"Christmas Karma" Is a Holiday Gift to Anne Tyler's Fans

October 15, 2014 - LaPuerta Books and Media announces release of Gerald Everett Jones's new novel, Christmas Karma, humorous fiction about the travails of a dysfunctional family during the holidays, narrated by a guardian angel who has a wicked sense of humor.
Thomas Page, author of The Man Who Would Not Die, says: "This homage to Anne Tyler is a Christmas parable for the rest of us – whether faithful, backsliders, slackers, or just I-don't-knowists."

Renowned author Anne Tyler's numerous bestsellers include Accidental Tourist and The Beginner's Goodbye, as well as the forthcoming A Spool of Blue Thread. Critics claim she presents an "angel's-eye-view" of her characters and judges none of them harshly, including the stinkers. Jones has said he regards Tyler as his "literary mother," and Christmas Karma is his holiday gift to her readers.

In Christmas Karma, main character Willa Nawicki is bewildered by a series of curious karmic events that literally ring her doorbell during the frantic season, awakening years-old resentments and stimulating ever-more-intense personal confrontations. These bizarre visitations include a grizzled old man claiming to be her father Sid, who has been missing for some thirty years but now says the title to the family home is in his name – and now he wants the place back.

Jones explains, "The conflict between the family and Sid is the book's engine of comedy." As the angel observes, "The surest way to invoke the laughter of the universe is to make plans, particularly devious ones."

This is author Gerald Everett Jones's ninth book for LaPuerta. His first was the tongue-in-cheek business title How to Lie with Charts. He is also the author of the "boychik-lit" series of Rollo Hemphill Misadventures, including My Inflatable Friend, Rubber Babes, and Farnsworth's Revenge. His novel, Mr. Ballpoint, released earlier this year, is a comedy treatment of the Pen Wars of 1945. He holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honors from the College of Letters, Wesleyan University, where he studied under novelists Peter Boynton (Stone Island), F.D. Reeve (The Red Machines), and Jerzy Kozinski (The Painted Bird, Being There). He blogs about male-centered comic fiction at www.boychiklit.com.

Both Mr. Ballpoint and Christmas Karma are intended for general audiences, including young adult. Praise for Mr. Ballpoint has included:

Deborah Vaden, manager of public libraries in Irving, Texas: "Forgotten history brought to life. If you ever wanted to know how to play the game of life and have a blast doing it, read Mr. Ballpoint. Perfect for our library and book clubs."

Magdalena Ball, host of The Compulsive Reader: Gerald Everett Jones certainly knows how to tell a story. Engaging, funny, and full of the cross-genre capability that marks all of Jones's novels, Mr. Ballpoint will surprise and delight readers of all ages.

All of Mr. Jones's novels are available from Barnes & Nobel and Amazon, in paper and Kindle formats. Release date for Christmas Karma is November 8, 2014.