“Long Ago and Far Away” review in The Pelham Weekly

Review of Long Ago and Far Away in The Pelham Weekly

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“Long Ago and Far Away” Travels Through Time in John Coyne’s Latest Novel

By Alex Wolff

Renowned Pelham author John Coyne’s latest novel “Long Ago and Far Away” draws on his life and experience to tell a tale of star crossed lovers, spanning several decades and traveling across four continents.

Revolving around the tragic 1973 death of a young woman in Ethiopia, “Long Ago and Far Away” uses a series of flashbacks in that country, Spain, New York, Washington and elsewhere to tell the story of Parker Bishop and Irish McCann, lovers who were driven apart by the death of their friend and the resulting trial which left questions as to whether the death was a murder or an accident.

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Review of Long Ago And Far Away by Karel R. Amaranth, MPH, MA

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Having just returned from east Africa myself I was drawn to this book’s setting in Ethiopia. I was particularly interested in the historical backdrop of the deterioration Haile Selassie’s rule and the impact on the people of Ethiopia as they were plunged deeper and deeper into poverty and political instability. The fact that John Coyne was in Ethiopia as a Peace Corps Volunteer I knew would give the book authenticity of the place and historical context. The book certainly delivers as a record of that time in the chapters written from the voice of a third person narrator.

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Jackie Schlenger Reviews Long Ago And Far Away

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Coyne displays in his previous twenty plus books culminate in this novel in a very satisfying way. He very skillfully takes to the land of Ethiopia during the reign of Hale Selassie, just prior to the demise of the empire at the hands of Mengistu and the dergue. He reveals life from the viewpoint of young people on their own, many for the first time, ten thousand miles from home in a magical African land. He reveals the intensity of relationships formed by this experience. Relationships that endure across the decades.

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Review of Long Ago And Far Away by Kathleen Croskran

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Long Ago and Far Away by John Coyne, an ambitious novel spanning time and place, connects the disparate worlds of Parker Bishop, a former CIA agent who retreated to safety and anonymity as a proprietor of a second hand book store in Westchester County, New York — thus masking his undercover past with respectability that included a beloved wife and two daughters.

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How to Write a Novel in 100 Days

Review of How to Write a Novel in 100 Days

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How to Write a Novel in 100 Days

With Tips About Agents, Editors, Publishers and Self-Publishing

Reviewed by Robert E. Hamilton

If you refuse encouragement to “Write your story” as well as a 100-day useful schedule for doing exactly that, put this book aside. “The truth is,” Coyne writes on the first of the unnumbered pages of How to Write a Novel in 100 Days (HWaN), “all writing begins in the human heart.” Coyne’s Peace Corps (Ethiopia, 1962-64) and other professional and personal experiences have made him aware of how many hearts hold untold stories. This book was written to help you “unlock what’s in your heart and write your novel.”

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Coyne’s Take on Best-Selling Author James Patterson On “How To Write An Unputdownable Story”

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You have heard of the writer James Patterson. You have, I’m guessing, read at least one of his books. He’s the most popular and prolific writer to come along in the last decade. An estimated one out of every 17 hardcover novels purchased in the United States is his, dwarfing the sales of both Harry Potter and the Twilight vampires. To put it another way, James Patterson’s books account for one out of every 17 hardcover novels purchased in the United States. He is certainly the ‘king’ of summertime beach reading.

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