Love Will Make You Drink And Gamble, Stay Out Late At Night by Shelly Lowenkopf Review, Guest Post, & Giveaway

Publisher: White Whisker Books (June 6, 2014)
Category: Short Stories, Literary Fiction
ISBN: 978-0-9836329-8-6
Tour Date: May/June, 2014
Available in: Print and ebook, 186 Pages

Love Will Make You Drink and Gamble, Stay Out Late at Night brings a number of Shelly Lowenkopf’s previously published short stories together in a single volume. All the stories revolve around life in Santa Barbara, the oceanside city north of Los Angeles, where people go after they’ve burned out in San Francisco and L.A. Yet there’s no safe haven anywhere. Interwoven into Santa Barbara’s picturesque setting, the people in these twelve stories reveal what their hearts and souls encounter in relationships. Their misreadings, mistakes, and misadventures bare what happens to people who love another.

“Shelly Lowenkopf’s short stories breathe gusts of fresh air into the often stuffy literary atmosphere,” says poet Charles Harper Webb (Liver). “Witty, urbane, sharply observed, insightful, mordant yet poignant and absolutely entertaining, these stories touch the funny bone as well as the heart. Readers have had to wait too long for this collection. Grab it now.”

“Shelly Lowenkopf is a gifted, humane story-teller,” adds author Aram Saroyan (Rancho Mirage). “Love Will Make You Drink and Gamble, Stay Out Late at Night is a delight.”

Other Praise for the Book:

“Shelly Lowenkopf’s collection of short stories, Love Will Make You Drink and Gamble, Stay Out Late at Night, is a celebration of the strength, the vulnerability and the absurdity of the human heart. In their need to connect, Lowenkopf’s characters are driven to the extreme: a man falls in love with his best friend’s dog; a waitress tries to understand a hook-up with a pianist by listening to music she doesn’t understand; a professor’s thwarted but hilarious attempt to make sure he won’t die alone. Lowenkopf’s delightful stories will leave the reader nodding and smiling in recognition.”—author Melodie Johnson Howe(City of Mirrors)

 “Lowenkopf unveils Santa Barbara’s passions with clever tales about men and women (and cats and dogs) that surprise and delight. Subtle humor mixes with the loneliness and desire, but we laugh with the characters, not at them, because we see ourselves in these people. In the stories of Shelly Lowenkopf, we remember that love is life—long live love.”—author Manuel Ramos (Desperado)

“Shelly Lowenkopf is a master of the art of stealth in fiction. His writing draws you in and then, ka-pow! Here comes the sucker punch that flattens you.” —author David Gillham(City of Women)

About Shelly LowenKopf:

Shelly Lowenkopf taught in the University of Southern California’s
Master of Professional Writing Program for 34 years, has taught at the annual Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference since 1980, and has been guest lecturer in many schools and conferences.

He is currently Visiting Professor at the College of Creative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, with classes in noir fiction, the modern short story, genre fiction, and developing a literary voice. Mr. Lowenkopf has served as editorial director for literary, general trade, mass market, and scholarly book publishers, seeing over 500 books through the editorial and production process. His own short fiction has appeared widely in the literary press. He is author of the popular The Fiction Writer’s Handbook.

Website: http://www.lowenkopf.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lowenkopf 
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shelly.lowenkopf

Guest Post:

From:  Shelly Lowenkopf, Love Will Make You Drink and Gamble

There is an argument that the short story’s popularity comes from the fact that it can—and should—be read in one sitting.  As an argument, this is close—but no cigar.

There is yet another argument, in which the short story was the inevitable clash of MTV, the rapid-fire humor of Laugh-In, and the shortening of America’s attention span.  Like the Wright Brothers’ early attempts, this flies, but not far.

The short story has stood on its own for a long time, pretty much the way miniatures have stood on their own in painting and drawing.  By their definition, they tell a story, which is to say, they evoke an emotion.  Sometimes, they evoke several emotions.

Which brings us to a point.  Novels had better evoke emotions or they don’t earn their keep.  But the kinds of emotions novels evoke are those where some sort of change is in the picture.  To keep things simple, let’s say a good recipe for a novel is, “Something happens.  Someone changes.”

The short story doesn’t have time to mess with change; it is right there in your face, maybe even spraying some crumbs on your shirt.  I know—gross.  But I got your attention.  A short story from a gifted writer will get your attention.  In the bargain, it will make you supply the after-the-fact change, the one that comes in your mind as you reflect on it.

The short story doesn’t have time to mess around with explanations or observe Marquis of Queensbury fighting rules; it throws sucker punches.  And they connect.

Let’s take an example, one you can find online.  Katherine Mansfield’s “Bliss,” first published nearly a hundred years ago, in 1918.  Humor me.  Read it by clicking here.  Such a story could have made the grade in today’s paradigms of short story venues, The Paris Review, The New Yorker, or Tin House.  Read it to see the way Mansfield sets you up in the opening paragraphs to the point where you might even begin rooting for the protagonist to be taken down because she is so happy, so very happy.

Read “Bliss” with slow care, and you’ll see themes emerging that people didn’t talk much about a hundred years ago.  Then you’ll come to a payoff, a simple, two-word question, “Now what?”  One way or another, you’ll know, now what.  You’ll understand why she chose the title she did, and how she managed to slip in some elements people would have thought creepy, until they saw how Mansfield caught more than the voice of her age—she caught the voices of living, breathing people.

Short stories have been knocking people on their asses for some time, starting at least with Poe’s short story, “A Cask of Amontillado,” which may have been your introduction to the format, or Jack London’s “To Build a Fire,” which, when you think of it, makes you want another blanket.

Tell you what.  Read ten novels, then read ten short stories.  Then ask yourself, which do you remember?

My Review:

I loved the look into Santa Barbara. I loved that there were so many different quirky characters and that the author related them all to the human heart. We are all unique and we all love differently. The author touched on so many different kinds of love. There was a couple looking for a father for their baby, the love of a pet, and so much more. The stories are short, and well written. They made me want to know more about these people. I was also really glad that the author was able to weave comedy and sincerity into the characters. I definitely recommend these stories and can not wait to read more from this author. I am giving this book a 5/5. I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own.

Follow The Tour:

So Many Precious Books May 8 Review & Giveaway
Carole Rae’s Random Ramblings May 13 Review
Second Book to the Right May 14 Guest Post
Girl with her Head in a Book May 16 Review
Girl with her Head in a Book May 16 Interview
Cassandra M’s Place May 20 Review&Giveaway
Toot’s Book Reviews May 23  Spotlight
Open Book Society May 26 Review
Paranormal Book Club ( PBC) May 28 Interview & Giveaway
Paranormal Romance & Authors May 30 Review
The New In Books June 3 Review
The New In Books Interview
Inspire to Read June 4 Review
Inspire to Read June 5 Guest Post
She Treads Softly June 6 Review
Tabula Rasa June 10 Review
From L.A. to LA June 13 Review & Giveaway
Ordinary Girlz BookRreviews June 16 Review
Mary’s Cup of Tea June 18 Review
Little Whimsy Books June 18 Interview & Giveaway (Postponed)
The Book Chick Blog June 19 Review
Svetlana’s Reads and Views June 20 Review
Deal Sharing Aunt June 23 Review
Deal Sharing Aunt June 23 Guest Post & Giveaway

Giveaway:

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