Crossroads and Other Tales [Paperback]

Gregory Banks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2008

Gregory Banks uses both poetry and prose to delve into such wide-reaching topics as depression, domestic violence, suicide, and more. In several pieces, he explores the various facets of Alzheimer's Disease, showing not only how it affects the individuals caring for those with the disease, but also his vision of the inner hell sufferers of the disease must go through. In the poem, "Surreality," he expresses how he felt on September 11, 2001 as the sky seemed to fall, while in the short prose piece, "The Calling," he gives a brief but powerful glimpse into the difficult moments while awaiting the death of a loved one. With simple yet poetic craft, Gregory Banks, himself a lifetime sufferer of Osteogenesis Imperfecta, often uses humor as well as surrealism to show his broad range of literary skills.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is a small volume, less than a hundred pages, but it says a lot in those pages. -- The Compulsive Reader

About the Author

Gregory Banks previously worked as a moderator for the original Zoetrope All-Story Writers Workshop, as a site administrator for Scrawl: The Writer's Asylum, and as webmaster for the WRITER and MARKET Literary Search Engine. He's now co-Webmaster for the new Speculative Literature Foundation. His past credits include volumes 1 and 3 of the "A Generation X Anthology" poetry series, The Rose & Thorn - A Literary Ezine, Story House, StoneGarden.net,.Creative Brother's Sci-Fi Magazine, and will soon appear in the April issue of the soon to launch, Pittsburgh-based magazine, The Writers Post Journal.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: WheelMan Press (March 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1411602625
• ISBN-13: 978-1411602625
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,656,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gregory Bernard Banks began his pursuit of a writing career in 1997, after spending years studying his other creative love, graphic design. Over the years since he s served as moderator for the Zoetrope All-Story Writers Workshop, as a site administrator for Scrawl: The Writer's Asylum, and as webmaster for the WRITER and MARKET Literary Search Engine. He s currently co-Webmaster for the Speculative Literature Foundation, and Community Leader/Support Aide at Lulu.com, and and is the sole proprietor for BDDesign LLC, where he now helps others make their publishing dreams come true.

Banks is also a frequent contributor to Audacity Magazine with his column, "A Sedentary View", and continues pursuing his dream of landing a 7-figure book deal by the time he's 80. His list of publishing credits include The Rose & Thorn, Story House, StoneGarden.net, Creative Brother's Sci-Fi Magazine, The Writers Post Journal, AlienSkin Magazine, The Speculative Fiction Centre, Amazon Shorts, and Axxon Online. In addition to having stories finish in both the quarter-finals and semi-finals for the prestigious L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest, his story, Into the Every, title story for his latest book, finished in 6th place in the 2006 Preditors and Editors Readers Poll. He's published three books, Crossroads and Other Tales, the Foreword Magazine 2005 Book of the Year Finalist Phoenix Tales: Stories of Death & Life, and A Writer's Journey in Poetry & Prose." His fourth book, Into the Every: Tales of Magic and Science, is scheduled for an August 2008 release.

Banks lives in the rapidly growing city of Stockbridge, Georgia with his parents, his computer, and far too many books to count.

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Fiction credits:

Short Fiction:
- "The Master of Perfection" - October 1999 issue of The Blue Review.
- "Crossroads" - November 1999 issue of The Amateur Poetry Journal.
- "Fading Away..." - Sept 2000 premiere issue of The Story Garden.
- "A Lazy Afternoon in a Small Georgia Town - 6-26-01 issue of GiggleWithMe.com.
- "A Stormy Relationship" - 10-27-01 issue of GiggleWithMe.com.
- "An Interview with Santa" (run in three parts) - Dec. 2001-Jan. 2002,GiggleWithMe.com.
- "The Sacrifice" - The Summer 2002, The Rose & Thorn - A Literary Ezine.
- "Devour the Sky" - Story House, April 2, 2003.
- "Kachina Dawn" - StoneGarden.net, August 3, 2003.
- "Escape Velocity" - Creative Brother's Sci Fi Magazine #1, August 14, 2003.
- "Home Going" - Creative Brother's Sci Fi Magazine #3, to published January 2004.
- "An Elysium Dream" - StoneGarden.net, February 9, 2004.
- "He Rocked" (reprint) - The Writers Post Journal, to be published May 2004
- "The Last Living Thing" - AlienSkin Magazine published September 2004
- "For Whom the Midnight Tolls" - The Speculative Fiction Centre 2005 Anthology "Horizons," November 2005.
- "A Love Everlasting" (reprint) - The Speculative Fiction Centre 2005 Anthology "Horizons"
- "He Rocked" (reprint) - The Speculative Fiction Centre 2005 Anthology "Horizons"
- "The Circle" - The Speculative Fiction Centre, Fiction: Winter 2006 Issue #5
- "A Tale of Black and White" - SCARAB (Wanganegresse Press, 2006).
- "The Summoner" - Amazon Shorts, April 28, 2006
- "Web-elations" - The Speculative Fiction Centre, Fiction: Spring 2006 Issue #6
- "Two By Two" - Amazon Shorts, August 5, 2006
- "Into the Every" - The Speculative Fiction Centre, October 2, 2006
- "The Nothing" - AXXON Online's AXXON 100x100 (First Series), October 2006
- "The Highest Curse - Part I" - Amazon Shorts, November 15, 2006
- "Home Going (reprint)", New Works Review, March 28, 2007
- "The One and Only" - The Speculative Fiction Centre, July 21, 2007
- "Law of the Land" - Amazon Shorts, October 26, 2007

Books:
- "The Art of Poetry - Collection #1 (chapbook) - First published in 1998.
- "Crossroads and Other Tales" (fiction) - January 2004.
- "A Writer's Journey in Poetry & Prose" (nonfiction) - October 2006.
- "An Interview with Santa and Other Christmas Treats" (fiction) - November 2007
- "Phoenix Tales: Stories of Death & Life" (second edition) - March 2008.
- "The Summoner" (fiction) - November 2008
- "2012: Seeking Closure" - April 2009

Poetry:
- "Striving for the Heavenly Kingdom" - Poetry Club Newsletter - Vol. 4, Issue # 7 (8-9-97) (no longer in publication).
- "Perfection Is..." - Summer 1998 Edition of "Treasured Poems of America" by Sparrowgrass Poetry Forum.
- Various poems - Past issues of The Amateur Poetry Journal (no longer in publication).
- "There in Your Eyes" - Volume one of A Generation X Anthology - "In Our Own Words", March 1998.
- "Our Love" made into song by LaTonya M. Peoples and appearing on her 1999 album, "The Spirit Within".
- "Truth" - Second issue of The Story Garden, March 2001.
- "Reflections" - Volume three of A Generation X Anthology - "In Our Own Words", March 2001.
- "Emergence" - The Writers Post Journal, to be published April 2004.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Crossroads., August 8, 2004

By 

A. HOOPER (Spain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crossroads and Other Tales (Paperback)

Crossroads is a thrillingly emotional trip, it will take you to places in your mind that perhaps you've forgotten, or maybe you didn't know existed. It will thrill you and enthrall you, make you smile and make you cry. I particularly loved "Across the Threshold", an excellent trip through Mans Life, and "He Rocked", the poetically sad, yet happy story of everyone's grandfather. Truly an excellent book.
Angela Hooper, author of In Dark Minds, www.lulu.com/ahooper

2.0 out of 5 stars A Walk on the Dark Side, April 23, 2004

By 

Flavah Reviewer (Winston Salem, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crossroads and Other Tales (Paperback)

"Crossroads and Other Tales" is a unique peak into the human condition, with a twist. Gregory Bernard Banks blends introspective poetry with short stories to tell a range of tales from various points of view. The theme of this collection is tied to crossroads in life in which people are presented with quandaries, weaknesses, hurts, and a host of vulnerabilities. The reader is left to discern reality from fantasy as each tale unfolds and abruptly ends with a conclusion that implies a point, but is typically not clearly defined.

In many tales, the story begins with a character who is consumed by a troubled mind, but ends with an unexpected resolution that the reader could never anticipate. The end of each tale often takes on a quality that is mixed with science fiction, fantasy, or some place outside of the realm the real world. The book begins with Jacob- a boy who found himself making a decision whether or not to commit murder, and ends with Warren- a ninety-three-year-old man who routinely rocks in a rocking chair, until his death. Here, we see the author conjuring thoughts of life being a full-circle in which a beginning of our existence ultimately comes to an unavoidable end. Mr. Banks has indeed created a niche for himself and also uses detailed descriptions to do so. His ninety-one-page book is a mystifying read that has components of the X Files and is dashed with a flavor that proves to be in a category of its own. In fact, words can't quite describe it. Experiencing the journey is the only way to grasp each crossroad, through the author's dark, haunting literary eye.

Andrea Blackstone, author of "$chemin': Confessions of a Gold Digger"
Flavah Reviewer