We Are Ugly But We Have the Music – Sunset, Tuesday, 21 October 2014

William Van Doren, WE ARE UGLY BUT WE HAVE THE MUSIC. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on canvas, 18 x 24.

47 Minutes on Christmas Eve – Chapters Being Posted for Free Reading and Comment

I’ve posted the opening chapter of 47 Minutes on Christmas Eve on WEbook, and will soon start adding a new chapter each day. Enjoy! and ... please take the opportunity to comment.

7 Minutes on Christmas Day

My crazy (i.e., 6:40 a.m.) but fun Christmas Day interview on WINA 1070 Charlottesville. Hosts were Wendy Edwards and Bruce Edmonds. The subject: 47 Minutes on Christmas Eve.

Radio Interview – 47 Minutes on Christmas Eve

If you’re up and about at 6:40 a.m. EST Christmas Day, and you find yourself thinking, “Wow, what I’d really like to do is listen to Bill Van Doren on the radio!” – you're in luck. Go to the home page for WINA radio (1070 AM in Charlottesville, Va.) and click on LISTEN LIVE. I’ll be talking with Wendy Edwards on the Sunday Morning News about my book, 47 Minutes on Christmas Eve.

47 Minutes on Christmas Eve (First Reviews)

“A magical tale of redemption.” (The Hook, Charlottesville, Va.)

“A surreal holiday fable . . . part Alice in Wonderland and part It’s a Wonderful Life.” (Virginia Living)

“47 Minutes is a thin book, but deep; short, but memorable. Take the time to savor its words and surreal images and its powerful, timely message for our rushed and stuffed society: ’tis, indeed, the gift to be simple.” (John de Graaf, co-author, Affluenza; director, the Happiness Initiative)

 “A gift that will endure through the years.” (Lynchburg, Va., Ledger)

47 Minutes on Christmas Eve

I’m very happy to say that 47 Minutes on Christmas Eve – my “little red book” – is now available, here.

BOOK DESCRIPTION/EDITORIAL REVIEWS

Too much work — not enough time. Too much worry — not enough joy. Too much living online — not enough living. These familiar problems plunge the narrator of 47 Minutes on Christmas Eve into crisis — and guide him into a dazzling series of encounters with a surprising, inspiring conclusion. 47 Minutes on Christmas Eve, “a surreal holiday fable, part Alice in Wonderland and part It’s a Wonderful Life” (Virginia Living magazine), is “a magical tale of redemption” (The Hook, Charlottesville, Va.) and “a gift that will endure through the years” (Lynchburg, Va., Ledger). In his advance review, John de Graaf, bestselling author of Affluenza and director of the Happiness Initiative, writes, “47 Minutes is a thin book, but deep; short, but memorable. Take the time to savor its words and surreal images and its powerful, timely message for our rushed and stuffed society: ’tis, indeed, the gift to be simple.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

William Van Doren worked in New York and Los Angeles as an editor, ghostwriter, artist and designer before returning to his home state of Virginia. While he was an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University, Van Doren edited and published The Diode and rewrote two early issues of Reason magazine. As a literary agency editor in New York, he handled the work of Norman Mailer, Arthur C. Clarke, Dean R. Koontz and many others, and edited the Scott Meredith classic Writing to Sell. In Los Angeles, he created the influential experimental magazine The Wall Paper. His prize-winning ultra short story, “The Last Page of My Great American Novel,” has been published in Streetlight. As an artist, he has been painting the sunset since 1995 and currently posts each day’s sunset at momentandhorizon.com. 47 Minutes on Christmas Eve is the first book to appear under his own name.