thank the reader for her time, but she took the advice to heart. Cole offering the reader an updated copy later on is just the cherry on top of the awesome sauce sundae. 

Book Review: Cypress Lake by Joe Basara

Title: Cypress Lake
Author: Joe Basara
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 1453636528
Available through: Amazon.com







When Owen Cloud sees Tina, he's immediately smitten with her. Imagining her as his Venus de Milo, he spends much of his time daydreaming about her. Owen's fantasies don't stop there. He often finds his mind drifting off into flights of fancy not only during his orderly shifts at a local hospital but also during the off hours. As Owen moves from fascination to fascination to personal loss, he discovers that sometimes the person he really needs in his life is the one right under his nose.

Cypress Lake is just a little too slow to start off for my tastes & I'm just afraid that some readers might not be willing to put forth the effort to read through to the resolution. Also, while Basara does do a decent job of establishing that Owen is a Mittyesque character, at times Owen's visions are just a little too abstract to come across as clearly as some readers might desire. The imagery does become a little easier to read as the book progresses, however. Readers might also be thrown by the often usage of names such as Dr. T. Ali Hassee & Rosetta Stone, not knowing if those are the characters' true names or names Owen assigned them in a flight of fancy. In this aspect the book might just be too surreal for some.

That's not to say that there aren't some strong points to the book. Basara does a fine job of painting his portrait of the late 1970s, an era where the idea of free love was beginning to wane & what the mentalities of the 1980s would become start to creep in. He also does a good job of portraying the lack of depth to Owen's crushes on Tina & Nikki, foretelling what will ultimately become of his affections for either girl.

It's just that in the end this book just didn't appeal to me overall. Perhaps it might be just my personal preference, but I do think that this book will only really be appreciated by a niche readership of people into the surreal & abstract or perhaps by people more familiar with the era. For those readers I recommend this book. For everyone else, this might not be the right fit.

(Reader copy provided by author)