Village Teacher – New Review

Tags

book review, postaday, village teacher

My first novel, Village Teacher, is still available and was reviewed on Amazon in November of last year. I did not see the review until now, so without further ado, here it is:

“Catrinel Tromp
A superb, wonderfully-written novel
Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2020

A beautifully written, cogent, and well-developed narrative that begs for a sequel! It combines wonderful details about Vietnam — especially atmospheric and informative for those readers who are not as familiar with its history or geography — with suspenseful action and a moving, overarching love story. Such a smoothly flowing and engrossing read! Highly recommended.”

Silent Sunday – Sleeping In

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, northern pintail, photography, postaday

Northern Pintails.

Hooded Merganser – Bad Hair Day

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Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, hooded merganser, photography, postaday

Hooded Mergansers, especially males with their fan-shaped crest, look dashing in the waters of the refuge. A few days ago, one of them was swimming by himself among several ducks.

Male Hooded Merganser.

He kept diving for food, small fish, crustaceans, mollusks, although I did not see him with any in his bill.

Male Hooded Merganser diving.

It happened to be windy that day, and when he came up strong wind gusts played freely with his crest.

Hooded Merganser.

Hooded Merganser.

Hooded Merganser.

Hooded Merganser.

Finally, the wind subsided a little, and he regained his normal looks.

Hooded Merganser.

Last and First

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, moon, photography, postaday, sandpiper

Last December 21st I went out at night to photograph the conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn, and the moon. There were too many clouds for that, but after a few minutes the clouds cleared just enough to allow me this last photo for the year.

Moon on December 21, 2020.

Three days ago, I went out on a sunny day to the refuge for my first shoot of 2021 to be greeted by this sandpiper.

Sandpiper, January 19, 2021.

Buffleheads

Tags

bufflehead, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, photography, postaday

Buffleheads are the smallest diving ducks in North America, often seen at the refuge in late fall and winter. In early December of 2020 I saw one male and two female Buffleheads there.

Buffleheads, male in between two females.

The male gave a signal and all three of them decided to take off, giving me a unique opportunity to capture them in flight.

Buffleheads in flight.

Buffleheads in flight.

Buffleheads in flight.

Buffleheads in flight.

Silent Sunday

Tags

common tern, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, photography, postaday

Common Tern.

Common Tern.

Common Tern.

Common Tern.

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

american flag, photography, postaday

American flag.

Juvenile Bald Eagle

Tags

bald eagle, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, photography, postaday

Following are unpublished photos of a juvenile Bald Eagle I took on October 1st, 2019. It was cruising over the marshes hunting for fish.

Juvenile Bald Eagle.

Juvenile Bald Eagle.

Juvenile Bald Eagle.

Juvenile Bald Eagle.

Happy New Year to everyone of you!

Flying Egrets

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great egret, photography, postaday, snowy egret

I took the following photos on October 1st, 2019 but did not post them as I temporarily stopped blogging to concentrate on finishing my second book. Now, more than a year later, here they are. A large group of Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets (with the black bills) was taking off at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. Never had I seen so many flying together.

Flying Egrets.

Flying Egrets.

Flying Egrets.

Flying Egrets.

Lewis Center for the Arts

Tags

Lewis Center for the Arts, photography, postaday

Princeton University Lewis Center for the Arts was completed in 2017. Since that time, I have been meaning to go there and photograph it, but because it was so close to home, guess what, it took me three years to finally do it. The following photos show what it looked like in early afternoon last Sunday.

Lewis Center for the Arts: Wallace Dance Building and Theater.

Lewis Center for the Arts: Wallace Dance Building.

Lewis Center for the Arts: Administrative Building.

Lewis Center for the Arts: Administrative Building.

Lewis Center for the Arts: inner plaza.

Lewis Center for the Arts: Administrative Building and Music Building on the right. In the Music Building you can see some individual practice rooms that are suspended and acoustically isolated from one another.

Lewis Center for the Arts: side of Theater Building.

I did not go inside any of the buildings which were built with esoteric materials including 21-million-year-old Lecce Stone from Italy. I would have liked to see how geothermal wells have been used to heat and cool the complex, but maybe another time. This new art center took $330 million dollar to build, including costs associated with relocating the Dinky train station and a WaWa convenience store pictured below.

Dinky train station and Wawa store.

Silent Sunday

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, european starling, photography, postaday

Starlings standing in Osprey nest: “No evidence whatsoever that we stole this nest!”

On One Sunny Day

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, great egret, photography, postaday

This week has been rainy with only one sunny day in the middle. I drove to the refuge and by the time I arrived the sun was out but the clouds were many. The Great Blue Heron that used to stand by a sluice gate was now standing by the water.

Sunning Great Blue Heron.

There was a flash of white among the dried reeds. A Great Egret took off as soon as it saw me, but I managed to take a few shots of it flying away.

Great Egret taking off.

Great Egret in flight.

Great Egret in flight.

Toward the end of Wildlife Drive one tree still had its leaves on.

Autumn scene at Edwin B. Fosrsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

christmas cactus, photography, postaday, wordless wednesday

Christmas Cactus.

Snow Geese Migration

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, photography, postaday, snow geese

Snow Geese fly south in the Fall, and a week ago some passed by the refuge. There were only a few hundred of them, not as many as during Spring migration.

Snow Geese flying south.

Snow Geese, a closer look.

There was a group of about ten Snow Geese flying in apparent perfect formation.

Snow Geese flying in perfect formation.

But, somehow something happened.

Note one head pointing downward. “Oops, I dropped my lunch.”

A Week of Flowers Day Four 25th November 2020

Tags

allium, cosmos, goldenrod, hibiscus, perilla, photography, plantain, postaday

I took the following pictures a while ago but did not post them. Today I just saw the following post from Cathy and decided this would be a good time to do so: https://wordsandherbs.wordpress.com/2020/11/25/a-week-of-flowers-day-four-25th-november-2020/

End of summer Cosmos.

End of summer Cosmos.

Two bees and goldenrod.

Summer scene with hibiscus, purple perilla, flowering plantain, and dried allium.

Northern Shovelers

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Northern Shoveler, photography, postaday

Overheard a pair of Northern Shovelers foraging for food:

Female Northern Shoveler in foreground: “Uh-oh dear, we forgot to wear our Covid masks!”

EBF National Wildlife Refuge

Tags

bald eagle, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, photography, postaday

All this time I have shown you the birds and animals at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. Yesterday, I shot the following photos so you can see what the refuge actually looks like at least in the fall when the green has given way to brown and sepia. The same juvenile Bald Eagle from last week was also there, ruling over the fall landscape.

Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. Dabbling ducks in the distance.

Juvenile Bald Eagle.

Cee’s Flower Of The Day Challenge

Tags

photography, postaday, star magnolia

This is a close-up of a Star Magnolia in our backyard. I took  the photo in March of this year. As the Covid-19 pandemic was starting and lockdowns were imposed, I just could not feel like posting the image then.

This is my response to Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge at:

https://ceenphotography.com/20

Star Magnolia.

Monochrome Monday

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Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, lesser yellow legs, photography, postaday

Two monochrome views of a Lesser Yellow Legs at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge on November 7, 2020.

Lesser Yellow Legs.

Lesser Yellow Legs.

The Eyes Have It!

Tags

american avocet, common grackle, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, european starling, great blue heron, mute swan, photography, postaday

Some different interpretations of “The Eyes Have It”:

American Avocet.

Common Grackle.

Great Blue Heron.

European Starling.

Mute Swan.

Silent Sunday

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, lesser yellow legs, photography, postaday

Lesser Yellow Legs.

Lesser Yellow Legs.

Lesser Yellow Legs.

Lesser Yellow Legs.

Painted Turtle

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, painted turtle, photography, postaday

At the end of my drive through the refuge today, I saw a Painted Turtle ahead, in the middle of the road! I got out and took these two photos.

Painted Turtle.

Painted Turtle.

After that I moved the turtle gently to the side of the road. Still, it withdrew inside its shell as soon as I touched it.

Painted Turtles are small creatures and have been around for 15 million years. Today was very warm, 76 °F or 24 °C, which may explain why this turtle came out and tried to cross the road. When it gets colder, they will go into deep hibernation.

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Northern Shoveler, photography, postaday

Northern Shovelers.

Northern Shovelers.

Northern Shoveler.

Juvenile Bald Eagle

Tags

bald eagle, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, photography, postaday

Yesterday was cloudy and cool, ending up with heavy rain. Only a few people showed up at the refuge while the birds were even more scarce. I got some lucky shots of a juvenile Bald Eagle before it flew away from its perch. It is probably between two and three years old.

Juvenile Bald Eagle.

Juvenile Bald Eagle.

Juvenile Bald Eagle.

Two other cars stopped by and it finally had enough of the photography sessions.

Juvenile Bald Eagle. Atlantic City in the background.

Spooky

Tags

halloween, photography, postaday, spooky

Two contributions to a spooky Halloween:

Abandoned house in southern New Jersey.

Abandoned car at the entrance to Great Basin National Park in Nevada.

Moon and Mars

Tags

mars, moon, photography, postaday

Last night was the last of three nights during which the Moon and planet Mars appeared close together in the night sky. The first two nights (October 28 and 29) were cloudy and rainy, but last night around 9 PM the full moon and Mars were clearly visible.

Moon on October 30, 2020.

The red planet, however, was too far to the side for my lens to photograph it together with the Moon. It was reddish and of course not as bright as our Moon. I tried to take some shots, but I could not get a fix on it.

Mars with a shaky camera, October 30, 2020.

Mars will remain bright until the end of 2020 and I will try to get a better picture with a tripod next time.

Silent Sunday

Tags

barnegat lighthouse state park, harlequin duck, photography, postaday

Male Harlequin Duck.

Harlequin Ducks.

Non-breeding Male Harlequin Duck.

Harlequin Ducks.

Wings

Tags

great egret, herring gull, long-tailed duck, monarch butterfly, Northern Shoveler, photography, postaday

I took the photos below at different times of this year, from January 1st on.

Herring Gull.

Long-tailed Duck.

Great Egret.

Northern Shovelers.

Monarch Butterfly.

Book Reviews – The Siege of An Lộc

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book, book review, postaday, The Siege of An Loc

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post of Amazon’s review policy, I asked and received the approval of two readers of my new book, “The Siege of An Lộc”, to post their reviews here, in chronological order.

Don Chalfant from Santa Barbara
“I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Siege of An Loc! I wasn’t expecting Ri to meet his end in the manner it happened! I read several chapters and then summarized them for my wife. Both of us were aware of what was happening in Vietnam during the late 60’s and early 70’s…but only in a vague sense. So much of the media’s coverage was slanted and agenda-driven. Your inclusion of the north’s propaganda versus reality paints a much truer picture than what we received in the news. Such a heartbreaking time! The research on the events must have been a mixed blessing to the author…finding out specifics yet having to relive difficult and painful memories. He certainly included lots of details! I had a somewhat hard time tracking all the various military divisions and companies and the like, including the various weapons and tanks–even with the “simplification” of terms mentioned at the beginning of the book—but thoroughly appreciated the inclusion of accurate information! This book is great for anyone interested in the events of 1970’s Vietnam.”

H.P. from Seattle
“Honestly, I don’t really like to read war stories, having lived through the Vietnam War. However, when in May this year I was introduced to the digital version of “The Siege at An Loc” by Nguyễn Trọng Hiền, whose first novel “Village Teacher” (2012) I enjoyed tremendously thanks to his artistic style, characters development, as well as the romantic plot against the background of Vietnam’s then capital of Huế in the late 19th century, I wanted to know how the author went about dealing with this much-written-about war, especially this particular front of An Loc about which I had read so much.

Before long, I was drawn into the story at the very first chapter as the author introduced the two main characters who ran into each other as both sought refuge from a tropical downpouring under the veranda of a coffee shop. They parted after the brief encounter during the rain — he, a student/soldier stationed in An Loc who was back to Saigon to pick up his class materials from the Saigon University and now returned to his unit, and she, daughter of a plantation owner in An Loc. From there, the author introduced us to an An Loc under siege by fierce North Vietnamese forces into which the only way in or out was by air amidst webs of fires from the grounds; and to a host of skillfully-described characters both good and bad. Using the same artistic skill, densed with reasearch materials yet explained in plain terms weaving smoothly into the novel narrative. I found myself absorbed in the plot, worried along with his characters despite the fact I already knew the outcome, that South Vietnam forces finally liberated An Loc – just as I had been with his first novel, “Village Teacher.”

The author’s second novel came to me as we have been in this Covid-19 pandemic lockdown on and off and on again for a good six months and continuing. I couldn’t help feel a great admiration for his achievement while we – at least I – keep on wondering when we’d be out of this realistic siege. Thank you.”

Book Reviews – Amazon Policy

Tags

book, postaday, The Siege of An Loc

As many of you know, I recently self published a second novel, The Siege of An Lộc, on Amazon. As an independent author, I rely on word-of-mouth advertising and reader reviews published on Amazon to promote my books. My first book, Village Teacher, garnered 22 reviews, all positive. My second book so far has zero review on Amazon. I have now found out why.

Amazon has been plagued by fake reviews from companies and individuals selling their products on Amazon. There appears to be companies that hire people or even review mill companies to write fake reviews to promote their products on Amazon, without having purchased or even used those products. It got to the point where customers have complained that reviews on Amazon are unreliable if not outright misleading.

So, a few months ago, Amazon instituted a new policy which requires people who post a review to have purchased at least $50 on Amazon over the previous 12 months. Reviewers who try to post and do not meet this new requirement get this message:

“To contribute to Customer features (for example, Customer Reviews, Customer Answers, Idea Lists) or to follow other contributors, you must have spent at least $50 on Amazon.com using a valid credit or debit card in the past 12 months.”

Two readers of The Siege of An Lộc have contacted me and told me that even though they like it, they are unable to post a review because of Amazon’s new policy. One person had another member of the family purchase the book. The other person did pay for the book with a credit card but did not meet the $50 minimum requirement (my book costs $25.99).

While I understand why Amazon has such a policy, I think it is unduly harsh for independent authors like me who are not well known at all. I am not trying to mass market a consumer product through fake reviews in hope of amassing millions. I don’t have the means to run expensive campaigns to advertise my books. If people are like me, unless I know an author well, I would hesitate to buy a book that has no review and would prefer to wait until at least a handful of reviews are published before making a purchase.

I went to Amazon’s site to complain about their new policy but I did not find any place to do so. If you have any suggestion, please comment below.

Silent Sunday

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Forster's Terns, photography, postaday

Forster’s Terns.

Forster’s Terns.

Ruddy Turnstones

Tags

barnegat lighthouse, photography, postaday, ruddy turnstone

I took the following photos of Ruddy Turnstones in January of this year near the Barnegat Lighthouse, but only now have I found the time to post them here.

Several groups of these birds were congregating on rocks covered with seaweed. Some slept, others were starting to look for food, but none cared the least about a photographer getting right above them. The early sun was shining bright, making it appear as if I was using a flash.

Ruddy Turnstones on top of seaweed.

Ruddy Turnstones, with one apparently yawning.

Ruddy Turnstone drill sergeant: “Up, everybody up!”

Ruddy Turnstone looking for something to eat.

Ruddy Turnstone looking for food.

Ruddy Turnstone pulling up seaweed.

Silent Sunday

Tags

northern cardinal, photography, postaday

Female Northern Cardinal.

Red-winged Blackbirds

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, european starling, photography, postaday, red-winged blackbird

Starting in late summer, when you drive on Wildlife Drive, flocks of birds often fly in and out of both sides of the road in front of you. There could be hundreds of them, and they are mostly Red-winged Blackbirds, European Starlings, and sparrows, sometimes mixed together. The moment you stop your car to look closer, the birds land and disappear in the dried reed and grasses. Last week I stopped long enough to find them and take some photos.

Dried reed. Deceiving, right? The birds were there.

Male Red-winged Blackbird.

Female Red-winged Blackbird.

Female Red-winged Blackbird eating a fruit.

Male Red-winged Blackbird.

Male Red-winged Blackbird.

Finally, a European Starling perched above the reeds, on a road sign.

European Starling.

Nice Catch

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, laughing gull, photography, postaday

It was high tide again, and this Laughing Gull came out of the marsh water with a very nice catch:

Laughing Gull with fish.

It played with the fish for a long minute then got ready to swallow it.

Laughing Gull just before swallowing fish.

 

Silent Sunday

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great egret, photography, postaday

Great Egret.

Mute Swans and Cygnet

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cygnet, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, mute swan, photography, postaday

Several Mute Swans were swimming and feeding in one of the fresh water pools at the refuge.

Mute Swan.

Mute Swan.

In a more secluded pool, a cygnet was swimming by itself.

Mute Swan Cygnet.

Great Blue Heron Up Close

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, photography, postaday

A new sluice gate has recently been built on Wildlife Drive at the refuge to channel ocean water into and out of Vogt Pool North. As I drove by a few days ago, a Great Blue Heron was standing guard at the gate and would not budge even as I parked no more than 20 ft (6 m) away from it. There was plenty of morning sunlight and the conditions were perfect for photography.

Great Blue Heron at sluice gate.

Great Blue Heron ignoring photographer.

Seven minutes later, it was still on the same rock, staring into emptiness.

Great Blue Heron.

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

arrowhead, colonial lake, goldenrod, photography, postaday, primrose

Arrowhead flowers by Colonial Lake.

Primrose flower by Colonial Lake.

Goldenrod by Colonial Lake.

Double-crested Cormorants

Tags

double-crested cormorant, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, laughing gull, photography, postaday

Yesterday, when I arrived at the Brigantine unit of the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge the tide was high and ocean water was pouring into the salt marshes, bringing with it fish and other sea creatures to feed the Egrets, Double-crested Cormorants, Seagulls, and various smaller birds. Some juvenile Cormorants were having a feast and kept diving into the churning water and coming up with fish in their hooked bills.

Cormorant holding fish in its bill.

Another Cormorant was so happy to have caught a fish that it danced around in the water.

Juvenile Cormorant with fish.

Suddenly, it dropped the fish and dove in the water to retrieve it. However, many Laughing Gulls were hovering in the air, and one quickly swooped down.

Laughing Seagull diving after fish.

The Laughing Gull snatched the fish and left the young Cormorant clamoring for its lost meal.

Laughing Seagull flying away with fish despite Cormorant’s protests.