Words with... Paul Swearingen

Thanks to Paul Swearingen for this interview

How long have you been writing?

I’ve freelanced since the mid-70s off and on, all non-fiction articles and magazine columns, and I published a radio club magazine for 22 years, until a year ago September. Although I wrote some SF in the late 70s and submitted to various SF magazines (my handwritten rejection notes from George Scithers are prized possessions), I really didn’t start writing fiction again until about 1997.

Do you have a day job or do you write for a living?

I am a retired high school English teacher. I also taught journalism and Spanish, and I’ve worked in radio (most of the time as a radio newsman), as a personnel manager for a large department store, in sales, and in various other areas, including as a telemarketer and as a cemetery lot salesman.

What do you feel is the ideal recipe for a good novel/story/poem?

Make the reader hate or love the main character from the first paragraph, then throw him or her down the stairs so the reader can watch his/her reactions.

What/who inspired you to write and still inspires you?

I had many ‘favourite’ authors who inspired me early on and still do, but Mark Twain would have to be my enduring favorite.

What books have you written? Do you stick to one genre?

At least for now, I write YA fiction, having spent most of my life with teenagers. The five loosely-related novels in the ‘High School Series’ deal with teenage life in high school, of course, although the last two in the series spend more time outside of the school environment than in. I’ve also written another book that is set in 1967, and involves the betrayal and survival of a teenager in a tornado; a second that is set in 1918 against the backdrop of the ‘Great War’ and the influenza pandemic; and a third that is a post-apocalyptic tale of the survival of young people. All are set in Kansas.

How long did it take you to write your book/s?

The first, and also the first in the High School Series, took about six years, not counting later revisions. The shortest, #4 in the high school series, took eight days – it was my second Nanowrimo effort.

How long did it take you to get published? Did you take the traditional route or DIY?

I decided that I wanted to be able to concentrate on the three unpublished novels, so I took the short-cut, DIY method, and uploaded the five High School Series books to Smashwords on January 1, 2011. I’m continuing the traditional route in trying to attract an agent to the other three novels.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers/those just starting out?

Follow your own inner voice, the one that tells you never to give up, but don’t be afraid to ask for advice from experienced writers and editors. Write as much as you can and realise that your first book probably won’t be published, at least not in a traditional method. But, the more you write, the more likely your writing will improve to the point that you will find an agent and a publisher.

Do you have any works in progress?

Yes, the post-apocalyptic novel. I may not come up with an idea for this year’s Nanowrimo novel until October 31, as I did last year’s effort.

Which character from your books do you like most/are most like?

I like the characters who are most unlike myself. In fact, I find it more difficult to write about male characters; I’ve always had a problem with being able to separate my own personality and attributes from my male characters. Three of my main characters are male, five female.

Where and when do you write – do you have set times during which you write or is it just when the mood takes you?

During Nanowrimo I flip on the self-discipline switch and write every day from eight to six, less a half-hour or so for lunch, until the novel in progress is finished. My first Nanonovel was finished in fifteen days, the second eight, and the third about 21. Otherwise, I write when I can carve out an uninterrupted couple of hours per day, so an ‘average’ novel may take about four or five months to complete.

Marketing – the bane of self-publishers – how do you find the experience? Do you have any marketing advice for other writers? Do you use a blog or twitter, etc?

I don’t blog or tweet; I feel that writing activities other than those used to produce my novels tend to dilute my efforts. I do try to keep my name and work visible in various places online, however, and this coming week I am going to try to set up a book promotion with a local, large chain bookstore.

Some of your fave things... Animal? Food? Drink? Film? Colour? Band? Song? Place to chill out?

I like to listen to older folk music when I write (thank you, Pandora!). To keep me from becoming as one with my chair though, I do a lot of gardening and yard work. Mexican and Thai food are my two favourites. Green is my favourite colour, and if I ever am able to sign autographs it will be in forest green ink with my favorite Parker 51 fountain pen.

One day you’re walking in the forest and you bump into an alien librarian from Mars. He wants five book recommendations from you…

The Call of the Sea – Jan de Hartog

Andersonville – Mackinlay Kantor

The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter – Mario Vargas Llosa

Parnassus on Wheels – Christopher Morley

Which book do you wish you had written?

The Pied Piper – Nevil Shute

Who is your favourite character from any book and why?

Hugh Lofting’s Dr Doolittle (and NOT the movie version).

Which three authors (living or not) would you like to take to the pub?

Mark Twain, Eudora Welty, Walter R. Brooks. I’d also like to take Bela Lugosi, but I don’t believe he wrote enough to qualify himself as a writer.

What other hobbies/interests do you have or has writing taken over?

Writing is certainly at the forefront, but I’m still involved in gardening, astronomy, photography, AM radio DX’ing, and collecting various items like coins, radio station mugs and refrigerator magnets, multi-band portable radios, maps, books (duh!), old cameras and old computers (my basement is a computer museum. Help!).

What would you like to achieve in the next five years?

I would like to be recognised as a quality YA fiction writer.

If you won the Lotto, what would you do with it?

I’ve lived in a fix-it house for 25 years, so it would receive the first attention. Then, after some investing, I’d like to see much of the rest go towards some kind of scholarship-/seed grant for minority high school students, so that they would be more likely to be able to finish their high school education and then pursue a higher education. The catch would be that they would receive less than a 100% grant/scholarship and would have to work or perform some kind of significant community service to prove their worthiness to receive the support.

Now for the creative bit… please finish this story in 100 words or less…

There once was a small gecko called Fred… who found himself upside down in the pouring rain.

“Dang. That bolt just missed me. I really should get under a rock, huh?” He glanced upward and then scampered under a rock ledge and looked out at the pouring rain.

“Wish I had a tasty insect to munch on while I wait out this thunderstorm,” he muttered. He spotted a damsel fly on a sunflower stalk. “Snack time!”

He flipped out his tongue and … Zap! Another near miss.

Fred shook his head. “Farkle! I’m coming back as a barn swallow and live under a tin roof next time around!”

Finally, what question do you wish I’d asked and, of course, what is the answer?

“What needs to be done to improve the current state of indie and e-book publishing?”

Far too many writers are shooting themselves in both feet by rushing their works to Smashwords and other venues before they’re ready. Many are replete with mechanical errors, lapses in plot, cardboard characters, and just plain bad writing, making success extremely difficult for better writers who are lost in a morass of submitted works, some by children who should go back to school and learn to spell, write in complete sentences, and tell a half-way decent story. I now refuse to review books that are not ‘clean copy’ and ready for review; perhaps e-book publishers could agree on a simple, anonymous check-off system (rather than a prose review) for those books that could be salvaged or quietly deserve to die a quick death?

Thanks for the opportunity! -Paul Swearingen, Topeka

Book links:

High School Football – The Temptation

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/35496

High School Diversity – The Clash

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/35502

High School Yearbook – The Drama 

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/35504

High School Newspaper – The Danger

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/35507

High School History – The Treasure

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/35509

Note from Vickie

- to my shame, I hadn't heard of Nanowrimo, so I googled it. Here's the link for anyone who, like me, had no idea what it is. http://www.nanowrimo.org

The website says:

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. This approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Thanks Paul :)

Words with... Leland Dirks

Thanks to Leland Dirks for this interview

How long have you been writing?

Really since I was a child. I loved writing poetry then. My career of twenty-five years with a large US company involved a lot of technical writing and editing. I’ve been writing for myself and to make a bit of money for about the last two or three years.

Do you have a day job or do you write for a living?

This is my life!

What do you feel is the ideal recipe for a good novel/story/poem?

Well, someone a long time ago said there were only three real stories: Man against Man, Man against Nature, and Man against Self. I think any good novel or story has to have that as a basis. There has to be a transformation of at least one of the characters, and there has to be some ‘bad’ in the story. I took a lot of heat from some reviewers for including a crazy, dog-beating character in Angelo’s Journey, but it’s important to represent the real world in our writing too, and it’s not all rainbows and bunnies out there. I also believe that we, as writers, have a responsibility to hold a mirror up to society so that we can see the beauty to appreciate it, and the ugly so that we can transform it. For poetry, I think there are a lot of different recipes, mostly depending on the type of poems. Haiku is most definitely different than a ballad. In poetry, form is closer to substance than in a novel or story.

What/who inspired you to write and still inspires you?

My oldest brother loved to write. Tragically, he died before he was widely published. I think he planted the seed of the dream. Then I was very fortunate to have some very encouraging teachers who nourished that little seedling of a dream.

What books have you written? Do you stick to one genre?

I think the ‘genrification’ (not a real word, I know) of American literature is a curse and a blessing. It’s a blessing because you can assume that the reader has a lot of knowledge based on the genre. For instance, if you write a vampire novel, you can assume that readers will know that vampires don’t do well with the sun. But that same genre-assumption makes the writer lazy, and she/he doesn’t spell out the rules of the game. I also think that this obsession with genre stifles creativity. When it came time to choose a genre for Angelo’s Journey, I couldn’t find one. There is no ‘dog as hero’ genre. So, the book wound up in 'Short Stories' and in 'Dog Care' on Amazon. If William Faulkner were alive today, where would As I Lay Dying be classified? 'Mortuary Science'?

My published books: 

Angelo’s Journey: A Border Collie’s Quest for Home; 

Border Collie Haiku, a short collection of thirty-something haikus, written from Angelo’s perspective;

Maggie’s Book of Wisdom, a very short collection of observations and some cute photos of a puppy’s first year;

The Hermitage at Ojito Creek (in three volumes) describes the day-by-day meanderings of building a house in the middle of nowhere. It is a collection of my blog entries from the first six years of owning the property, all the way from finding it through to most of the interior work. Also included are daily observations and a TON of photographs from this beautiful place.

How long did it take you to write your book/s?

Honestly, Angelo’s Journey took about a month of solid writing, and another month of editing, with a huge amount of help from friends.

How long did it take you to get published? Did you take the traditional route or DIY?

It took a couple of days for the Kindle edition. I chose self-publishing. Life is too short for me to spend time fighting my way through the traditional publishing process. They offer huge benefits in terms of marketing, exposure and getting the books on to shelves, and I applaud them for all they do for making good books, but they weren’t for me.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers/those just starting out?

I’ll assume that anyone who wants to write is also an avid reader. I think you have to be. Once you start writing though you’ll also change how you read. Some of the smoke and mirrors of a good writer will become clearer. You’ll understand more of the mechanical devices that a good author uses, and sometimes you’ll discover devices that are not so good. I’ll also assume that even a beginner writer knows that, like a carpenter, she/he must know the tools of the trade. Learn to spell, punctuate and make a complete sentence. Beyond that, the first bit of advice is, ridiculous as it sounds, to write. 

Get your story down on paper (okay, on your monitor) and work it through to the end. Don’t go back and edit until you’ve made it through the book the first time. Don’t give early drafts out to friends while you’re still working your way to the end. Get it done in some form. THEN go back, and edit and share. I also believe in simple outlines. Most often, I just start with chapter titles, and those serve as my outline. On the other hand, if your story takes you somewhere your outline doesn’t go, be willing to adapt. Listen to the story and your characters! 

Finally, get to know your characters. Before you start your story, write a simple biography or thumbnail sketch of your main characters. List their physical attributes, what matters to them and how they see life. In short, interview them. Then keep those notes handy as you write your story. It helps with continuity, and it’s also a way to make sure you let your readers know everything that you consider important about your characters.

Do you have any works in progress?

I always try to have two or three works in progress… not that I’m working on them all the time, but to know what’s coming up next. The next book will be released in September, and it’s called Seven Dogs in Heaven. It’s part memoir, part parable and part fantasy. A man dies and, instead of all the angels and archangels everyone expects in heaven, he meets the dogs that played roles in his life. In no particular order after that, I have a mystery, Angelo’s ‘pawtobiography’, and a fictionalised memoir of my mother.

Which character from your books do you like most/are most like?

I’m most like The Man in Angelo’s Journey. In fact, I am that character. But the character I like the most was the cowboy in Angelo’s Journey.

Where and when do you write – do you have set times during which you write or is it just when the mood takes you?

I try to write every day, after the first couple of walks with the dogs. I get up just before sunrise, take some photographs, spend a little time on Facebook answering readers’ questions and emails, do a little marketing, and then I write. I write anywhere I can… I’ve written under trees, in a tent, in a pick-up cab, on a mountain top. A lot of times I’ll write with pen and paper, and then key it later.

Marketing – the bane of self-publishers - how do you find the experience? Do you have any marketing advice for other writers? Do you use a blog or twitter, etc?

I find the experience both time-consuming and delightful. Time-consuming because it takes time away from putting words on paper, but delightful because the best marketing is a dialogue with one’s readers. I spend an enormous amount of time on Facebook and on email, just talking with readers. I’m continually in awe of how generous and kind readers are, and the suggestions and feedback they offer. I also have a blog that I’m rather intermittent about posting to (shame on me). 

Marketing in our time isn’t about one-way communication… it’s a dialogue. The biggest mistake I see a lot of writers make in marketing their own material is that they just post a blurb and wait for people to buy. Instead, it works better if you ask your readers what they liked or hated about your last book, what they’d do differently, and so on. And, if they answer you, for heaven’s sake, respond to them and THANK them!

Some of your fave things... Animal? Food? Drink? Film? Colour? Band? Song? Place to chill out?

My dogs are with me wherever I go, especially Angelo. He keeps me rooted; he keeps me humble. Maggie reminds me to play. And they’re about the best friends I have.

I love Italian food… everything from the simplest pizza to the more complex dishes.

Drink… a nice merlot or shiraz will always mellow me out, and it’s a delightful conversation starter. I don’t drink a lot of hard liquor, but if I do, it’s usually a vodka tonic.

Favourite film of all time is Rich and Famous, with Candice Bergen and Jacqueline Bisset. It’s a film that everyone who aspires to being a writer should see – the struggles of the serious writer, the accidental bestseller, and the dialogue is rich in humor.

When I’m writing, I’m likely to listen to Mozart or Bach. They really do make me feel smarter, and the words flow better. When I’m not writing, I’m sort of an oldies guy. If you’d told me that I’d ever consider music from the 80s oldies, I would have laughed at you, but there it is.

My favourite place to hang out? At home, or walking around in the outdoors. I live in a really remote area, so it’s fun just to pick a direction and start walking or biking.

One day you’re walking in the forest and you bump into an alien librarian from Mars. He wants five book recommendations from you…

These five would be the only representations of Earth in the Martian library? The first two would be the King James Version of the Bible and, of course, the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Both have some of the most beautiful prose and poetry ever written in the English language. I think I’d suggest a copy of The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, so that the Martians could laugh at what a twisted perception we had of them, and still recognise that we did it with good writing and imagination. I’d also recommend something from Asia, so that the Martians didn’t become too enamoured with English only. Perhaps Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. And, of course, I’d recommend they make room for a copy of Angelo’s Journey.

Which book do you wish you had written?

Illusions by Richard Bach. It is such a deliciously simple book, with so very much truth in it.

Who is your favourite character from any book and why?

I don’t know that I can actually narrow it to one. Buck, in Jack London’s Call of the Wild, has been a favorite of mine since childhood. Louis, from Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, is a perennial favorite as well. Both of them are loners by choice, but forced into a ‘society’ of sorts in order to survive. They hold on to their hermit hearts, and go their own ways while still coping with the demands of others. A dog and a vampire – I wonder what that says about me as an author?

Which three authors (living or not) would you like to take to the pub?

Mark Twain, Dorothy Parker and Thomas Jefferson. Maybe not all at once!

What other hobbies/interests do you have or has writing taken over?

I’ve been building my own house for the last four years. It’s kind of on hold right now, but very livable! I’m completely off grid and in the middle of nowhere. I enjoy photography and, of course, I love to read.

What would you like to achieve in the next five years?

I’d love to have a book on the NYT Bestseller list. I’d love to have the house all done. And I’d really like to win the Lotto, as long as we’re wishing.

If you won the Lotto, what would you do with all it?

Ahhhh… good question! I think I’d like to start a small writers’ and photographers’ community. I live in an area where land is still available at reasonable prices, and I’d love to see some of my friends move into this beautiful, rural area, and support them for a bit while they get to publish their first books and get discovered. Oh, and Angelo says that I would hire a personal assistant for him. Excellent idea. He wouldn’t mind having his own photographer too.

Now for the creative bit… please finish this story in 100 words or less – ‘There once was a small gecko called Fred...’

There once was a small gecko named Fred. He was a very young gecko, and wondered why there were so few geckos on the lanai that he called home. One night, a human sat on the lanai with a book, and read as the sun went down. As the human finished the book, something PLOPPED on to the lanai. Fred was startled. He saw another gecko! The other gecko looked up, and as Fred followed his gaze, he saw hundreds of other geckos on the ceiling! At last, he’d found companions! The two geckos climbed the wall together to gecko heaven.

Finally, what question do you wish I’d asked and, of course, what is the answer?

You didn’t ask me about anything I’m afraid of! I have a secret fear that there are really only five or six really loyal and dedicated friends and fans buying my books, and they’re buying them in large numbers. I hope that’s not true, but knowing the kind of good and loyal people who read my books, and knowing the sorts of kind friends I have, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility either! Thanks so much for such thought-provoking questions!

My blog is available at www.hermitblog.com

Where Angelo’s Journey is available: 

Through independent bookstores at http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781461169307
(please support your local indie!)

In the UK, it’s available on Kindle at http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004RYW53U

Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Angelos-Journey-Border-Collies-ebook/dp/B004RYW53U/ in both paperback and Kindle editions

Barnes and Noble at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/angelos-journey-angelo-dirks/1103793697 in paperback and nook editions

My Facebook author page is http://www.facebook.com/LelandDirks

Sample Sunday

From Kiwi and the missing Magic

  “Who’s Hammy?” asked Whiskers again, but James didn’t reply as he scooped up the mouse and leant over to his hamster’s cage. Hammy sat eating a sunflower seed. “Sorry Hammy,” said James, “but you have a roommate for a little while. Hope that’s ok with you.”

   Hammy stopped eating the sunflower seed and stared up at James with wide eyes. James opened the door of the big cage and popped his hand through. Out popped two white ears and a wriggly nose. Whiskers landed with a small bump and James quickly closed the cage door. He sat back on the bed. Kiwi jumped on to his lap. Amy sat watching the action. Hammy dropped the sunflower seed and backed away. Whiskers seemed to size him up and realising that he, again, was smaller, he backed away in the opposite direction. The hamster and the mouse stood on their back legs watching each other.

   “It’s like a gunfight in a Western,” whispered Amy.

   “Hope he doesn’t attack Hammy,” said James.

   “I don’t think he will,” said Kiwi. “But we’re here if he does.”

   James nodded, although he looked a bit worried.

In the cage, the two creatures continued to stare at one another. They didn’t move an inch. In between them the sunflower seed lay where Hammy had dropped it. Another ten minutes past.

   “Dinner...” called their mum from downstairs.

   “Oh no...” said James.

   “Bad timing,” whispered Amy.

   In the cage, the hamster and the mouse had locked their eyes on each other. There was a staring contest going on and neither of them wanted to give in. Suddenly, there was a small rumbling sound and the mouse looked down at his stomach. He pulled a slight face. A flicker of a smile sped across Hammy’s face. The mouse was hungry. Whiskers felt his belly and swallowed. There on the ground the sunflower seed sparkled like the Holy Grail. Mmmmm. Lovely. He could smell it. And it smelt good.

   Just then, Hammy saw him looking and took a slight step forward. The stranger wasn’t going to nick his sunflower seed if he could help it. Whiskers saw him move and stepped forward also. His stomach rumbled again. He couldn’t remember when he last ate. It looked so delicious. He looked up and saw the other strange creature staring at him with a look that said ‘don’t you dare’. Whiskers ignored it and sprung forward. In one fast action he sprung on the seed, squished it into his mouth and leapt backwards.

Words with... JT Lewis

 

 Thanks to JT Lewis for this interview

How long have you been writing? 

1-1/2 years seriously, with a few half-hearted false starts in the past.

Do you have a day job or do you write for a living?

I am an electrician by trade, owning a very small electrical contracting company in Southern Indiana. It is only at night and on the weekends that I morph into a fictional crime-fighting detective.

What do you feel is the ideal recipe for a good novel/story/poem?

My ultimate goal would be to develop a story that a reader could not put down. To me, a great story, one that taps on your shoulder and says ‘here I am’, is the goal. Character development is important, of course, as well as clean editing and word usage, but it is the story that get passed down from time immortal. No one may even remember who wrote a good story originally, and it may even get rewritten numerous times by others, but the story is what people remember. Nothing could be more rewarding to me then to create a story that stood the test of time, and I would hope that that is my goal every time I sit down at a keyboard. One more thing I find important is to let the story unfold from your mind and experiences, and from the story itself. Some of the best lines I feel I have ever written have almost written themselves, appearing magically before me as if the story was offering it up for me to include.

What/who inspired you to write and still inspires you?

Great stories inspire me.

What books have you written? Do you stick to one genre?

Mostly, I stick to action/adventure. My Indie published title The Ghost Murders is out now, the first in the series called ‘The Adventures of Gabriel Celtic’. I am working on the second in the series, Gabriel’s Revenge, as well as a book tentatively titled Murder, Too Close To Home.

How long did it take you to write your book/s? 

The Ghost Murders took almost a year of writing, three months of getting away from the story, and another three months revising and editing (although I’m not sure that part is ever done). Remember that it is very part-time for me.

How long did it take you to get published? Did you take the traditional route or DIY?

DIY, starting with Smashwords, but exploring the traditional route also.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers/those just starting out?

Decide to do it, and just do it when you can. Enjoy the process, and let your story evolve out of your mind, experiences and the story itself.

Which character from your books do you like most/are most like?

I could only hope to be more like Gabriel Celtic.

Where and when do you write – do you have set times during which you write or just when the mood takes you?

I write mostly at the kitchen table in front of some large bay windows. I write mostly at the weekends when there are no other obligations and sometimes at night. Many times, the story will speak to me and I will write wherever I am, or at least jot down some notes.

Marketing – the bane of self-publishers – how do you find the experience? Do you have any marketing advice for other writers? Do you use a blog or twitter, etc?

Right now I use Facebook and Twitter, but I certainly do not have the time needed to adequately market myself and the book. One of the biggest surprises to self-published authors has to be the time and attention away from writing that this process involves.

Who is your favourite character from any book and why?

Probably the one character that keeps popping up in my life is Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt.

Which three authors (living or not) would you like to take to the pub?

James Patterson, Clive Cussler and Paul Christopher are three who write in my genre and that I would love to talk to. 

What other hobbies/interests do you have or has writing taken over?

Writing first; a little landscaping periodically.

What would you like to achieve in the next five years?

Fame and riches! LOL, not really! But, I would like to feel like I’m in a comfortable phase of my writing life where I have come close to the great story that I know is inside of me.

If you won the Lotto, what would you do with all it?

I’m old enough to hopefully not make huge mistakes with it; easy enough to do, I hear. I would pay off any debts I might have at that time, and hopefully set some aside for the future. Nothing too exciting I assure you.

Now for the creative bit… please finish this story in 100 words or less…

There once was a small gecko called Fred

Who hated to get out of bed

His mother was wrong, with her ranting and raving

Didn’t she know the energy he was saving?

The life of a gecko was hectic at best

And she wanted him to do it without any rest?

Ok, ok, he would get up

Before she resorted to calling him pup

After all, there were flies here and there, all needing caught

He’d catch him a few, then sneak back to his cot.

You see, unlike the lazy thought of his mother’s

He was just being nice, saving some for others

 (104 if you count the original words. L)

Your book/website/blog/twitter links

http://www.facebook.com/#!/JTLewis.Author

http://www.facebook.com/the.ghost.murdrs

http://twitter.com/#!/JTLewis_Books

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48156