Still on the Yellow Brick Road
Dear Friends,
Welcome to my December Substack.
I hope you’ll enjoy this month’s blog Still on the Yellow Brick Road, a meditation of where we’ve landed, where we’ve been and how we move forward.
The audio version is available by clicking the link in the blog itself or clicking the link below for all podcasts. https://joanneleedomackerman.substack.com/podcast
Book News this month shares brief news and interviews.
The Writers at Risk section focuses on the case of academic and human rights activist Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace, who was detained and given a life sentence after the 2011 Arab Spring protests in Bahrain.
The Books to Check Out section features three recent nonfiction books published this year that track history of America’s and the world’s foreign policy and the hidden forces and stories: Foreign Agents by Casey Michel, Den of Spies by Craig Unger and War by Bob Woodward.
In the Scene section you’ll find photos along with text from The Far Side of the Desert.
Thank you to friends and new readers who’ve come to bookstores, libraries, book clubs and online to share my new novels The Far Side of the Desert and Burning Distance. If you’re interested in having me speak at a venue or with a book club, you can click here. I look forward to staying in touch and meeting readers at future events. Thank you for sharing my books with friends and for leaving reviews with online booksellers. Word of mouth is a powerful engine!
I hope you enjoy this free monthly Substack On the Yellow Brick Road and share it with friends!
Still on the Yellow Brick Road
As the year comes to a close, as the landscape, at least the political landscape, has shifted, is shifting in my country, as new books are written, as new promises are made, and not many (any?) broken, at least that I’m responsible for, it seems a good time to look back to the premise of this Substack that launched a year and a half ago and to peek ahead.
When I began this Substack at my publisher’s suggestion, two of my novels were being published—Burning Distance and The Far Side of the Desert. The novel Burning Distance came out in hardcover in 2023 and in paperback this past spring. The Far Side of the Desert was published this April and arrives in paperback April 2025. I have two new novels ready to find a home and readers. These novels were all written over the last decades, and the stories and struggles of the characters mirror times lived through and to an extent foreshadow the times ahead.
But no one can predict the future however prescient the imagination. The future is in part a product of what has come before, fueled by the imagination of what can be and held in each individual’s heart. The future begins with each and expands.
I resist the three or five or ten bits of advice and wisdom so prevalent on social media except to note that when love fuels the heart, it is a powerful guide and knows how to reach out to others. Hate negates. Hate is the absence of love and therefore can’t be obliterated with more hate. A wise woman, who shared wisdom from other wise men and women, once explained a simple guiding principle to me. Light overcomes darkness because darkness is only the absence of light. You can’t bring darkness into a room except by extinguishing the light. Why is light more powerful? Because it has a source—the sun, electricity—and darkness has no source. It is only the absence of light. For our lives and hearts, the source of light is Love.
So, in the spirit of moving forward by glancing backwards, I share below the essay that launched this Substack. I hope you’ll continue to enjoy and share the journey with me.
(launched August 2023)
A former journalist, I spend most of my writing time these days on fiction in a lifelong admiration for what literature can do. Good literature reveals characters and orders life into stories the reader can connect with and understand. We all live and remember our lives and the lives of others through the stories we tell and are told. History, politics, even religion are rendered through stories.
Because storytellers can be powerful members of society, the storytellers—usually the writers—are often the early persecuted, imprisoned and even killed in authoritarian societies as a result of the stories they tell. I’m a storyteller as are many of my friends and family who are journalists, fiction writers, dramatists and poets. We are fortunate to live in a country that, while stressed at the moment with the banning and censoring of books, still does not put its writers in prison or kill them, though the increasing pressure to ban books is alarming. Freedom of expression includes the freedom to have access to ideas. Imagination has always been the enemy of the tyrant because it can’t be controlled. I’ve spent time over the last many decades working on behalf of writers who don’t have the same protections and working with organizations that defend freedom of expression.
In my own novels—in particular my recently published novel Burning Distance and my next novel The Far Side of the Desert to be published March 2024—I’ve sought insight through narrative. Both books took a good deal of research into the factual context of the story and the inner journeys of characters. In naming this newsletter On The Yellow Brick Road, I pay tribute to L. Frank Baum’s iconic novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Interpretation is extensive on the many elements of this story and of the Yellow Brick Road in particular. According to commentary:
Collaboration, communication, innovation, positivity, nurturing, and fun are the six core values of Yellow Brick Road. The values emphasize team spirit, transparent two-way communication, support for new ideas, nurturing of bonds and relationships, a positive, solution-based mindset, and a fun learning environment.
Is that a mission statement? It sounds a bit like a gathering of strategic modelers at a conference. I’m not aiming for a didactic newsletter, but I think the values hold. I’d also like to have some fun and explore new thoughts and occasionally inspire.
Other commentary notes:
With the help of her newly-minted friends, Dorothy is able to melt the Wicked Witch of the West and save the citizens of Oz. No matter what the situation is, you should never allow that to get in the way of your morals.
With the help of new and old friends, I look forward to embarking on this path, alert to occasional wicked witches but mostly exploring ideas large and small. Thank you for coming along.
In November I enjoyed speaking about my novels and memoir PEN Journeys: Memoir of Literature on the Line at a Welcome to Washington International Book Club event and enjoyed moderating a panel with translator Katherine E. Young and Thomas De Waal on People & Trees: A Trilogy by Azerbaijan’s celebrated novelist Akram Aylisli, who remains a de facto prisoner of conscience under house confinement in Azerbaijan.
Details of future and past events can be found on the Speaking page of my website.
I’m delighted to share an interview “Behind the Book” with Book Notions on the background and writing of my novel The Far Side of the Desert and a feature on Shepherd.com that includes my selection of three of the best books I read in 2024.
Thank you to all who have come together and shared readings and conversations around my novels.
Selected recordings of events and interviews:
Book Launch for Akram Aylisli's People and Trees with Plamen Press
Why Baldwin Matters Series, The Alan Cheuse International Writers Center
Malaprop’s Bookstore and Café in Asheville, NC
Kinokuniya Bookstore in New York City with Salil Tripathi
Baum on Books on WSHU Public Radio
Interview with Anna Roins of Authorlink
Interview with Deborah Kalb
For more podcasts, videos and interviews, click here
“Joanne Leedom-Ackerman did it again with The Far Side of the Desert...what an amazing, engrossing story that pulls you until the very last page. The book kicks off with a compelling hook, but then Joanne subtly and intelligently lays the foundation of the characters and the plot, masterfully putting everything into place in an intriguing yet casual way. Then the story takes off…It's another must read from Joanne Leedom-Ackerman."
—Adam Sikes, Landslide and The Underhanded
Burning Distance (Oceanview Publishing, 2023 and recent paperback in 2024) was honored by the 2024 American Book Fest International Book Awards as a Finalist in the Best Mystery/Suspense and Thriller/Adventure categories.
"Another deftly crafted novel of suspense featuring finely honed characters and an original storyline with more plot twists and turns than a Disneyland roller-coaster, Burning Distance showcases author Joanne Leedom-Ackerman's impressive and narrative storytelling skills.”
Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace (Bahrain)
(Sources include PEN International, PEN America, and Human Rights Watch)
In the aftermath of the Arab Spring uprisings in Bahrain in 2011 aimed at greater political freedom, Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace, an academic, blogger, and human rights defender was arrested twice and remanded to the notorious Jau Prison with a life sentence.
According to the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, following his arrest, Dr. Al-Singace was subjected to brutal torture, including being repeatedly beaten, “sexually molested”, “forced to lick the shoes” of prison guards and threatened with the rape of his wife and daughter, among other violations.
A former lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering department at the University of Bahrain, with PhD from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and a Draper Hills Fellow at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy Development and the Rule of Law, Dr. Al-Singace spent four years while in prison researching and writing a study of Bahraini Arabic dialects. Though his book is said to contain no political content, authorities have confiscated the manuscript and refused to return it.
In July 2021, Dr. Al-Singace went on hunger strike to protest his ill treatment and the confiscation of his manuscript. Suffering already from several chronic illnesses, Dr. Al-Singace’s prolonged hunger strike has been particularly detrimental to his health.
Though the Bahrain government has recently granted amnesties to hundreds of protesters detained after the Arab Spring, Dr. Al-Singace remains incarcerated.
The international community has called for his immediate and unconditional release, including the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, PEN International, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy and American, British and European legislators. They have also called for the return of Dr. Al-Singace’s manuscript to him and to his family.
To Take Action for Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace:
Please send appeals to the authorities of Bahrain, urging:
Immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Al-Singace and guarantee of his safety, wellbeing and human rights, including the right to freedom of expression.
Return of his research and writing
Adequate health treatment
Send your appeals to:
King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
P.O. Box 547, Government Road Manama
Kingdom of Bahrain
Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa
Court of the Crown Prince
P.O Box 29091 Riffa - Kingdom of Bahrain
Building 1600, Shaikh Salman Highway
Block 906, Riffa / Alrowdha - Kingdom of Bahrain
Send appeals to the Embassy of Bahrain in your own country. Embassy addresses may be found here: https://www.embassy-worldwide.com/country/bahrain/
An attack on a writer, the shutting down of a publishing house, the torching of a newspaper reduce the space in the world where ideas can flow. Freedom of expression is vital to writers and to readers but is challenged daily around the world. Listed here are organizations whose work on human rights and in particular issues of freedom of expression I’ve been engaged with directly and indirectly over the years. Some of the organizations have broader agendas, but all have contributed to keeping space open for the individual voice.
PEN International (with its 147 centers in over 100 countries)
PEN American Center
English PEN
PEN/Faulkner Foundation
Human Rights Watch
Amnesty International
Amnesty International USA
International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX)
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Article 19
Index on Censorship
Poets and Writers
Authors Guild
International Center for Journalists
This section of my Substack has usually featured novels or shorter fiction, but this month I’m focusing on three excellent nonfiction books published this year that track history of America’s and the world’s foreign policy and the hidden forces behind much of it. As the U.S. embarks on a new period with a new presidency, it is worth taking time to consider what has gone before and the players behind the scenes, or in front of the scene but playing a secret game.
Foreign Agents by Casey Michel, Den of Spies by Craig Unger, and War by Bob Woodward are all written and researched by experienced and talented journalists and storytellers. The books track the facts and the stories, starting as far back as the 1930’s with Foreign Agents, into the 1980s with Den of Spies, and finally into the 2000s to present day with War.
Casey Michel’s Foreign Agents bookends his story with two famous and notorious agents who influenced the course of events through their trade as “advisors,” “public relations consultants,” and ultimately “foreign lobbyists,” laundering the reputations and funds of authoritarian leaders and increasing their own personal wealth.
The narrative beings with the career of Ivy Lee, who some say invented “public relations” especially as a tool for those in need of burnishing. As he expanded his enterprise and took his skills from business in the U.S. to abroad, Ivy Lee worked to whitewash Mussolini’s reputation, assisted Stalin in getting U.S. recognition for the Soviet Union and advised the Nazis on how to gain American favor, including muting their anti-Semitism in America. Ultimately it was his work with Hitler and the Nazi regime that was his undoing, but not before he gained the confidence of high level U.S. politicians and businessmen.
At the other end of this narrative with many foreign agents and lawyers in between is Paul Manafort, who also worked on behalf of American clients then expanded his territory to work for authoritarian regimes from the Ukraine to the Philippines and in between, ultimately working on behalf of the current U.S. President-elect.
Through detailed research and interviews Foreign Agents tracks the work of law firms, consultants and others in shaping U.S. and European foreign policy on behalf of those outside the conventions and rules of the alleged “world order.”
Den of Spies by Craig Unger elaborates the lingering rumor/truth of the October Surprise in the 1980 presidential race between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. Presenting documentary evidence and interviews, Unger elaborates the story that Ronald Reagan’s campaign manager William Casey, who went on to head the Central Intelligence Agency under Reagan, negotiated in advance of the election with the Iranians to delay the release of American hostages in exchange for the U.S. shipping arms to the boycotted Iranian regime via Israel. The hostages were released right after the inauguration and arms were received in Iran. In the shadows of this story is the presence of Reagan’s Vice Presidential candidate and later President George H. W. Bush.
At the time the story of the October Surprise was covered by Unger in Esquire and Newsweek but was later discredited and buried. Along with investigative journalist Robert Parry, now deceased, Unger continued to work to unravel and reveal facts and threads which in Den of Spies he weaves into a compelling tale of political manipulation and corruption which later played out in the Iran Contra scandal.
War by Bob Woodward, one of America’s great investigative journalists, narrates a rich narrative with a behind-the-scenes look at contemporary wars in the Ukraine, Middle East, and in the U.S. run for the Presidency.
Woodward is privileged to conversations so that the reader also gets to sit in the room overhearing U.S. President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, all seeking to hold onto or gain political power and national imperatives. Woodward shares back-channel diplomacy and shows the struggle to keep the world from falling off the rails with nuclear weapons, genocide and chaos always on the threshold.
One of my favorite scenes is the transcript of U.S Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in conversation with his Russian counterpart Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. He tells Shoigu that the U.S. knows the Russians are contemplating the use of tactical nuclear weapons in the Ukraine.
“Austin said bluntly in his deep baritone voice, ‘Let me tell you a few things about that…’” He outlines at length and deliberately how the U.S. and other world leaders would respond. “‘I don’t take kindly to being threatened,’ Shoigu finally responds. ‘Mr. Minister,’ Austin said bluntly with no hint of anger, ‘I am the leader of the most powerful military in the history of the world. I don’t make threats.’”
Sharing here images and passage of text from The Far Side of the Desert:
As Samantha stood staring at the endless blue Atlantic, she had a sinking feeling that there was nothing beyond. She and Cal had been at work for two weeks, interviewing dozens of people but uncovering no useful clues. For all her training, she didn’t know how to find her sister.
(Over the years I’ve accumulated a running list of words I haven’t known from two main sources: WordDaily and WordGenius)
Orotund
/ˈôrəˌtənd/
Part of speech: adjective
1. (Of the voice or phrasing) full, round, and imposing
2. (Of writing, style, or expression) pompous or pretentiousTo make miserable
Examples:
“The alto soloist’s orotund voice filled the concert hall."
“The tuba provides quite an orotund sound to any orchestra."
“His letter to the editor came off as orotund and pretentious, rather than authoritative."
Pelagic
[pə-LAJ-ik]
Part of speech: adjective
1. Relating to the open sea
Examples:
"Many sharks are pelagic and don’t often venture close to shore."
"With towering waves and pummeling winds, pelagic storms can be terrifying."
I’ve spoken at bookstores, university classes, book luncheons and in-person and zoom book clubs and look forward to more ahead. I enjoy giving readings and addressing audiences in many venues and moderating discussions on a wide range of topics and most of all meeting readers.
Click here for a list of future and past public events.
Or fill out the speaking request form to schedule an event.
I like engaging with readers so if you are in a Reading Group or Book Club and read one of my books, I’m glad to be in touch by email, zoom, or when possible in person. I can also suggest discussion topics.
Fill out the reading group form here to schedule a meeting.
I like your Yellow Brick Road piece. Keep sharing.