South City Mosaic: Life On Alaska (South City Mosaic Series Book One) by Glenn Sartori

South City Mosaic: Life On Alaska
(South City Mosaic Series Book One) by Glenn Sartori

Sit back in your favorite chair and revisit my early years with me. I have been a lifelong resident of St. Louis and grew up in the South City on a street called Alaska. My grade school adventures will make you smile…and possibly help you recall your own cherished childhood memories.

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Cold Coffee Press Book Review South City Mosaic:
Life On Alaska by Glenn Sartori

Whether you are young or old, South City Mosaic: Life On Alaska will capture your heart and mind as endearing, heartfelt boyhood memories from Kindergarten through Eighth Grade are experienced in and around Glenn’s house and loving family home on 5226 Alaska Ave.

Twenty-two life packed chapters that truly begin on April 10, 1940 when Glenn was born. Read the well placed words of Glenn’s vivid childhood memories that will take you back in time to the sights, sounds, smells and yes, tastes of a simpler, kinder and gentler life.

There are so many examples that I want to share with you, so choosing this one is difficult, but reflective of the mood and character of the stories. I quote: “In the 1940s and 50s, before electronic games and computers, collecting and trading baseball cards was a boyhood passion everywhere, and my grade school was no exception. The chance of getting a Mays, Mantle or Musial was thrilling, and to get the final card that completed your set of any baseball team, especially the St. Louis Cardinals, was a victory. Cards with pictures and stats of baseball players were the only type available, no hockey or football players. I bought mine at my neighborhood grocery store—a nickel for five cards packaged with a sheet of bubblegum. If I think about it, I can still smell the bubblegum aroma that wafted from the open package. Chomping down on the malleable pink sheet of gum filled my mouth with sugary juices. As vivid as the memory of chewing the gum is, I have no recall of blowing bubbles. Maybe I never acquired that skill set.

On many days after school, my friends and I would trade baseball cards, usually on someone’s front porch. It was always fun and a good way to complete a team. Shouts like “I’ll trade you a Duke Snider for an Alvin Dark. Or I’ll trade you a Yogi Berra for a Gil Hodges” were flying around the group. Sometimes we’d trade two for one, and occasionally three for one if someone really needed a particular player.  We’d even coordinate trades between three or four kids. I loved those times. (I had a fine collection but not now. After I’d been gone from home for few years, I discovered that my dad had donated, among other things, the baseball cards to the St. Joseph’s Orphan Home for boys. Maybe they enjoyed them, traded them as I had.)”

Look at the 21 photos from those days and let your taste buds recall one or more of the included recipes that will draw you back in time. If you are young, you will learn valuable information about life for one young boy in the 40’s and 50s. If you are older, the memories written in this book will no doubt trigger some pleasant memories of your childhood.

Compare your childhood with Glenn’s, his first cigarette, first kiss and so many more firsts, which you will not want to miss. Like me you will be forced to wait for Glenn’s promised book two and three in his South City Mosaic Series.

Cold Coffee Press/Café endorses South City Mosaic: Life On Alaska by Glenn Sartori as a childhood memoir worth reading. Read all Author Glenn Sartori’s books found at Amazon. We reviewed this book from Kindle/PDF format. The review was completed on March 3, 2016. For more information please visit Cold Coffee Press http://www.coldcoffeepress.com

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New Books In Series Coming Soon:
Book Two: South City Mosaic: Life On South Grand (planned release December 2016).
Book Three: South City Mosaic: Life On West Pine (planned release December 2017).

Amazon Customer Reviews
Amazon Print Purchase Link
Kindle Purchase Link
Main Street Books – St. Charles, Missouri

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Epiphany by Glenn Sartori

In medieval Russia, a battlefield historian is commissioned to transport treasures from invasion-torn south to a haven in the north. Centuries later, four events occur simultaneously.

Grace Sawyer, on her summer sabbatical at the Rosanov Art Institute in Yaroslavl, stumbles upon a black stone from a medieval Russian treasure. Richard Simon, an art historian in New York, is solicited by a friend in the CIA to journey to Yaroslavl on a cryptic quest.

In Kiev, the brother of the president of the Ukraine is assassinated, and a group of men plan to violently end the Epiphany—the historic meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch of Russia.

Within a week, these events will mesh in a violent climax that echoes in the halls of the Rosanov Art Institute.

Amazon Customer Reviews
Amazon Print Purchase Link
Kindle Purchase Link
Main Street Books – St. Charles, Missouri

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Union Of Friends
(Riverfield Series Book One) by Glenn Sartori

The announcement of Union Miller’s death arrived with the Saturday mail. That notice pushed Travis Gibbs to return to Riverfield only to discover that his best friend, Union Miller, had been dead for two years. It was an open and shut murder case—Union had stalked a woman, had killed her, and then had been killed by her husband. However, women had always pursued Union. Why stalk one? Why kill one? The search for answers propels Travis on a deceit-filled journey that ends in a conclusion he can’t believe, until violence steps into his life.

Coming Soon:
Book Two: Consequences of Falling (planned release December 2016).
Tag line: A schoolyard abduction shocks Riverfield, only later to be jolted by murder
and a battle for a high-tech product.

Amazon Customer Reviews
Amazon Print Purchase Link
Kindle Purchase Link
Main Street Books – St. Charles, Missouri

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Cold Coffee Press Spotlight Interview With Author Glenn Sartori

Glenn Sartori is a lifelong resident of St. Louis, Missouri and graduated from St. Louis University with BS and MS in Electrical Engineering. In 1997 he married Rosanne and enjoy condo living in St. Louis County. They have two sons Michael and Jeffrey, both grown, live in different cities and have a family of their own.

Glenn worked in electronic design and engineering management at McDonnell-Douglas/Boeing, and traveled to many countries, his favorite was Japan. He retired in 2002, which is the same year Rosanne retired from teaching in the St. Charles School District.

In late 2002, Glenn started his second career as an author of text books. Along with his college friend, they have co-authored four engineering text books for Pearson Education Publishing Company. Glenn successfully transitioned to writing mystery novels and most recently published the first book of his memoir trilogy.

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Interview:

What makes you proud to be a writer from St. Louis, Missouri? We have an outstanding and supportive writer’s guild here, and living in a Midwestern town keeps you grounded.   I love my hometown and am proud of its rich history.

What or who inspired you to become a writer? I’ve always enjoyed writing, but my first engineering text book got me stimulated and really hooked on exploring the possibility of being a published author.

Did your environment or upbringing play a major role in your writing and did you use it to your advantage? For my series of mystery novels, I created a fictional town—Riverfield—patterned it after St. Charles, Missouri, the sleepy river town where I worked and socialized for many years.

My stable family life and my humorous adventures in grade school played a major role in writing book 1 of my memoir trilogy.  My parents encouraged me to do my best, and my education spurred me on.

When did you begin writing with the intention of becoming published? In 2002 when asked to co-author an engineering textbook.

What has been your most rewarding experience with your writing process? Seeing my ideas and characters grow as I read over the initial draft and the rewrites.

What has been your most rewarding experience in your publishing journey? Receiving emails and thank you notes from readers who have loved my books and caused them to have ideas of their own.  Oh, and seeing my name in print.

How many published books do you have? I have four engineering technology textbooks, two mystery/thriller novels, and book 1 of my memoir trilogy.

Please list the titles of all your books. Besides my textbooks, they are Epiphany, Union of Friends, and South City Mosaic: Life on Alaska.

Do you come up with your title(s) before or after you write the manuscript? I come up with a draft title after I’ve outlined the plot and characters in the novel.

Please introduce your genre and why you prefer to write in that genre? I am writing in two genres: mystery/thriller novels because I love to read that type of book, and now that I’ve published my first book in my memoir trilogy I realize that I have interesting and humorous life stories to tell.

What was your inspiration, spark or light bulb moment that inspired you to write the book (one book) that you are seeking promotion for? Conversations with my school friends—grade school, high school, and college—made me realize I have stories to tell.  I realized that I didn’t need to be famous or come from a dysfunctional family or endure a tragic event to write interesting and humorous narratives.

Positive feedback told me that I have a talent to tell stories with humor and connect with the audience.

What one positive piece of advice would you give to other authors? Nothing is achieved without perseverance … so keep on writing and rewriting.

Who is your favorite author and why? Stephen King’s book - On Writing.  Besides shining as a unique perspective on the writer’s craft, it’s an interesting and humorous story of his life.

Which book title would you like featured in this interview? South City Mosaic: Life On Alaska is book one in my South City Mosaic Series.

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