Welcome, John Bushore to Dio...

I recently had the good fortune to read and review John Bushore's novel, ...And Remember That I Am a Man, which you'll find as most most recent listing if you click the "I Dug It" tab from the main page.  This is the response I received from Mr. Bushore, and I asked his permission to share it as it adds to the review I've posted.  For the record, the YA story I mention, according to Mr. B, is simply the teenage years captured from his adult novel to help educate youngsters about slavery.  What a great idea.  Anyhow, welcome John Bushore, and here's his response:



Ginger,

I've now read your review and thank you so much for your kind words. You really got what the novel was all about. As I researched for a mid-grade novel , my eyes were opened. I'm originally a Yankee, with roots that go back to French Canada, so I'd never had much interest in the slavery issue. But neither was I prejudiced by childhood influences, so I think was a blank slate for the Moses Grandy story. The YA novel turned into a labor of love and I couldn't help but write his entire story. I originally wondered why Moses returned to the south when he should have remained in Rhode Island to establish his freedom and was surprised at the extent of racism and even racial inferiority attitudes of actual abolitionists in the north. I was again surprised how racism was present wherever in the world Moses sailed in later life. And now that my eyes have been opened, I see that we all must work for racial equality, no matter what the color of our skin.

Even though I've still not gotten even my own system to use my novels for teaching purposes (and I donated several copies to school libraries) due to apathy and inertia and the rigid structure of school curricula, I continue to explore America's race relations and occasionally attend seminars on the subject. Writing about Moses made me grow as a person and taught me that my writing talent could be used for something that might possibly outlive me. I want to leave this world thinking I made a difference and writing happens to be my talent.

If you would be so kind as to let me know what "writing issues that jumped out to my editorial eye," I'd appreciate it. I value critique, especially here, where I self-published the novel and didn't have the benefit of an extra set of editorial eyes. Since Print-on-demand is so flexible, I could easily correct any issues for future printings.

Anyway, you made my day with your review.
 ***

Note from Ginger:  The writing issues I mentioned were minimal and probably only noticeable because of the numerous editing issues I've undergone.  Nothing in this book seriously detracted me from the message conveyed.  The only correctable issue that comes to mind is one instance where "wave" appeared rather than "waved," but what book is error free these days.  I defy someone to show it to me.  *lol*