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Love and Other Moods

3/22/2021

BOOK INFORMATIONLove and Other Moodsby Crystal Z. Lee
Release Date: December 10th 2020
Genre: Adult, Coming of Age

Synopsis:

Love and Other Moods is a coming-of-age story set in contemporary China, about falling in love, learning to adult, finding strength, and discovering one’s place in the world.
Naomi Kita-Fan uproots her life from New York to China when her fiancé’s company transfers him to Shanghai. After a disastrous turn of events, Naomi finds herself with no job, no boyfriend, and nowhere to live in a foreign country.
Amidst the backdrop of Shanghai welcoming millions of workers and visitors to the 2010 World Expo, we meet a tapestry of characters through Naomi: Joss Kong, a Shanghai socialite who leads an enviable life, but must harbor the secrets of her husband, Tay Kai Tang. Logan Hayden, a womanizing restaurateur looking for love in all the wrong places. Pan Jinsung and Ouyang Zhangjie, a silver-aged couple struggling with adapting to the ever-changing faces of their city. Dante Ouyang, who had just returned to China after spending years overseas, must choose between being filial and being in love. All their dreams and aspirations interweave within the sprawling web of Shanghai.
This multilayered novel explores a kaleidoscope of shifting relationships——familial friction, amorous entanglements, volatile friendships——in one of the most dynamic metropolises of the twenty-first century.

BOOK LINKSAmazon US: https://amzn.to/3rClTqk
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3cTnVhM
Bookdepository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Love-Other-Moods-Crystal-Z-Lee/9781913891015?ref=grid-view&qid=1612957743039&sr=1-1
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-and-other-moods-crystal-z-lee/1138082526?ean=9781913891015
Google Books: https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Love_and_Other_Moods.html?id=wpIJzgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y

Review:
Naomi Kita-Fan, a Taiwanese-Japanese American finds herself in Shanghai, China after following her long-term boyfriend, Seth Ray there for a job only to have the relationship blow up soon after. Now, with no job and no home in a foreign country, Naomi feels a need to make things work in the enigmatic city. Naomi finds an amazing job planning events for prestigious brands and is placed at the 2010 World Expo. While returning from a work trip, Naomi meets Dante Ouyang, a Chinese man who grew up in England and is returning home from America. Dante and Naomi hit it off, but work obligations, their past and family keep getting in the way.

Love and Other Moods is a contemporary romance that also explores cultural dynamics, family relationships and finding a place of your own. Naomi's character was easy to relate to, even though our lives were very different; she is an adult trying to carve out her place in the world when the ideas of parents and the world are trying to hold you back. I also enjoyed the descriptions of Shanghai, the energy, the mix of old and new, the food, the architecture and lifestyle all came to life through Naomi and her friends in the city. I loved reading about all the different areas of the Expo and what could be found there. Naomi and Dante's relationship was very realistic with plenty of ups and downs. Through their romance, I was able to see the impacts of their different cultural backgrounds. I was painfully unaware of the cultural differences and opinions held between some of the Chinese, Japanese and Taiwanese people and the effect it has on society as well as the next generation. Overall, a worldly contemporary romance with amazing characters and diverse points of view.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Tour Schedule: favouritepagesbookclub.blogspot.com/2021/02/tour-schedule-love-and-other-moods-by.html

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Crystal Z. Lee is a Taiwanese American bilingual writer. She has called many places home, including Taipei, New York, Shanghai, and the San Francisco Bay Area. She was formerly a public relations executive who had worked with brands in the fashion, beauty, technology, and automotive industries. 'Love and Other Moods' is her first novel.

AUTHOR LINKS
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20927312.Crystal_Z_Lee
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crystal.z.lee/
Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Z.-Lee/e/B08NT9ZJTG%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

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Gory Details

3/17/2021

1 Comment

About Gory Details

â€¢ Publisher: National Geographic (March 2, 2021) â€¢ Hardcover: 336 pages

Infused with Mary Roach-style humor and science, this narrative illuminates the gross, strange, morbid, and outright absurd realities of our bodies, the Earth, and universe.

Filled to the brim with far-out facts, this wickedly informative narrative from the author of National Geographic's popular Gory Details blog takes us on a fascinating journey through an astonishing new reality. Blending humor and journalism in the tradition of Mary Roach, acclaimed science reporter Erika Engelhaupt investigates the gross, strange, and morbid absurdities of our bodies and our universe. From the research biologist who stung himself with every conceivable insect to the world's most murderous mammals, this entertaining book explores oft-ignored but alluring facets of biology, anatomy, space exploration, nature, and more. Featuring interviews with leading researchers in the field and a large dose of wit, this provocative book reveals the most intriguing real-world applications of science in all their glory.

Social Media

#GoryDetails, @tlcbooktours and @erika_engelhaupt

Review
Have you ever wondered why an everyday sound drives some people crazy? Or why we are both drawn to and repulsed by certain smells? How about why we don't eat more bugs? Or how many bugs are on you? If you have ever been curious about anything that seems weird or taboo, Gory Details is for you. Erika Engelhaupt has put together a collection of essays about the morbid, the morbid, gross, mysterious and buggy curiosities in life. These short essays discuss and explain enough to pique your interest and make you want to explore more on your own.

Gory Details strives to make it ok to talk about the subjects people tend to shy away from. Using humor and examining each topic through the lens of science, the function comes to light and the fear begins to fade. I was fascinated by so many of the topics and searched out more on my own. Frances Glessner Lee's Nutshells captured my attention and I would love to be able to look at these miniature crime scenes in real life to try and see where the clues lead me. I have never really thought about what keeps all the bacteria in and on our bodies from decomposing us while we are alive; however, now I have a strong urge to learn more about what bacteria I harbor. I love that the corpse flower attracts so many visitors just to get a whiff of what smells like a dead body so we can potentially be better equipped when we meet the real deal. One of my favorite facts was that the clitoris was not fully described in a medical paper until 1998. I also now wonder if I could be a super-recognizer and plan on taking the test. Gory Details is an excellent book for any curious mind.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

About Erika Engelhaupt

Erika Engelhaupt has written for and edited top science magazines, newspapers, and websites, including National Geographic, Science News, Scientific American, and NPR. She lives in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Find out more about Erika at her website, and connect with her on Twitter and Instagram.

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Under the Light of the Italian Moon

3/11/2021

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Historical fiction, womenâ€™s fiction, biographical fiction

Date Published: March 8, 2021

Publisher: Amsterdam Publishers

A promise keeps them apart until WWII threatens to destroy their love forever

Fonzaso Italy, between two wars

Nina Argenta doesnâ€™t want the traditional life of a rural Italian woman. The daughter of a strong-willed midwife, she is determined to define her own destiny. But when her brother emigrates to America, she promises her mother to never leave.

When childhood friend Pietro Pante briefly returns to their mountain town, passion between them ignites while Mussolini forces political tensions to rise. Just as their romance deepens, Pietro must leave again for work in the coal mines of America. Nina is torn between joining him and her commitment to Italy and her mother.

As Mussoliniâ€™s fascists throw the country into chaos and Hitlerâ€™s Nazis terrorise their town, each day becomes a struggle to survive greater atrocities. A future with Pietro seems impossible when they lose contact and Ninaâ€™s dreams of a life together are threatened by Nazi occupation and an enemy she must face aloneâ€¦

A gripping historical fiction novel, based on a true story and heartbreaking real events.

Spanning over two decades, Under the Light of the Italian Moon is an epic, emotional and triumphant tale of one womanâ€™s incredible resilience during the rise of fascism and Italyâ€™s collapse into WWII.

Review
Nina Argenta grew up in Fonzaso, Italy during the aftermath of the Great War. Nina was her mother's helper, learning the skill of midwifery early on. Nina heard of men leaving for America as a child and soon learns that her brother will be among the people in search of a better life in America. One of the young men on the journey, Pietro Pante came back to visit Fonzaso and he and Nina began a romance. Nina and Pietro marry in Italy with a promise of reuniting before Pietro returns. Pietro toils in a dangerous coal mine in Pennsylvania saving all of his money to bring his family together. As time passes, Italy falls under Mussolini's control, Nina's family becomes threatened by food scarcity, soldiers and spies. Meanwhile, Nina has not heard from Pietro for years and is struggling to keep her family alive.

Under the Light of the Italian Moon chronicles the life of the Argenta and Ponte family matriarchs, the author's great-great grandmother, great-grandmother, and grandmother. Written with care and researched from first hand accounts, Anton brings to light the amazing lives of the women in her family. Living through hardship, turmoil and wars, the Argenta family shows bravery, hope, resilience, love and loyalty. From the time Nina and Pietro met, I knew their life would not be easy. Through repeated hardships, grief and loss, Nina and Pietro managed to make it through the most dire of circumstances to build a happy life for their family. It was interesting to read about Mussolini's influence in Fonzaso and what the citizens thought of him through the years from indifference to curiosity to leader and tyrant. I was consistently amazed at Nina's ability to continuously face hardship and tragedy and keep going as well as her ability to keep love alive for so long from so far away. Overall, an amazing story of real people and family history.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

About the Author

Jennifer Anton is an American/Italian dual citizen born in Joliet, Illinois and now lives between London and Lake Como, Italy. A proud advocate for womenâ€™s rights and equality, she hopes to rescue women's stories from history, starting with her Italian family.

In 2006, after the birth of her daughter, Jennifer suffered a life-threatening post-partum cardiomyopathy, and soon after, her Italian grandmother died. This tumultuous year strengthened her desire to capture the stories of her female Italian ancestors.

In 2012, she moved with her family to Milan, Italy and Chicago Parent Magazine published her article, Itâ€™s In the Journey, chronicling the benefits of travelling the world with children. Later, she moved to London where she has held leadership positions in brand marketing with companies including ABInbev, Revlon, Shiseido and Tory Burch.

Jennifer is a graduate of Illinois State University where she was a Chi Omega and holds a masterâ€™s degree from DePaul University in Chicago.

Under the Light of the Italian Moon is her first novel, based on the lives of her Italian grandmother and great grandmothers during the rise of fascism and World War II.

Review the book at Amazon.com, Goodreads, and Bookbub

Connect with Jennifer on Instagram @boldwomanwriting

Connect with Jennifer on Facebook @jenniferantonauthorpage

Join her mailing list at www.boldwomanwriting.com

Goodreads

Purchase Link

getbook.at/JAnton

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Under the Light of the Italian Moon

3/11/2021

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Historical fiction, women’s fiction, biographical fiction

Date Published: March 8, 2021

Publisher: Amsterdam Publishers

A promise keeps them apart until WWII threatens to destroy their love forever

Fonzaso Italy, between two wars

Nina Argenta doesn’t want the traditional life of a rural Italian woman. The daughter of a strong-willed midwife, she is determined to define her own destiny. But when her brother emigrates to America, she promises her mother to never leave.

As Mussolini’s fascists throw the country into chaos and Hitler’s Nazis terrorise their town, each day becomes a struggle to survive greater atrocities. A future with Pietro seems impossible when they lose contact and Nina’s dreams of a life together are threatened by Nazi occupation and an enemy she must face alone…

A gripping historical fiction novel, based on a true story and heartbreaking real events.

Spanning over two decades, Under the Light of the Italian Moon is an epic, emotional and triumphant tale of one woman’s incredible resilience during the rise of fascism and Italy’s collapse into WWII.

About the Author

Jennifer Anton is an American/Italian dual citizen born in Joliet, Illinois and now lives between London and Lake Como, Italy. A proud advocate for women’s rights and equality, she hopes to rescue women's stories from history, starting with her Italian family.

In 2012, she moved with her family to Milan, Italy and Chicago Parent Magazine published her article, It’s In the Journey, chronicling the benefits of travelling the world with children. Later, she moved to London where she has held leadership positions in brand marketing with companies including ABInbev, Revlon, Shiseido and Tory Burch.

Jennifer is a graduate of Illinois State University where she was a Chi Omega and holds a master’s degree from DePaul University in Chicago.

Under the Light of the Italian Moon is her first novel, based on the lives of her Italian grandmother and great grandmothers during the rise of fascism and World War II.

Review the book at Amazon.com, Goodreads, and Bookbub

Connect with Jennifer on Instagram @boldwomanwriting

Connect with Jennifer on Facebook @jenniferantonauthorpage

Join her mailing list at www.boldwomanwriting.com

Goodreads

Purchase Link

getbook.at/JAnton

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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City of Spells

3/8/2021

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City of Spells
Alexandra Christo
(Into the Crooked Place #2)
Published by: Feiwel & Friends
Publication date: March 9th 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

City of Spells, the follow-up to Alexandra Christo’s gritty YA fantasy, Into the Crooked Place, finds the world on the brink of war and four unlikely allies facing sacrifices they had never imagined.

After the loss of Wesley and the horrifying reveal that Zekia is helping the Kingpin of her own free will, Tavia, Saxony, and Karam flee to Saxony’s home to rebuild their rebellion. Meanwhile, trapped in the Kingpin’s darkness, Wesley must fight against the deadly magic that invades his mind and find a way back to his friends before it’s too late.

As the Kingpin’s dark magic spreads and his army conquers Creije, these four unlikely friends have to decide just how far they’ll go—and how much they are willing to sacrifice—to win.

Praise for Into the Crooked Place:

“With its gangland details, creative magical caste system and surprisingly brutal characters, Into the Crooked Place is very much its own thing. And that thing will likely be a story you can’t put down.” —Culturess

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play

EXCERPT:

Karam stepped forward, her skillfully embroidered clothes cascading down to her ankles in a way that was almost delicate, and so very much the opposite of Karam. Even from where Tavia stood, she could smell the peppermint salve on her friend’s sliced knuckles, something the fighters in Creije loved to use to soothe their injuries and that Karam wore every day, just in case.

“I thought we agreed that you were going to stop being stupid,” Karam said, Wrenyi accent thick on her tongue.

“I didn’t agree to anything,” Tavia said. “Did you follow me here?”

Karam crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you complaining about me saving you?”

“I don’t need saving.” Tavia leaned back in the booth. “I’m a busker, not a damsel.”

Nolan looked between them with a disbelieving scoff. “Are you two finished?” he asked. “Because we were about to kill her.”

For the first time, Karam looked at him, as if she had only just realized— or cared—that he was there.

“We have not been introduced,” she said.

“No,” Nolan said. “We haven’t.”

Karam held out a hand. “Hello,” she said.

And then she used that hand to grab ahold of Nolan’s shoulder and pull him toward her.

Without warning, Karam cracked her head against his.

The buskers broke into a frenzy as Nolan stumbled back, clutching his bloody nose. Quickly, Karam landed a kick to one of the others.

Tavia jumped up from the booth just as Nolan regained his footing, smashing a glass from a nearby table over his head. She shifted the backpack on her shoulder and landed a kick to another busker’s knee.

He went down with a yelp.

“This is why I had to follow you,” Karam said.

She kicked a busker in the chest and as he bent over to catch his breath, she rolled across his back and punched another clean in the face.

“You are so reckless.”

Tavia sighed at the lecture, which was becoming Karam’s specialty these days.

“If you were so worried about my safety, then you could have helped me take Nolan down back in the streets before his buddies showed up,” Tavia said. She swung her fist into the air, catching the cheek of a nearby busker, just the way Karam had taught her.

Karam took out her knife and threw it into the shoulder of another. “I thought you did not need saving,” she said.

Tavia rolled her eyes and kneed one of Nolan’s friends in the groin. “Forget making it slow!” Nolan yelled, pulling out a knife. “I’m going to gut you where you stand.”

Tavia shook her head. “He really does like being graphic,” she said to Karam.

She reached into her pocket for a pair of mirrored glasses and slipped them onto her nose, like she had seen Wesley do a dozen times.

“Here,” she said to Karam. “Put these on.”

Karam wrinkled her face and looked at Tavia like she was starting to lose her mind, but when she saw Tavia’s hands go to her pocket for a second time, it seemed Karam knew better than to argue.
“What in the Many Gods are those for?” Nolan asked, wiping the blood from his nose.

Tavia clutched the charm in her hand, its jagged edge spiking into her palm like tiny needles. “A way to show that if there’s one thing I have,” she said, “it’s style.”

She threw the charm down onto the floor and it exploded into a blinding light. Nolan and the others clutched at their eyes, screaming loud enough to drown out the bar’s music altogether.
“Come on!” Tavia yelled. “We need to go!”

She pulled Karam toward the door, where the customers were now blindly running and screaming as their vision temporarily disappeared.

They spilled back out onto the streets of Rishiya and Karam ripped the glasses from her face.
“Have you considered trying not to get yourself killed every now and again?” she asked as they darted through the city.

“Not really,” Tavia said, struggling to keep up with her pace. “I think I’d find it boring.”

She didn’t need to look at Karam to know that she was rolling her eyes, but Tavia felt invigorated. She had the magic she ’d come for, so all in all the trip to the city had been a roaring success. And with the warm breeze on her neck and fire of victory in her belly, Tavia felt like maybe all hope wasn’t quite lost.

Karam could call her reckless and the Crafters in the camp could call her a danger, but Tavia had a job to do. She had buskers to lead, and she was going to win this war and save Wesley, whether people approved of her methods or not.

Author Bio:

Alexandra Christo decided to write books when she was four and her teacher told her she couldn't be a fairy. She has a BA in Creative Writing and works as a copywriter in London, both of which make her sound more grown up than she feels. When she's not busy making up stories, she can be found buying far too many cushions and organizing food crawls all over the city. Alexandra currently lives in Hertfordshire with an abundance of cacti (because they're the only plants she can keep alive).

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

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Cosmic Queries

3/3/2021

1 Comment

About Cosmic Queries

• Publisher: National Geographic (March 2, 2021)
• Hardcover: 312 pages

In this thought-provoking follow-up to his acclaimed StarTalk book, uber astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tackles the world’s most important philosophical questions about the universe with wit, wisdom, and cutting-edge science.

For science geeks, space and physics nerds, and all who want to understand their place in the universe, this enlightening new book from Neil deGrasse Tyson offers a unique take on the mysteries and curiosities of the cosmos, building on rich material from his beloved StarTalk podcast.

In these illuminating pages, illustrated with dazzling photos and revealing graphics, Tyson and co-author James Trefil, a renowned physicist and science popularizer, take on the big questions that humanity has been posing for millennia–How did life begin? What is our place in the universe? Are we alone?–and provide answers based on the most current data, observations, and theories.

Populated with paradigm-shifting discoveries that help explain the building blocks of astrophysics, this relatable and entertaining book will engage and inspire readers of all ages, bring sophisticated concepts within reach, and offer a window into the complexities of the cosmos.

For all who loved National Geographic’s StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Cosmos: Possible Worlds, and Space Atlas, this new book will take them on more journeys into the wonders of the universe and beyond.

#CosmicQueries, @tlcbooktours @startalkradio.

Purchase Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Review:
Cosmic Queries expands on Neil deGrasse Tyson's StarTalk and aims to answer the big questions about the universe. Tyson has a way of making these very big and difficult concepts easy to understand, bringing the universe down to earth. Beginning from how we know what we know in space, measurements and some of the scientists who have led to these discoveries we are then led to ask questions of how the universe got to be how it is, what the universe is made out of, what life is, if we are alone, how this all began and eventually, how it will end.

Whenever I read a book about space I am always amazed about how much I do not know. I revel in being able to learn and understand more about our world and what is beyond. Cosmic Queries not only gives me a good foundation to begin to understand the questions posed in the book, but reminds me of how much we don't know about what we don't know as well as the fact that "the most interesting questions are the ones we don't yet know to ask." As I read through each chapter, the knowledge from previous chapters was slowly built upon, helping to expand my thinking and ask further questions. In addition, I learned about some of the pioneers of astronomy and the risks they took in order to get their knowledge out into the world. Overall, Cosmic Queries is an excellent read for any curious mind.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

About Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist with the American Museum of Natural History, host of the hit radio and Emmy-nominated TV show StarTalk, and the New York Times best-selling author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military. He lives in New York City.
Follow him on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons

3/1/2021

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FOLK SONGS BY TRAUMA SURGEONS
by Keith Rosson
RELEASE DATE: FEB 23, 2021
GENRE: Collection / Speculative Fiction / Magical Realism / Literary

BOOK PAGE: https://meerkatpress.com/books/folksongs/

SUMMARY:
With Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons, award-winning author Keith Rosson delves into notions of family, grief, identity, indebtedness, loss, and hope, with the surefooted merging of literary fiction and magical realism he’s explored in previous novels. In “Dunsmuir,” a newly sober husband buys a hearse to help his wife spread her sister’s ashes, while “The Lesser Horsemen” illustrates what happens when God instructs the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to go on a team-building cruise as a way of boosting their frayed morale. In “Brad Benske and the Hand of Light,” an estranged husband seeks his wife’s whereabouts through a fortuneteller after she absconds with a cult, and in “High Tide,” a grieving man ruminates on his brother’s life as a monster terrorizes their coastal town. With grace, imagination, and a brazen gallows humor, Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons merges the fantastic and the everyday, and includes a number of Rosson’s unpublished stories, as well as award-winning favorites.

BUY LINKS: Meerkat Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Review:
Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons is a short story collection that combines the everyday mundane with the fantastic and extraordinary. Like all short story collections, there were stories I loved, and stories I could live without. Most of the stories in Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons were strong for me, taking everyday events and adding unexpected details to create something exciting.

The first story of the collection, The Lesser Horsemen caught my attention with three out of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse sent on a cruise to work on their team building. This unexpected scenario combined with such a commonplace work task created an interesting and amusing story.

Baby Jill another favorite story of mine creating an emotional rollercoaster with the tooth fairy and what seems like run-of-the -mill workplace dynamics.

Yes, We Are Duly Concerned With Calamitous Events creates a humorous look at the kind-of end of the world through a group of dysfunctional office coworkers.

Homecoming is a heartfelt examination of the choices we make in life and the consequences we face after.

These are just a selection of my favorites from the collection. These stories made me think and all had deep emotional connections. Many had open endings creating a world of imagination for the characters when I was done reading

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

THE LESSER HORSEMEN

Call Him whatever you want: The Good Lord, Jehovah, Yahweh, The Beginning and The End, God; we loved Him and we feared Him, and perhaps it was intentional but when He was in human form, we were also a bit disgusted by Him. Disgusted because He seemed, in all honesty, like a cad. A scumbag. Seemed, in fact, to revel in it. To become so abjectly the type of man who sucked his teeth and followed with his small and shiny doll eyes as young girls passed by on the street, his hand in his pocket; the type who relieved himself at bus stops and shouldered old ladies aside for a better seat somewhere; a man who when in restaurants left very small tips, in coins, as some kind of statement. A man who stank of cheap cologne and had hair, probably, riding up his back in the shape of a Spanish moss.
Our palaver had long become toxic.
The handouts He gave us featured a smiling cruise ship amid a cobalt sea, a smiling sun perched above, and smiling clouds scattered around. There was even, I saw, a smiling seagull perched on the deck’s railing. He sold it to us as part vacation, part team-building exercise. He used those exact words. His office sat across the street from the methadone program they ran out of St. Joe’s, and you could see the clusters of addicts hanging out, bullshitting out front after they’d gotten their dose, people loose-limbed in the sun and happy now to be alive again.
It was a five-night, six-day cruise from Portland to Glacier Bay, Alaska, He said. “Real nice. All the amenities. Shuffleboard, Wi-Fi, breakfast buffet. They even got a little paintballing gallery below deck. You guys can get some of your aggressions out, shoot each other in the beanbags and whatnot.”
“This an optional trip?” I asked, and the Good Lord laughed.
Famine said, “Death isn’t coming, I take it.”
“Don’t worry about Death,” He said.
There were four of us, of course, but you’d never know it—Death for millennia now on his own trip, the three of us continually left in his wake.
War said, “Don’t worry about him? And that means what, exactly?” and the Good Lord fixed him with a warning look. Quick enough, but filled with that terrible distance that none of us, not even Death on his best day, could come close to matching.
He pointed a finger at the three of us. “Listen. Death isn’t the problem here, okay? You dicks got me?”
Was I pissed, hearing this? I mean, do I even have to say it? When had Death ever been a problem, right? No, the impetus was always on us, the fractured thirds. This trio of recalcitrance.
War couldn’t help himself; he snorted contemptuously, exhaled a cloud of anthrax that settled on his shoulders like dandruff.
The Good Lord popped a butterscotch candy into his mouth, cracked it like a femur between his teeth. He shook His head. “Nah, it’s you three I have issues with. The sniping, okay? The constant infighting. It showcases a serious lack of cohesion as a department, is what I’m saying. Even now? Handing Me this attitude? It’s bullcrap, is what. So here’s the deal: you go on the cruise, you eat some tacos, play some bocce ball, whatever. And do these team-building exercises. Learn to trust each other again. Talk it out. Because as it stands now, you’re just straight up screwing the brand, okay? You’ve become ineffective.”
“Except for Death,” Famine muttered, toeing the carpet with a duct-taped high top.
“You’re goddamn right except for Death!” the Good Lord roared, and slapped his desk hard enough to make his coffee cup jump. The addicts across the street, without knowing why, suddenly remembered pressing engagements and drifted away. All of them unanimously stricken with unease. This one little outburst and I could imagine all too well a mine collapse in some crumbling shithole town in Kentucky somewhere, a tsunami or mudslide enveloping some poor third-world enclave, thousands of bodies snuffed to lifelessness within moments. It wasn’t a heartlessness—you could say a lot of things about Him, but the guy felt everything very strongly, was seized at times with feelings—but there was, what seemed to me at least, an unawareness of environment or consequence that could sometimes be construed as cruel or uncaring.
Then again, he was the Divine Creator and I was but one quarter of the Great Cessation—and a low-ranking one at that—so what the hell did I know?
He said, “Enough about Death already,” glaring at us again while he sopped up his coffee spill with napkins. He ran a pudgy hand over the errant hairs on his dome and smoothed down his wrinkled tie. “Now I want you to get on that boat, and I want you to relax. Look at how pretty the water is and shit like that. But above all: Drop the attitude and learn to work together. Because if you don’t, what’s the saying? How’s the saying go?”
“We perish alone?” Famine offered weakly.
The Good Lord leveled a stubby finger at him. He smiled at us for the first time that day, showing rows of butter-colored teeth. “That’s it. Exactly. You work together or you perish the hell alone.”

• • •

We stepped outside as knives of sunlight winked off every glassed thing on the street. The stink of exhaust enveloped us. Sewage warming in the gutters brought out the scents of the human soufflé: piss, heated blacktop, burnt plastic.
Famine hiked his jeans up—we had our trappings, each of us, our strange cosmic shortcomings that kept us tethered here, not nearly human but certainly more than ideas, and Famine’s was, obviously, his constant hunger. Not so obvious was that he could never find a fucking belt that fit him. He took off down the avenue muttering something about an all-you-can-eat bouillabaisse shop on Mississippi, the cuffs of his pants scraping the ground, arms wrinkled and red at the elbows, striding along with one hand bunching the acid-washed fabric at his waist.
War folded his cruise handout and sighed, squinting at the empty street. “We leave in three hours? Man, He’s not dicking around.”
“He’s not known for that, is He?”
“True. Guess I better go grab my gear,” he said, and then paused. He seemed poised for some comradely dig, but we were long past it. Centuries, at least. “See you on the boat,” he managed.
The Good Lord certainly had a point. I could admit that. We’d long since become fractious, four different arrows arcing toward four different targets at four different times. No harmony, no shared intention. There had been a time when that was not the case, but now? Only Death was constant.
The Good Lord was staring at me through the window, his hands cinched over his little stovepot of a belly. He raised a hand and shooed me along, the look in his eyes absolutely flat, dead as deep space.
I went home to pack.

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