MadeMark Publishing to Release Print and Audiobook Editions of Jean Ryan’s ‘Strange Company’
2017 is off to an auspicious start for MadeMark Publishing with the upcoming print and audiobook editions of Jean Ryan’s essay collection Strange Company. Each of these 20 essays presents Ryan’s unique voice as she examines the natural world she sees from her window, or gently holds in the palm of her hand, or whose passing from the earth she reflects upon with wisdom and sorrow: their loss is our loss.
Throughout this collection we discover in vivid, loving detail how these animals and insects behave; how they mate, how they live and die, and how much they have to teach us. Learning, in Ryan’s adept language, is what Strange Company is all about. Descriptive to a fine detail, she takes us on short, perfect journeys into the lives of creatures, bugs and birds that leave you fascinated by nature’s artistry.
As delicate and precise as a mayfly, as unhurried as a sloth, and as resplendent as a quetzal, these essays are bound to enthrall adults and young adults alike … anyone with imagination and curiosity. Ryan’s prose is as abundant as a garden. Take a leisurely walk along its paths. Listen to its prose. Coming spring, 2017, from MadeMark Publishing.
Jean Ryan, a native Vermonter, lives in Napa, California. Her stories and essays have appeared in a variety of journals, including Other Voices, Pleiades, The Summerset Review, The Massachusetts Review and The Blue Lake Review. Nominated for several Pushcart Prizes, she has also published a novel, Lost Sister. A collection of her short stories, Survival Skills, was published by Ashland Creek Press and short-listed for a Lambda Literary award. Her newest book, Strange Company, is a collection of short nature essays and is available digitally from Amazon and other retailers.
Read my review of Strange Company here.
Mark McNease
MadeMark Publishing