Snap Me a Future

By Connie Gotsch

     If a fan is someone who's read every published work of an author, then I guess I qualify now that I've read both Connie Gotsch's first novel, A Mouth Full of Shell, available as a paperback as well as an e-book, and now Snap Me a Future.

     Gotsch's new book is available only as an e-book and though I have a nonfiction e-book out and have used e-books as promotional tools, I am not fond of reading a whole novel on a screen. Snap Me a Future was well worth the trouble because Connie Gotsch uses a wealth of life experience (or research!) to flesh out her work. When a reader turns the last page she walks away with a picture of a place (in this case the four corners area full of desert and ancient Indian archaeological sites) and more than a taste of one profession or another (in this case three public relations, newspaper reporting, and photography). When one reads a novel, one expects to be caught up in a good story and one hopes for good characterization, but to feel more knowledgeable as well is a nice bonus.

      Speaking of characterization, this book is full of special people. My favorite is the semi-villain. Good old Charlie is a drunk wrestling with his own denial about sobriety and an unrequited crush on the protagonist, Shelby McCoy. He is also a "potter," a new term for me. It means he steals pots from Indian sites and anyone interested in antiquities would want him punished. Gotsch makes him so dreadful that we want him caught, so human that we have compassion for his frailties. This is just one example of this writer's skill with story telling.

     Back to that e-book thing. The advantage, of course, is the price. We could buy three or four of Gotsch's books at $4.95 for the price of only one hardcover from a bookstore. Gotsch is not only making a fan of me but convincing me of the benefits of reading e-books. She's going to have to write fast, though, because I went through this nice, fat e-book in a couple of evenings. May she have a long, prolific career publishing in any format her little heart desires.