Okay, today for a change, I'll let some other people "speak" instead of me. Here's what the early reviews on my book, "A Rose by Any Other Name" have to say:

The stories in this book leave you wanting more, which is exactly what a short story should be. They are all different, totally readable and every one created an emotional reaction. I especially appreciated Mr. Mazo's ability to accurately describe the feelings of the women in the stories. As an avid reader I often find male writers unable to give an accurate voice to their female characters. I am a female, so I don't find myself able to judge the reverse - female authors writing from a male perspective. I also really enjoyed Mr. Mazo's ability to put voice to feelings and emotions he could not ever have felt himself - a woman suffering a miscarriage - the writing just felt true and real, like it was from the mind of a real person.

Mr. Mazo creates characters and story lines that grab your attention and make you want to know more. In fact, that may be my only complaint, I was left wanting to know more about all the characters. It was gratifying to see the cross pollination between some stories but let it be known, "Brian Mazo, novel please!!"

I didn't want to put it down to do my chores!

It's a great read! You all should take a little peak! It's sweet and romantic in a pink and punky sort of way




And none of the above is my mother. Of course one of my friends who did pick up a copy noticed something fairly important that I neglected in the initial release. So, I had to correct that-- if this were baseball cards about thirty people have an "error edition" -- which has made the book unavailable for purchase via the Print-on-Demand option. That'll show 'em! It's one of the keys in sales, right? The take-away! You want it? You want it?? Well, you can't have it...


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I finally got to see new Japanese import, Yu Darvish, pitch for the Rangers last night. I had wanted to see his previous starts, but scheduling conflicts kept me from that. So, I "got my wish" last night; damn shame it was against the Yankees and he lived up to his billing, pitching his best game in the States -- by far -- against New York last night in Texas.


It was a very big game back in Japan as Sunday's rain-out in Boston made it that new Yankee pitcher, and Yu's countryman, Hiroki Kuroda was facing him. Kuroda did a really good job with the mighty Ranger line-up, but the game was apparently lost after the first batter went yard against the Yankee pitcher as the Bronx Bombers couldn't get anything going against Darvish; he shut them out for 8 1/3 innings. The Yanks only good scoring opportunity - bases loaded and no outs - was put down with a K and a double-play.


The Yanks usually have trouble when facing a pitcher for the first time and with his amazing assortment of pitches - he has more than a catcher has fingers to call them; even Yankee announcer Ken Singleton who has been around the game for decades, had to admit he'd never seen some of the signs Napoli (Texas catcher) was putting down - and last night was no exception.


That said, Derek Jeter who's playing like it's 1999 continued his torrid start getting two more hits. Kuroda pitched really well, but time will tell if he's ready for the AL or not.


Okay, time to sell some books ... or my soul.


Cheers,
B