James Goertel's Blog: From the Desk of James Goertel

Dakota Damned is a historical fiction novel set in North Dakota which moves back and forth between two distinct time periods and follows the fortunes and failings of the three Lund brothers as they consolidate their power over the region and its natural resources. Hydroelectric holdings are procured through murder, corruption, and lies in the historical period of post-World War II, while the family's eventual land holdings in the oil and gas-rich Bakken Formation act as the backdrop for the present-day story. Middle brother Karl Lund anchors both eras and his journey spans over six decades. Dakota Damned is both a looking glass into the past when the American Dream appeared to promise a bright future for one and all, but it is also a mirror reflecting the contemporary cautionary tale of that dream's failure for the disenfranchised: immigrant, indigenous, poor, and marginalized among them. By the end, Karl stands at the crossroads of a windswept prairie he has both helped tame and transform: a Dakota dammed, drilled, and desecrated.

GET IT HERE:
http://bit.do/DakotaDamned-JamesGoertel

James Goertel's Manitou Ontario concerns itself with an arrival - spiritual and physical - upon the shores of Lake Ontario where the poet now resides. An exploration of self and surroundings, they are poems of spirit and speculation which reach across continents to explore the sacred, the secular, though they remain rooted in what geographer John Kirtland Wright called geopiety - what the Algonquin called Manitou: the spiritual life force manifested within the natural world.

GET IT HERE:

https://www.amazon.com/Manitou-Ontari...

Praise for OH MERCY:

"In OH MERCY, James Goertel explores the tender folds of his brain in an attempt to get us --humanity-- to better understand our own. And more than that, he succeeds. This book is a fragile, brilliant, and incredibly moving collection."
~ Mathieu Cailler, author of LOSS ANGELES

The Goodreads Book Giveaway for Oh Mercy is now on. Enter to win one of ten free copies.

"In OH MERCY, James Goertel explores the tender folds of his brain in an attempt to get us --humanity-- to better understand our own. And more than that, he succeeds. This book is a fragile, brilliant, and incredibly moving collection." - Mathieu Cailler, author of LOSS ANGELES

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...

Xmas continues with the gift of this generous and big-hearted blurb for my poetry collection, Oh Mercy, from Mathieu Cailler, author of LOSS ANGELES:

"In OH MERCY, James Goertel explores the tender folds of his brain in an attempt to get us --humanity-- to better understand our own. And more than that, he succeeds. This book is a fragile, brilliant, and incredibly moving collection."

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The new poetry collection, Oh Mercy, is up and available at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Oh-Mercy-James-...

This fall has been chock full of good news for me via the good folks at Short Story America in Beaufort, SC. In September I was an invited presenter, reader, and panelist at the 3rd SSA Festival & Conference which featured the publication debut of the Short Story America Anthology Vol. IV featuring my new story Man Out of Time. At the same event my latest story All of My Mother's Names garnered an Honorable Mention in the short fiction contest and so will be published in Vol. V of the anthology series coming in 2016. Thanks to editor/author Tim Johnston and all the fine folks in Lowcountry for a splendid time and their gracious recognition of my writing. Copies of Vol. IV can be grabbed up here... and include free shipping:http://shop.shortstoryamerica.com/Sho...

I am so proud to have my story Carry Each His Burden included in the inaugural anthology from Rod Serling Books. Thanks to Anne Serling, Doug Sutton, and the board for championing my writing and for including me in this initial offering from RSB to honor the memory and writing prowess of Anne's father. I am humbled and very happy to be included among the talented writers in this book. http://www.amazon.com/Submitted-Your-...

My new poem - EVERYTHING MUST GO - is up today at Yareah Magazine:
http://www.yareah.com/2014/05/20/ever...

Let the Power Fall (Historical Image - 3):

Mah-tó-he-hah, Old Bear,
A Mandan Medicine Man.
Painting by George Catlin, 1832

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