Roland Colton Blog
Sports, Music, Architecture & Travel
Competing for First Prize–Piano Competition
Piano Competition Two weeks ago, my two young daughters (11 and 13) participated in the annual Musical Arts of Orange County piano competition at Cal State Long Beach. This is the third year they have competed. Since they did well in the past two competitions, we had...
In Search of the Perfect Cover
I have already written about the travails of finding the “perfect title” for my new book, Forever Gentleman---a process that took several years. Thankfully, obtaining the “perfect cover” for my book didn’t take near as long, but still, the process was far from simple....
Mysteries of the Loire Valley: Azay-le-Rideau
One of the benefits of living part-time in the Loire Valley (during summers primarily) is discovering little known historical facts about nearby areas. Sometimes those facts are humorous, other times fascinating and occasionally tragic. In most instances, historical...
What’s in a Title?
A new novel has been written. But what shall the title be? In reading 19th century novels, I have sometimes wondered how much thought went into titles. Even some of Dickens’ great works, in my humble opinion, appear to denote little or no thought; quite a number of...
The Inspiration of Dreams
This may seem like a strange topic for my blog. But it shouldn’t, since we all dream. If you’re like me, most dreams are forgotten before they’re remembered. A tiny percentage of dreams may linger on for a short time, but generally fade away forever. In extremely rare...
Summers in Paradise—Loire Valley
Summers in the Loire Valley For seventeen years now, my family and I have been spending our summers in the Loire Valley, France. We typically leave near the end of June, after the children have finished school and completed their June piano recital. As May nears, we...
Learning Chopin’s Quatrieme Ballade
When the Publisher learned that I am an amateur pianist, with an emphasis on classical music, it was proposed that I combine concertizing with book tours, where possible. The Publisher believed that it would be unique and entertaining to combine reading book excerpts...
Anticipating the First Book Review
In this, my inaugural post, I thought I might share some of my thoughts and impressions in submitting my first novel, “Forever Gentleman” to book reviewers. I suppose most authors have some insecurity about how others will perceive their story and their writing style....
Midwest Book Review of Forever Gentleman
Forever Gentleman gets its first official review courtesy of Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review. Read the entire review in the April 2016 issue of Midwest Book Review (Donovan's Bookshelf) or on my Amazon Author Central page! My historical fiction...
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