Here is a new Big Easy review from a reviewer for ForeWord CLARION Review.  I hope it will whet your appetite for a literary trip to the Crescent City.  The book is available on the web at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Gondwana Press, Lulu, and many other places.  http://www.gondwanapress.com

FICTION: MYSTERY

Big Easy

Eric Wilder

Lulu.com / Gondwana Press

Softcover, $21.95

337 pages

ISBN: 9781847283382

Three stars

Forget it, Jake -- it's Chinatown. —Robert Towne, Chinatown screenplay, 1973

Not far into Eric Wilder’s New Orleans crime and voodoo novel, Big Easy, the underlying structure begins to strongly suggest that of a screenplay. Utilizing cinematic elements such as definite division of acts, major plot points as foundational anchors and a visual emphasis, the story materializes as a loose homage to one film in particular—a choice largely to do with mood and inspiration. Thankfully the picture in question is of top quality and isn’t Gigli or Ernest Goes to Camp.

This book is rich in Nawlins-specific content which informs the plot and stimulates the senses. Hurricane Katrina has left a lingering residue: “...the smell of garbage, dead fish and mildew.” Still, the place remains a unique showcase for great food and rolling good times. But the resurrected, half-empty Big Easy is still a dangerous place. There are no Puritans left in town. Homeless women are being ritualistically killed and NOPD detective Tony Nicosia with Wyatt Thomas, a teetotaler of nebulous profession living in a bar, must determine who’s responsible.

Tulane literature professor and mambo priestess Mama Mulate is a fount of information and an untraditional love interest. Wyatt is attracted to both Mama and Celeste Duples, the innocent out-of-town visitor who is reminiscent of Chinatown’s Katherine Mulwray. Mama and Celeste, very drunk in thin nighties, playfully tease the extremely married Nicosia in an amusing scene: “’I love you ladies but you’re not only going to get me fired, you’re going to get me killed. Please have mercy. I’m too weak to resist.’

Cuervo, ganja and Nicosia’s words sent the two gorgeous women into yet another fit of laughter.”

Big Easy place descriptions are authentic, the dialogue is often witty, and the copy is pretty clean. When the characters go to dinner, readers will get hungry. Voodoo sequences seems to reflect a native knowledge. Mama Mulate’s fast cycles of anger and apology are a bit irrational. The author chooses to tell this story from mixed points of view. Wyatt’s sections are first person, all others are third person with varying degrees of omniscience. The focus is divided, the true center is challenging to pin down. Neither Wyatt’s threads nor Nicosia’s dominate the story enough to declare one the definite protagonist.

Eric Wilder is a petroleum geologist in Oklahoma who hails from Louisiana. He’s published five works of fiction, including Ghost of a Chance, and a volume of poetry. Readers with an affinity for this book’s characters can reconnect with several of them in Wilder’s short story collection, Murder Étouffée. The author may be positioning himself for a shot at Hollywood. He already knows what to say to someone disillusioned by a milieu of mysticism and corruption: “Forget about it Wyatt. It’s the Big Easy.”

Reviewed by Todd Mercer

Temperatures are dropping and oil and gas prices are rising.  Check out this article and find out why.

Bloomberg.com: Energy

Bloomberg.com: Energy

A thick coat of solid ice still covers central Oklahoma after three days.  Temperatures briefly exceeded 32 degrees today but did nothing to melt the ice.  Weather forecasters are predicting a new storm beginning Friday night that will drop 5” to 10” of snow, further exacerbating a winter season that is already proving to be colder than the last bad winter of 1983.

The rest of the nation is also in the throes of its own cold snap.  While oil and natural gas prices have dropped, of late, this extended freezing weather will undoubtably put a dent in the Nation’s oil and gas storage, further complicating the game of cat and mouse refiners, producers and traders must play.

http://www.ericwilder.com

Southwest Arkansas, the area where I wrote my geologic master’s thesis, is rife with structural faults that extend all the way to the surface. Still, for those that have visited southwest Arkansas, they know that trees and undergrowth there cover practically everything. This means that surface faults are difficult to locate and to map. Modern technology such as side-looking radar, Landsat, and even aerial photos help alleviate this problem, but what did early explorers and prospectors do to locate and map these faults before this technology existed? Well, they consulted Mother Nature.

You gardeners know that plants and trees prefer specific chemistries in the soil they occupy. Pine trees like a particular acidity, oaks something totally different. Smart prospectors and savvy field geologists still use this very basic bit of information to their advantage.

How does it work? In southwest Arkansas, many near-vertical reverse faults often extend to the surface. For those that understand about the structural mechanism of faulting, they know faults often separate rock of different ages and chemical composition. Side "A" might comprise an acidic soil, Side "B" more alkaline. Pines, that may prefer a more acid soil, would grow to the very edge of the fault on Side "A", and then stop. Oaks like more alkaline soil and would prosper on Side "B" right up to the edge of the fault line. The result is an abrupt change in vegetation that alerts explorers that a surface fault is present.

Prospectors and field geologists are trained to notice these "tree-line faults." Next time you are on a field trip, check it out.

http://ericwilder.com

I am a writer, but also a scientist of the earth.  As such, I am extremely interested in earthquakes, and their effect on our lives.  Having lived most of my life in a structurally stable region of the country, I have never experienced an earthquake firsthand.  Many others have, and I've heard their stories with great interest.  Today, in my blog Just East of Eden, I posted a series of e-mails from two "predictors."  What is a predictor?  Well, it's a person that can predict an earthquake before it happens.  Don't believe such people exist?  I'm skeptical myself, but check out the post and you may change your mind.  Hey, I'd like to hear your opinion.  Let me know.  Eric

http://www.ericwilder.com

Roy and I managed to complete our mapping project without killing each other.  There was, however, one further traumatic occurrence that summer.  We had separated in order to double our mapping efficiency, having agreed to meet at the confluence of two creeks at twelve to compare notes and eat our bologna sandwiches.  As noon approached, I hurried to our proposed rendezvous.  There I got huge surprise, and I do mean huge.

Roy was in the upper branches of a tree, beneath him a large and very angry Arkansas razorback.  Not knowing what to do, I did nothing, except to crawl up on a rock and wait, that is.  After an hour or so, the huge sow abandoned her treed prey and trotted off to check on her brood of restless piglets.

Roy was not a happy camper when he finally descended from the tree.  “Why didn’t you do something?” he demanded.

“Like what?” I asked.

Roy had no answer.  Despite the razorback, rattlesnakes, and an often angry professor, we both managed to pass the course.  Neither of us got an A, or even Bs.  Still, we felt relieved as we drove away from that isolated farmhouse for the last time.  We finally made it home after a slight altercation with the State Police concerning stolen headstones, but that’s another story.

http://www.ericwilder.com  http://www.gondwanapress.com

Release Source:  Gondwana Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Edmond, OK—January 6, 2007— Gondwana Press is pleased to announce the long-awaited release of the novel Big Easy by author Eric Wilder.

Lust, murder, and voodoo amid the backdrop of post-Katrina New Orleans.

Someone is killing street people in New Orleans, and the murders threaten to stifle the City’s delicate recovery process following killer hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  Homicide detective Tony Nicosia suspects the practice of voodoo is somehow involved in the killings.  He enlists the help of local expert Wyatt Thomas and his partner Mama Mulate.  Thomas is the “go to” man for esoteric French Quarter information, Mama Mulate a professor of English literature at Tulane University.  She is also an authentic voodoo mambo.

Author of Murder Etouffee, Prairie Sunset and A Gathering of Diamonds, Eric Wilder has penned his most suspenseful novel yet.  A Louisiana native, Wilder places the reader directly on dark French Quarter streets, beneath lacy ferns and filigree ironwork.  “A must read,” Heather Froeschl of Bookreview.com writes.  “A murder mystery with a deliciously dark side - I loved it!”

Link to Publication*:  http://www.gondwanapress.com

ABOUT AUTHOR

Native of Louisiana, Eric Wilder now lives and writes in Edmond, Oklahoma.  The author of six other books, Wilder is a noted energy expert, and a scholar on events of historical significance that occurred in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana.

ABOUT GONWANA         

Founded in 2006, Gondwana Press is a small regional publisher seeking to expand the bounds of both knowledge and entertainment.

# # #

MEDIA CONTACT:  Shane Bohl, bohlstbs@sbcglobal.net.

There exists an escarpment on a mountain side in eastern Oklahoma.  A large rock, carved around 1000 A.D., is the only remaining sign that someone, possibly of Norse origin, once occupied the escarpment.  The rock, now known as the Heavener Runestone, marks Oklahoma’s Runestone State Park.

http://www.ericwilder.com

Before the written word, there was only word of mouth. Unfortunately, oral history is often lost forever, or progresses beyond the bounds of reality to enter the realm of lore and legend. It is absolutely true that many important circumstances occurred that were never recorded. Often, only mysterious artifacts remain that possibly foretell significant historical events. Oklahoma has such a mysterious artifact. It is located in eastern Oklahoma, close to the Arkansas border, near the tiny mountain town of Heavener. It is now know as the Heavener Runestone.

Discovered in 1874, the Heavener Runestone is a large slab of rock that bears eight letters identified as Norse Runes. There is little controversy as to the origin of the runes. According to popular conjecture, Vikings visited Oklahoma somewhere between 700 to 1000 A.D. A Danish scholar has translated the Heavener Runestone as a land claim by a man named Glome. Four other runestones have since been located in Oklahoma.

What does all this mean? The facts are so sparse, that perhaps they lend themselves only to the dangerous imagination of a dedicated (or possibly demented) fiction writer. Since I fall into at least one of these categories, here is my picture (albeit fictional) of the Runestone’s origin:

By 874 A.D., people of Norse origin had begun colonizing Iceland. Continuing their westward quest, they reached Greenland in 984 A.D. Still hungry for colonization, these people wanted more. Sometime after 984 A.D., a lone Viking longboat powered by oar and sail headed south. These fifteen, or so, explorers soon encountered the east coast of what would eventually be known as the United States. They continued sailing south, stopping only periodically to gather food and water. They didn’t stop for long because they were looking for something.

What were they looking for? A large estuary of fiord. Why? Because the shallow draught of a longboat almost perfectly lent itself to the exploration of shallow and narrow waterways. It needed no harbor, and was light enough to pull ashore and be carried overland, should the need occur. The Norse explorers finally found this estuary at the mouth of the Mississippi River, some 5,000 miles from the place where they had embarked. Their trip to that point had taken three months.

The explorers continued up the Mississippi River until they reached the confluence with the Red River. There, they continued their journey up the smaller waterway instead of continuing north on the Mississippi. Why? Because the narrowing river signaled to these ancient mariners that, like their faraway homes in Norway and Denmark, they were possibly nearing a settlement.

The Norsemen continued up the Red, a journey taking another month, or so, until they reached what is now southeast Oklahoma. There they stopped because the gnarly, highly dissected Ouachita Mountains reminded them of their own Nordic homeland. Also, it was probably as far as their longboat could take them. By now it was fall. Exhausted from their arduous journey, the explorers established a base camp, intent on weathering the coming winter.

These early Norse explorers were a hardy lot, used to long sea journeys. This trip, though, had taken its toll, possibly because of periodic contact with inhospitable Native Americans. This is likely because many tribes, many of them hostile, settled along the waterways traversed by the explorers. When they finally reached southeast Oklahoma, only 10 Norsemen remained.

Somewhere in the wilds of southeast Oklahoma, the remnants of a Norse settlement remains, still waiting to be found. When spring finally arrived, there was not enough men left to crew the longboat on its trip back to Greenland. Six men decided to try anyway and abandoned their settlement. After saying their final farewells, they started their trip downstream, toward the mouth of the mighty Mississippi River.

Three men remained, one of them named Glome. They headed due north, looking for that elusive Viking settlement they hoped in their hearts might exist. Although they never found the settlement, they soon found the peaceful valley where the tiny town of Heavener is now located. On a flat spot on the way to the top of Heavener Mountain, they rested. From this vantage, they could see the entire valley below. There was game in the mountains and fish in the streams. From there, they felt safe and established a base camp.

Two of the men soon departed, continuing their quest, while Glome waited behind on his mountain-top vantage point. During his time alone, he marked his stay with what is now the Heavener Runestone. His two companions never returned, but marked other rocks along the way to mark their journey.

All six Norse explorers that left in the longboat made it to the mouth of the Mississippi River, into the Gulf of Mexico where a seasonal hurricane forever ended their journey. Glome and the other two Vikings lived out their lives in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas. Did they prosper, or were their lives fraught with danger? No one can say, but next time you see a person with bronzed skin, high cheekbones and blue eyes, I hope that it gives you cause to ponder the question.

http://www.ericwilder.com

Just outside of Mulhaul, Oklahoma, winding blacktop mimics the course of Beaver Creek, finally crossing it on the time-weakened backbone of an aging edifice.  Framed by the bridge’s rusty abutments, a lonely pumping unit siphons oil from a half-empty fountain situated deep within Mother Earth.

http://www.ericwilder.com

I recently discovered a wonderful book titled A History of Navigation on Cypress Bayou and the Lakes.  This 822 page book, written by Jacques D. Bagur, was published by University of North Texas Press in 2001.  As a person intensely interested in the area encompassing Caddo Lake, I am finding this thoroughly researched work not only invaluable, but often the only place to turn for information about the lake.  Little is known, for instance, of a stop on Caddo Lake known as Port Caddo.  A check of the internet will find few references of this tiny ghost town.  While still largely shrouded in mystery, Port Caddo gains a reality and a location in Bagur's book.  Although slightly expensive because it is so big, A History of Navigation on Cypress Bayou and the Lakes is well researched, easy to read, hard to put down, and very interesting.  I highly recommend that every Caddophile obtain a copy of this book.

http://www.ericwilder.com