Michael Schmicker's Blog - Posts Tagged "michael-schmicker"
Extremely Strange Adventures (Book Review)
The first and last time I jumped out of an airplane, I was 17 years old.
It was my mom who nearly died of fright. She had to sign a waiver that listed in gruesome detail all the ways her underage, unlucky son could die or sustain serious injury from skydiving. True to the odds, nothing went wrong. After four hours of “training,” the actual skydive, from Geronimo! to hard landing, lasted just a few minutes. My weekend parachute was an adrenaline rush, but hardly death-defying or life changing.
In contrast, the extreme adventurers in Mary Coffey's fascinating book "Explorers of the Infinite" push themselves physically and psychologically to the breaking point. Skydiver Cheryl Sterns jumped from an airplane 352 times in 24 hours, setting a Guinness World Record. Tanya Streeter free dove without oxygen to a depth of 525 feet below the ocean, holding her breath for almost three and a half minutes, her heart rate plummeting to five beats a minute, before resurfacing. Cyclist Jure Robic pedaled for 3,042 miles across the continental U.S. in 8 days, 19 hours and 33 minutes.
Such super-athletes suffer mind-numbing exhaustion, unbearable pain, intense solitude, sudden terror, and narrow escapes from death – conditions which parapsychologists know can generate paranormal experiences. And the heroes of this book have a journal’s worth, experiencing time distortions, altered states of consciousness, telepathic communications, out-of body experiences, precognition, premonitions of death, and visions of the dead.
I’ve investigated and written about these baffling phenomena for some time. So the reading pleasure for me came less from the garden-variety paranormal experiences these crazies report than from the god-awful, insane exploits which trigger them.
Fifty-five year old ultra-marathoner Marshall Ulrich had a classic out-of-body experience running the Badwater, a 135-mile, non-stop foot race across Death Valley in July when daytime temperatures can hit 129 degrees Fahrenheit. He’s done it 13 times, won it four times. Insanely, he once did it four times back and forth, non-stop, for over 77 hours, while pulling a modified baby jogger loaded with 200 pounds of water, ice and spare clothes. In 1993, while trying to break his own record, he suddenly stepped out of his body. From above, he watched himself running along, “like watching myself on a movie screen.” He remained out of body all night, until the next morning when he realized that “dawn was coming, the sun was about to rise. I knew it was time to go back into my body.” (Skydiver Sterns experienced a similar, extended OBE during her non-stop jumping.)
“Many mountaineers have sensed unexplainable presences in the high mountains,” notes Coffey. American climber Lou Whittaker in 1989 was guiding the first American assault on 28,169-foot high Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas, the third tallest mountain in the world. At his base camp, he kept sensing the presence of a middle-aged, friendly Tibetan woman spirit who communicated with him mentally, telling him everything would go OK. His wife Ingrid arrived at the base camp shortly after Lou had departed for the summit, but her ascent to 16,000 feet was so fast she suffered severe altitude sickness. She spent three days in agony in Lou’s tent, ministered to by the same Tibetan spirit. “She was wearing a headscarf and a long dress. She was shadowy and two-dimensional, like a silhouette.” The spirit would put her hand on Ingrid’s forehead, very comforting, and help her to roll over. She didn’t speak; the two women communicated telepathically. Two months later, after they had returned to the States, Ingrid finally told Lou about her strange helper. Stunned, he admitted seeing her too. They’re convinced it wasn’t a hallucination, since both sensed the same apparition.
Coffee notes similar “spirit friends” assisted and comforted many well-known adventurers in their perils, including Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton during his desperate 36-hour trek across frigid South Georgia Island; aviator Charles “Lucky” Lindbergh on his record-breaking, non-stop transatlantic flight to Europe in 1927; and mariner Joshua Slocum, the first man to sail solo around the globe.
In 1997, Tony Bullimore was attempting to duplicate Slocum’s feat, competing in the around-the-world Vendee Globe single-handed yacht race. Two months into the race, a fierce storm in the Southern Ocean rolled his boat, trapping him upside down in his watertight cabin for almost five days. Race officials informed his wife Lalel his upturned boat had been spotted in huge seas; he was presumed dead. That night, kneeling by her bed, she received a telepathic message from him. He was alive, he had food and water, but he was exhausted and had to sleep. The following day, he mentally spoke to her again. “Oh Lal, I’m in a mess. It’s wet. The boat won’t stop rolling. I’m cold.” She told him to keep fighting. Back in his watery tomb, shivering and staring into darkness, he suddenly had a vision. He saw an Australian warship steaming for him, a boat was lowered, sailors started banging on the hull, and he watched himself swim to the surface where he was rescued. Twenty-four hours later, everything happened exactly as his vision had foretold.
Coffey presents dozens of such puzzling experiences while pondering their reality and meaning. For an outdoor adventure writer, she demonstrates a surprising familiarity with parapsychological literature, referencing among others Rupert Sheldrake’s ESP research; Montague Ullman’s dream lab investigations; NDE studies by Raymond Moody and Sam Parnia; plus conventional counter-explanations from popular skeptics like Susan Blackmore and Robert Persinger.
Her references are understandably brief and occasionally incorrect – for example, her assertion that scientists know very little about the out-of-body phenomenon. Psychologists, physicians and investigators such as Charles Tart, Stuart Twemlow and D. Scott Rogo mapped the phenomenon several decades ago, and recent NDE research has advanced our understanding. We know a lot about them; it’s just that, like so many other paranormal phenomena, we can’t agree on where they fit in our current model of reality.
But Coffey can be forgiven for not penning a dry parapsychology book few would read. She offers enough science to ground her stories, but wisely focuses on the sense of surprise and wonder her eclectic community of daredevils find in their unexpected brushes with the infinite. As British BASE jumper Shaun Ellison puts it, “There’s so much out there that we don’t understand.”
It was my mom who nearly died of fright. She had to sign a waiver that listed in gruesome detail all the ways her underage, unlucky son could die or sustain serious injury from skydiving. True to the odds, nothing went wrong. After four hours of “training,” the actual skydive, from Geronimo! to hard landing, lasted just a few minutes. My weekend parachute was an adrenaline rush, but hardly death-defying or life changing.
In contrast, the extreme adventurers in Mary Coffey's fascinating book "Explorers of the Infinite" push themselves physically and psychologically to the breaking point. Skydiver Cheryl Sterns jumped from an airplane 352 times in 24 hours, setting a Guinness World Record. Tanya Streeter free dove without oxygen to a depth of 525 feet below the ocean, holding her breath for almost three and a half minutes, her heart rate plummeting to five beats a minute, before resurfacing. Cyclist Jure Robic pedaled for 3,042 miles across the continental U.S. in 8 days, 19 hours and 33 minutes.
Such super-athletes suffer mind-numbing exhaustion, unbearable pain, intense solitude, sudden terror, and narrow escapes from death – conditions which parapsychologists know can generate paranormal experiences. And the heroes of this book have a journal’s worth, experiencing time distortions, altered states of consciousness, telepathic communications, out-of body experiences, precognition, premonitions of death, and visions of the dead.
I’ve investigated and written about these baffling phenomena for some time. So the reading pleasure for me came less from the garden-variety paranormal experiences these crazies report than from the god-awful, insane exploits which trigger them.
Fifty-five year old ultra-marathoner Marshall Ulrich had a classic out-of-body experience running the Badwater, a 135-mile, non-stop foot race across Death Valley in July when daytime temperatures can hit 129 degrees Fahrenheit. He’s done it 13 times, won it four times. Insanely, he once did it four times back and forth, non-stop, for over 77 hours, while pulling a modified baby jogger loaded with 200 pounds of water, ice and spare clothes. In 1993, while trying to break his own record, he suddenly stepped out of his body. From above, he watched himself running along, “like watching myself on a movie screen.” He remained out of body all night, until the next morning when he realized that “dawn was coming, the sun was about to rise. I knew it was time to go back into my body.” (Skydiver Sterns experienced a similar, extended OBE during her non-stop jumping.)
“Many mountaineers have sensed unexplainable presences in the high mountains,” notes Coffey. American climber Lou Whittaker in 1989 was guiding the first American assault on 28,169-foot high Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas, the third tallest mountain in the world. At his base camp, he kept sensing the presence of a middle-aged, friendly Tibetan woman spirit who communicated with him mentally, telling him everything would go OK. His wife Ingrid arrived at the base camp shortly after Lou had departed for the summit, but her ascent to 16,000 feet was so fast she suffered severe altitude sickness. She spent three days in agony in Lou’s tent, ministered to by the same Tibetan spirit. “She was wearing a headscarf and a long dress. She was shadowy and two-dimensional, like a silhouette.” The spirit would put her hand on Ingrid’s forehead, very comforting, and help her to roll over. She didn’t speak; the two women communicated telepathically. Two months later, after they had returned to the States, Ingrid finally told Lou about her strange helper. Stunned, he admitted seeing her too. They’re convinced it wasn’t a hallucination, since both sensed the same apparition.
Coffee notes similar “spirit friends” assisted and comforted many well-known adventurers in their perils, including Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton during his desperate 36-hour trek across frigid South Georgia Island; aviator Charles “Lucky” Lindbergh on his record-breaking, non-stop transatlantic flight to Europe in 1927; and mariner Joshua Slocum, the first man to sail solo around the globe.
In 1997, Tony Bullimore was attempting to duplicate Slocum’s feat, competing in the around-the-world Vendee Globe single-handed yacht race. Two months into the race, a fierce storm in the Southern Ocean rolled his boat, trapping him upside down in his watertight cabin for almost five days. Race officials informed his wife Lalel his upturned boat had been spotted in huge seas; he was presumed dead. That night, kneeling by her bed, she received a telepathic message from him. He was alive, he had food and water, but he was exhausted and had to sleep. The following day, he mentally spoke to her again. “Oh Lal, I’m in a mess. It’s wet. The boat won’t stop rolling. I’m cold.” She told him to keep fighting. Back in his watery tomb, shivering and staring into darkness, he suddenly had a vision. He saw an Australian warship steaming for him, a boat was lowered, sailors started banging on the hull, and he watched himself swim to the surface where he was rescued. Twenty-four hours later, everything happened exactly as his vision had foretold.
Coffey presents dozens of such puzzling experiences while pondering their reality and meaning. For an outdoor adventure writer, she demonstrates a surprising familiarity with parapsychological literature, referencing among others Rupert Sheldrake’s ESP research; Montague Ullman’s dream lab investigations; NDE studies by Raymond Moody and Sam Parnia; plus conventional counter-explanations from popular skeptics like Susan Blackmore and Robert Persinger.
Her references are understandably brief and occasionally incorrect – for example, her assertion that scientists know very little about the out-of-body phenomenon. Psychologists, physicians and investigators such as Charles Tart, Stuart Twemlow and D. Scott Rogo mapped the phenomenon several decades ago, and recent NDE research has advanced our understanding. We know a lot about them; it’s just that, like so many other paranormal phenomena, we can’t agree on where they fit in our current model of reality.
But Coffey can be forgiven for not penning a dry parapsychology book few would read. She offers enough science to ground her stories, but wisely focuses on the sense of surprise and wonder her eclectic community of daredevils find in their unexpected brushes with the infinite. As British BASE jumper Shaun Ellison puts it, “There’s so much out there that we don’t understand.”
A confession
My sincere thanks to prolific Brit author Tony Riches, across the pond in Merrie England, for allowing me to guest blog my confession today on his site, "The Writing Desk." Truth is, I originally wrote "The Witch of Napoli" as a... http://t.co/iNz9Oe2brm
Palladino Levitates a Table
Thanks, Stephanie, for your fascinating review of "The Witch of Napoli" -- and the fascinating seance table levitation photo you found to accompany your post! It's one of the more famous photos taken during the career of the fiery Signora Eusapia Palladino. http://stephaniesbookreviews.weebly.com
50+ Reviews for The Witch
Curious about what 50+ passionate, book-loving reviewers across the U.S. think about "The Witch of Napoli"? You'll find their opinions on Amazon.com and Goodreads.com,. For links to The Witch page on each site, click here: amzn.to/1Dz07GS (Amazon) and here: http://bit.ly/1JmNjZ7 (Goodreads). Enjoy!
Two Free Copies of The Witch of Napoli
All:
Two free copies of The Witch of Napoli are being given away as part of Amy Bruno's Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tour. If you'd like to enter to win a copy, click on this link: http://bit.ly/1H3LEWG
Two free copies of The Witch of Napoli are being given away as part of Amy Bruno's Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tour. If you'd like to enter to win a copy, click on this link: http://bit.ly/1H3LEWG
Fact or Fiction?
What's fact and what's fiction in "The Witch of Napoli"? Curious readers continue to ask me that question. My friend and fellow author C.P.Leslie invited me to guest blog the truth, and I finally reveal the answer here: http://bit.ly/1OMLfwo .
While you're there, check out Leslie's wonderful novels. I reviewed her book The Winged Horse here: http://bit.ly/1DQ1Rsv.
While you're there, check out Leslie's wonderful novels. I reviewed her book The Winged Horse here: http://bit.ly/1DQ1Rsv.
Awaiting My Fate
I've been nervously waiting for the last two months to learn my fate.
The Historical Novel Society is the premier, online gathering place for historical fiction aficionados worldwide; the informed taste-maker for the genre; and they held The Witch. Their reviewers call it like the see it -- no unearned praise; criticism where it's merited. Debut novels notoriously suffer from pacing problems, plot holes and assorted weaknesses, and I'm painfully aware of the many in mine (I primarily write non-fiction). So I held my breath yesterday when I opened the email from the Society's indie reviews managing editor, Helen Hollick, and clicked on the link to Steve Donoghue's review.
Steve can be intimidating. Here’s what greets you when you hand your baby over to him:
"Steve Donoghue is a writer and editor living in Boston with two dogs (one good, one very bad) and uncounted thousands of books (a good many of which are historical novels). He writes regularly for The National, Kirkus Reviews, and The Washington Post, reviews frequently for Open Letters Monthly (where he’s also the Managing Editor), and is the US/Worldwide editor for the Indie branch of the Historical Novels Review, where he’s thrilled to come in contact with a steady stream of promising authors and interesting novels."
In short, he’s a pro. Your literary sins –mortal and venial – will be uncovered. Would Steve still find me a “promising author” with an “interesting novel?” I was about to find out.
Here’s the verdict: http://bit.ly/1GFFd6Z
Thanks, Steve. I might attempt that sequel after all!
P.S. Hope Boston has finally dug out from its winter deep freeze, and you’re happily back walking your basset around Boston Commons.
P.P.S. If you love to read or write historical fiction, join the Society. Membership is only $50 a year; you can access 12,000+ reviews; and I hear they throw a fun conference (in Denver, next month). Click here: http://historicalnovelsociety.org/
The Historical Novel Society is the premier, online gathering place for historical fiction aficionados worldwide; the informed taste-maker for the genre; and they held The Witch. Their reviewers call it like the see it -- no unearned praise; criticism where it's merited. Debut novels notoriously suffer from pacing problems, plot holes and assorted weaknesses, and I'm painfully aware of the many in mine (I primarily write non-fiction). So I held my breath yesterday when I opened the email from the Society's indie reviews managing editor, Helen Hollick, and clicked on the link to Steve Donoghue's review.
Steve can be intimidating. Here’s what greets you when you hand your baby over to him:
"Steve Donoghue is a writer and editor living in Boston with two dogs (one good, one very bad) and uncounted thousands of books (a good many of which are historical novels). He writes regularly for The National, Kirkus Reviews, and The Washington Post, reviews frequently for Open Letters Monthly (where he’s also the Managing Editor), and is the US/Worldwide editor for the Indie branch of the Historical Novels Review, where he’s thrilled to come in contact with a steady stream of promising authors and interesting novels."
In short, he’s a pro. Your literary sins –mortal and venial – will be uncovered. Would Steve still find me a “promising author” with an “interesting novel?” I was about to find out.
Here’s the verdict: http://bit.ly/1GFFd6Z
Thanks, Steve. I might attempt that sequel after all!
P.S. Hope Boston has finally dug out from its winter deep freeze, and you’re happily back walking your basset around Boston Commons.
P.P.S. If you love to read or write historical fiction, join the Society. Membership is only $50 a year; you can access 12,000+ reviews; and I hear they throw a fun conference (in Denver, next month). Click here: http://historicalnovelsociety.org/
Sequel to "The Witch of Napoli"?
Decision time. Do I go for it?
A few weeks back, an enthusiastic reader named Denny posted a question for me:
"I really enjoyed The Witch of Napoli. Is there any chance you're going to develop a series around Tommaso Labella? He's a great character with a lot of potential. I'd love to see him investigate Nigel Huxley's misdeeds and bring him to justice. I felt kind of cheated after Elsa's disappearance from the story shortly after her disclosure to Tommaso of Huxley's abuses. Take care, be well, and happy reading!"
I wrote him back:
"Aloha Denny: Thanks for the question. A sequel is tempting. I had a lot of fun creating the novel’s narrator, Tomaso. He’s me when I was just starting my own journalism career. He’s cocky, curious; handy with a camera and pen; determined to see the world. And of course, it would be great to pursure Huxley for his misdeeds -- and the hundred pounds he owes Alessandra after her Naples sitting.
That said, I'm not a natural fiction writer; I primarily write non-fiction, and it's equally tempting to say I've had my fling with fiction.The time commitment to writing a second novel is scary. .A novel is a nightmare for the amateur, and a challenge even for a pro. It requires playing with a Rubik’s cube of characters, plot, subplots, pacing, dialogue, style, emotional arc – pieces which the writer must move in a certain sequence, and at the proper moment, to propel the tale forward, hold the fickle reader’s attention, and arrive at a successful denouement. Historical fiction raises the complexity another level. Where do you find information in the cost of a plate of pasta in 19th century Napoli? How much history should be included? When and where do you drop it in? How do you share it without slowing the story and boring readers? It took me 18 months to write THe Witch of Napoli; I can write a non-fiction book in half the time, and I've got a long list of possible book ideas in my head.
And yet... it's so tempting to resurrect Tommaso. He would be in his early 40s, in Rome, editor of the Messaggero, with Doffo still working for him. Mussolini has taken power in Italy; the Fascists and Nazi movements are sweeping Europe; the British aristocracy (including Huxley) and the Catholic Church are sympathetically cheering their rise to power. Everyone is nervous about the future of their family, their business, their country, and a shadowy, Italian woman psychic everyone calls "the witch of Roma" claims to have the answers.
Tempting...
Thanks for your kind comments about the Witch of Napoli, and I'll let you know if I do decide to take a crack at it!"
Last week I started seriously playing with ideas for a sequel. I'm getting hooked.
Let's see where this leads...
A few weeks back, an enthusiastic reader named Denny posted a question for me:
"I really enjoyed The Witch of Napoli. Is there any chance you're going to develop a series around Tommaso Labella? He's a great character with a lot of potential. I'd love to see him investigate Nigel Huxley's misdeeds and bring him to justice. I felt kind of cheated after Elsa's disappearance from the story shortly after her disclosure to Tommaso of Huxley's abuses. Take care, be well, and happy reading!"
I wrote him back:
"Aloha Denny: Thanks for the question. A sequel is tempting. I had a lot of fun creating the novel’s narrator, Tomaso. He’s me when I was just starting my own journalism career. He’s cocky, curious; handy with a camera and pen; determined to see the world. And of course, it would be great to pursure Huxley for his misdeeds -- and the hundred pounds he owes Alessandra after her Naples sitting.
That said, I'm not a natural fiction writer; I primarily write non-fiction, and it's equally tempting to say I've had my fling with fiction.The time commitment to writing a second novel is scary. .A novel is a nightmare for the amateur, and a challenge even for a pro. It requires playing with a Rubik’s cube of characters, plot, subplots, pacing, dialogue, style, emotional arc – pieces which the writer must move in a certain sequence, and at the proper moment, to propel the tale forward, hold the fickle reader’s attention, and arrive at a successful denouement. Historical fiction raises the complexity another level. Where do you find information in the cost of a plate of pasta in 19th century Napoli? How much history should be included? When and where do you drop it in? How do you share it without slowing the story and boring readers? It took me 18 months to write THe Witch of Napoli; I can write a non-fiction book in half the time, and I've got a long list of possible book ideas in my head.
And yet... it's so tempting to resurrect Tommaso. He would be in his early 40s, in Rome, editor of the Messaggero, with Doffo still working for him. Mussolini has taken power in Italy; the Fascists and Nazi movements are sweeping Europe; the British aristocracy (including Huxley) and the Catholic Church are sympathetically cheering their rise to power. Everyone is nervous about the future of their family, their business, their country, and a shadowy, Italian woman psychic everyone calls "the witch of Roma" claims to have the answers.
Tempting...
Thanks for your kind comments about the Witch of Napoli, and I'll let you know if I do decide to take a crack at it!"
Last week I started seriously playing with ideas for a sequel. I'm getting hooked.
Let's see where this leads...
David and Goliath
Library Thing is tiny compared with Goodreads – only 1.9 million members. More hippie commune than Amazon corporate, it exudes a funky 1950s, Dewey decimal vibe. But I find it refreshing when I tire of Jeff Bezos’ uber-efficient but Orwellian empire. If you’re not a member, you might want to check it out – there’s no cost to join.
To encourage your visit, I’m giving out 50 free Kindle e-books of “The Witch of Napoli” while they last. Click here for your copy: http://www.librarything.com/er/giveaw....
It’s my small contribution to making sure Library Thing survives and thrives in this Darwinian corporate jungle.
To encourage your visit, I’m giving out 50 free Kindle e-books of “The Witch of Napoli” while they last. Click here for your copy: http://www.librarything.com/er/giveaw....
It’s my small contribution to making sure Library Thing survives and thrives in this Darwinian corporate jungle.
