Wat more can ah say? Nothin' till I buys me a dikshonary...cain't fathom a blamed word! ;-)

Who is Joe Yakel? It's a name you might well not have heard yet, might never have heard in fact were it not for the Internet. And that would have been your loss. This talented young man represents a new breed of writer utilizing the Information Super Highway to rise above the obscurity that has plagued other talented writers simply because they couldn't get their work onto the public forum.

I stumbled upon Joe's writing one day, quite by accident, while doing an Internet search. I was impressed to say the least. A more specific search led to even more of Joe's writings. All, at least his serious work, shows a depth of research and understanding that cannot help but indicate a sharp intellect coupled with a natural talent for the written word. I mention his serious work quite deliberately. Joe also has a whimsical side to his nature as well and is quite willing to give it free rein. Read "Juggin' Joe" and you'll see what I mean.

Joe is relatively local to my area and I decided to seek him out. Who after all doesn't wish to meet the person behind the words? Besides, the whole process of Internet driven authorship presenting an instantaneous worldwide audience is a phenomena like nothing ever seen before. I wanted to speak to someone that has successfully taken advantage of it.

Of course my first question to Joe was the obvious one; "How did you get started?" Joe, not surprisingly, has his roots in the more traditional media of periodicals and newspapers but always felt too confined by the parameters such publications insist upon. "I understand they're trying to sell their product to a specific audience", Joe said, "but the cost of money driven ventures is to sacrifice the message the writer really wants to convey. They (the editors) in the end determined what was said. I wanted the freedom to express myself the way I wanted. The Internet offered me this freedom."

"It all started with "Juggin' Joe", a bit of whimsical nonsense that I knew a traditional editor would want to rearrange until it was unrecognizable to me." Joe told me. "It started out being more of a way just to relax between more serious pieces and somehow grew to take on a life of its own." "I showed it to some friends and to my surprise they thought it worthy of publishing. I figured this would be a good first attempt at using the Internet to test the waters as a way of disseminating my writing.

Utilizing WWW.LULU.COM, an Internet publishing firm which prints books as they are ordered, Joe put his work out there and then sat back to see what happened. "It was slow at first" Joe admits. "The problem is there is so much out there that getting noticed takes some time. It's one disadvantage I've found with Internet publishing. But as there was no real hurry, in fact I viewed the whole thing as more of an experiment than a serious publishing attempt; I just continued to watch what would happen."

What happened is the slow but steady momentum of an ever-increasing following of fans. Do an Internet search of Joe Yakel now and you'll see glowing reviews of his work from an International community. Since "Juggin' Joe", Joe has put another three books out on the Internet. In addition Joe has branched out to including articles for various Internet magazines and other such forums, all of which continue to do well and point to the growing talent of this author and his devoted readers.

"I'm sold" Joe told me, "This is definitely the way of the future, especially for relatively new writers. How else can I put the material out that I want to without constraints? How else are people truly going to read what I want to say?" Well speaking as one of your readers Joe let me say I'm sold too. And, like so many others I'm sure, look forward to your next work. And for those of you that haven't previously heard of Joe Yakel, let me assure you, you soon will. I guarantee it.

I took a likin' to Juggen Joe right off. 'Spect he's distint kin folk ta Casey'n 'em. Great stuff.
Goran

From the author of HILLBILLY HYMNS FROM THE LUNATIC FRINGE who is now working on MORE HILLBILY HYMNS & BLUEGRASS TUNES FROM HIXVILLE - I must say I am DEEEEEE-LIGHTED with the look, the content, and the humour of this wonderful book. I will put it on my things to buy list with my next order. Now, Grannies callin - Cousin Daisy and me better get our clothes back on and our sinful and lazy carcasses out of the creek before the Hoe Down commences. I really like this BUT then again I've been chug-a-lugging from a full jug all day and now it is nearly empty. Gottta get my banjo tuned before the WE AIN'T GOT NUTTIN BUTT TYME Blue Grass band gets here!
Ya All Come Back NOW, Ya hear?
Earl.

I think the story is great and the use of language is amazing. I could hear the narrators voice in my ear as I read it, accent and everything! The title "The Legend of Juggin Joe" fits perfectly because the book is sure to become a legend along with Huck Finn and some of the Disney characters such as the Country Bears and Brer Rabbit (from Song of the South and the Splash Mountain ride). Great book - I give it 3 thumbs way up!