Books & Writing

Jen-Zen and the One Shoe Diaries

SynergEbooks.com (December 2007, ISBN 9780744313918, 0744313910)

Brad Lynberry is a successful photographer who is haunted by the memory of Jen-Zen, the woman he loves. When he finds himself first fascinated then obsessed with lost shoes, Brad’s sister wonders if he’s driven by artistic inspiration or if he’s going off the deep end.  The answer comes through encounters with his Grandma who loves birds; a shaman named Red Hawk who tells him to look in the shadows; and Jonathan the art collector, who leads him to Swansea where lost shoes keep popping up in a display of whimsy. Time is running out. Brad must unravel Jen-Zen’s poetic riddles or go mad trying.

“Haunting and hypnotic, Shapiro's debut novel will long linger in the reader's mind. Jen-Zen illuminates the beauty to be found in the dark vacuum of unfathomable personal loss, and inspires.” 

~ Michael Steven Gregory, Executive director of the Southern California Writers Conference

"Jen Zen and the One Shoe Diaries is a far-reaching story full of lyrical beauty...It’s part mystery, part poetry. It has elements of magic realism and surrealism. Author Julie Ann Shapiro has a knack for capturing the essence of relationships and all their uncertainties. At times, Brad’s relationships (with Jen Zen, his grandmother, mother and sister) are a comfort. Other times they are a web, ready to ensnare him. In the end, he learns to see life from his own perspective, without the comfort of a camera’s lens to distort it, and he realizes that the challenge of a relationship is what makes it worthwhile."

~Kim McDougall, Editor, Between The Cracks

"This is a singular book, original in voice, thoughtful in tone. The shoes seem to be telling Brad something. Jen-Zen has had an accident and is trying to communicate from somewhere beyond. Can Brad use his photographer’s art to rescue his true love?”

~ Scott Barnes, Editor NewMyths.com

"It starts with a harrowing ordeal that challenges Brad's emotional well-being and is soon transformed into a riveting mystery. A whimsical romp following a trail of single shoes culminates into an extraordinary journey into the human heart."

~Mark Lagamayo, Amazon Reviewer

Read this magical and quirky book. Don't be surprised if you start looking at stray shoes on the side of the road and discovering new sources of wonder in the world around you.

Purchase the novel online at SynergEbooks, Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Fictionwise, MobiPocket and other distributors. Available in paperback, ebook and CD-Rom.

Read an excerpt of chapter one and chapter five or take a sneak peak at Brad's dharma of shoes and Jen-Zen's mysterious poetic musings. Learn the fascinating Deja-vu-like back story of Jen-Zen and the One Shoe Diaries.

Upcoming

Flashes of the Other World

SynergEbooks, will re-release the short story collection, Flashes of the Other World, next fall, and it will be a bonus-sized version, including 30% more stories than the prior version published in 2006 by Pulp Bits.

Flashes of the Other World is a quirky collection where magic realism, traumas and the absurd meet. From talking spirits to wine bottles and dimes that have their say it’s one wild, surreal world. Relationships are spun on their sides and inside out as characters delve into the murk of life and grapple with their pain, obsessions and their very sanity.

New Stories/Essays Published

Dialer Spell, Jen-Zen and the One Shoe Diaries Novel Excerpt, Crackling Flames, Summer Flip Flops, Elvis and the Elephants. Idiocy of Mary Cartright, Vertigo and 3 Am Whistle.

Additional stories will be appearing in Fiction Flyer and Mississippi Crow.

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