"Save Send Delete" is a true story. It's about a poor Catholic schoolteacher, an atheist celebrity, their debate, and their relationship. "Save Send Delete" asks ancient questions: is there a God in heaven? Is there love in human hearts?
At the bottom of this blog entry, you will find a contest announcement. The contest prize is a free copy of "Save Send Delete." I hope to post more contests, and more opportunities to win free copies of the book, in the future on this blog.
***
Some years back I was wrestling with the big, hard questions. In my quest, I came across the work of a man who happened to be an atheist. I contacted him. "Save Send Delete" is based on our relationship.
There are hundreds of prominent atheists out there: filmmakers, actors, authors, poets, politicians, scientists, journalists, even some rabbis. The man I corresponded with is one of these hundreds of recognizable figures.
There are no clues in "Save Send Delete" to my correspondent's true identity. I did everything I could to disguise it, while retaining the essence of our exchange.
For example, Lord Court-Wright is an English lord because his location in England emphasizes the distance between him and Mira, and his lordship emphasizes the difference between his status and hers – not because my correspondent was, or was not, English, or an aristocrat.
I want you to know this, though. When it comes to my own story, I struggled to reproduce every detail as accurately as possible, right down to the orange lipstick Justin's date wore to the prom, and to the exact height – twenty-five feet – of my loft ceiling.
I tracked down the man who identifies himself, in the text, as "Lamjung," and elicited from him a story he'd told me decades before. The story you read in "Save Send Delete" are Lamjung's exact words. I did this because I know that some will read "Save Send Delete" as part of their own wrestling match with the big, hard questions. I don't want to stack the deck in favor of God or synchronicity, and I also don't want to sell God, or you, dear reader, short.
Here is what some readers have had to say about "Save Send Delete":
A quirky, intricately woven, multi-layered love story, a debate that couldn't be between greater opposites: a devout Catholic schoolteacher and a dogmatic atheist author.
– Stuart Balcomb, composer, Gravity and Grace.
Danusha Goska is a lyrical, forceful writer with a huge heart and talent to burn. Her inspiring observations embody the best vision of which we humans are capable. Goska deserves widespread attention.
– Larry Dossey, MD author, Reinventing Medicine and The Power of Premonitions
I was very affected by the love story. The last twenty pages really had me biting my nails. Your work reminds me of Etty Hillesum.
– Robert Ellsberg author of All Saints and Modern Spiritual Masters: Writings on Contemplation and Compassion.
Save Send Delete is beautifully written, and there is much in this work that intrigues, entrances, informs, & moves me. Danusha Goska writes with flair, vividness, and depth about two faith systems; two levels of consciousness; two geographical, sociological, historical, & psychological planes of existence – yet in each sentence, she searches for grandeur, wholeness & transcendence in both.
– Charles Ades Fishman, poet, Chopin's Piano.
Danusha Goska is a terrific writer and thinker and reading Save Send Delete – whether you're an atheist or an agnostic or a true believer – will be a blessing to you.
– John Guzlowski, poet, Lightning and Ashes.
It is a given, as consistently observed by others in print, that Danusha V. Goska is an exquisite writer. Her words paint the richest of images for the reader, while the images themselves become the suddenly clarifying metaphors for those parts of our humanity we may have forgotten. What is not so often stated is that one is hard pressed to read Ms. Goska's writing passively. Her essays and books oblige readers to assert their own positions on a wide variety of issues ~ note her work in "Bieganski," "Homosexuality and the Bible," or her latest work, Save Send Delete. Ms. Goska ultimately draws us into a dialogue about her and our faith – a theme that is the common thread throughout her writing. To this I can attest personally, as one who reads her works and is always energized by the debate.
– Dr. Michael Herzbrun, Rabbi Temple Emanu-El, Rochester, NY
Zippy and vivid writing; Goska spins a fascinating tale.
Oriana Ivy, poet, My Grandmother's Laughter
Cheeky, mystical, merry, dark, and deep, Goska's wit, intelligence, and faith shimmer on every page.
– Jim Leary author, So Ole Says to Lena
A powerful and evocative reflective journey.
– Paul Loeb, author, Soul of a Citizen.
Goska writes with wit, exuberance, and grace about matters of the heart and the soul. Save Send Delete works on multiple levels –emotional, spiritual, and physical – to evoke in readers an awareness of life's splendid mysteries. It's a Christian Eat, Pray, Love (without the Eat), offering readers an entertaining, insightful story about two very different but equally unforgettable individuals.
– Daiva Markelis, memoirist, White Field Black Sheep.
With spare but dramatic and searing description Goska takes the reader on a quest for the essence of life – and faith. Along the not-so-beaten path her followers discover heart. Save Send Delete is a story to Read Realize Retain.
– James Conroyd Martin, author, Push Not the River and Against a Crimson Sky.
I honestly absolutely love Save Send Delete. I was reading it last night and I was laughing so hard, I nearly fell out of bed!!
– Krystyna Mew, publisher, Lost Between Worlds.
Save Send Delete tackles meaty and timeless topics in a fresh and highly entertaining form. It packs in age-old questions of love, God, suffering, transcendence and death with humor, grace and wisdom. It explores relationships: between men & women, between students & teachers, and ultimately between ourselves and who we want ourselves to be and mean. As a practicing Catholic, I found myself humbled by Mira's insights and experiences. As a computing professional, I reveled in the interaction of two minds reasoning about faith. I inhaled this book in hours, yet I feel it will have a profound and lasting impact on my life.
– Barbara E. Moo, author of programming language textbooks and former executive at Bell Labs
Falling down the gap
When you arrive into the stations of the London Underground, a recorded voice intones 'Mind the gap. Mind the gap.' It is something Londoners take for granted.
We live in a world that, we are told, is getting smaller. We can travel around the globe in a matter of days, move between cultures in a matter of hours. What do we see when we arrive? We see the golden arches, the logos of familiar shops and all too often, the familiar sound of the English language. The world is getting smaller, we say. A comfortable mantra. A comfortable untruth.
We no longer see the gap.
Danusha Goska's book, Save Send Delete, tears that comfort away. She writes about a divided world, a world in which the unbelievably wealthy live in world that they barely see and are not aware of the immense privilege of their existence; and the unbelievably poor live in a world more harsh than we can imagine, but that also contains beauty and generosity.
Danusha Goska turns what could be an academic abstraction into the living world of real people who come vividly alive in her prose.
She not only sees the gap, she has gone into it, and in her writing offers to share that journey and the insights it has given her.
– Danuta Reah, author, Listen to the Shadows.
I'll admit I was skeptical, but Goska is such a good writer she had me hooked on the first page.
– Vivian Chern Shnaidman, author, Homicidal Intent
The writing is stunning, the intelligence razor sharp. A beautiful piece of writing and a story that will stay with me for quite a long time, I can already feel it.
– Laura Young, photographer, author, All is Well: Drawing Wisdom from the Well of Grief and Joy.
***
CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT
Take the quiz, below.
Send your answers as messages to my Facebook account.
From those who answer correctly before midnight, EST, on March 31st, 2012, a winner will be chosen at random, and will receive a free copy of "Save Send Delete."
According to the description in the blog entry above,
1.) TRUE or FALSE: "Save Send Delete" proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that God exists.
2.) TRUE or FALSE: "Save Send Delete" is entirely fictional.
3.) TRUE or FALSE: "Save Send Delete" will be of interest only to Christian readers.
4.) TRUE or FALSE: "Save Send Delete" is an unrelievedly serious, solemn book.
5.) TRUE or FALSE: The main characters of "Save Send Delete" are Mira, a Catholic teacher, and the English aristocrat, Lord Hoss Cartwright.
At the bottom of this blog entry, you will find a contest announcement. The contest prize is a free copy of "Save Send Delete." I hope to post more contests, and more opportunities to win free copies of the book, in the future on this blog.
***
Some years back I was wrestling with the big, hard questions. In my quest, I came across the work of a man who happened to be an atheist. I contacted him. "Save Send Delete" is based on our relationship.
There are hundreds of prominent atheists out there: filmmakers, actors, authors, poets, politicians, scientists, journalists, even some rabbis. The man I corresponded with is one of these hundreds of recognizable figures.
There are no clues in "Save Send Delete" to my correspondent's true identity. I did everything I could to disguise it, while retaining the essence of our exchange.
For example, Lord Court-Wright is an English lord because his location in England emphasizes the distance between him and Mira, and his lordship emphasizes the difference between his status and hers – not because my correspondent was, or was not, English, or an aristocrat.
I want you to know this, though. When it comes to my own story, I struggled to reproduce every detail as accurately as possible, right down to the orange lipstick Justin's date wore to the prom, and to the exact height – twenty-five feet – of my loft ceiling.
I tracked down the man who identifies himself, in the text, as "Lamjung," and elicited from him a story he'd told me decades before. The story you read in "Save Send Delete" are Lamjung's exact words. I did this because I know that some will read "Save Send Delete" as part of their own wrestling match with the big, hard questions. I don't want to stack the deck in favor of God or synchronicity, and I also don't want to sell God, or you, dear reader, short.
Here is what some readers have had to say about "Save Send Delete":
A quirky, intricately woven, multi-layered love story, a debate that couldn't be between greater opposites: a devout Catholic schoolteacher and a dogmatic atheist author.
– Stuart Balcomb, composer, Gravity and Grace.
Danusha Goska is a lyrical, forceful writer with a huge heart and talent to burn. Her inspiring observations embody the best vision of which we humans are capable. Goska deserves widespread attention.
– Larry Dossey, MD author, Reinventing Medicine and The Power of Premonitions
I was very affected by the love story. The last twenty pages really had me biting my nails. Your work reminds me of Etty Hillesum.
– Robert Ellsberg author of All Saints and Modern Spiritual Masters: Writings on Contemplation and Compassion.
Save Send Delete is beautifully written, and there is much in this work that intrigues, entrances, informs, & moves me. Danusha Goska writes with flair, vividness, and depth about two faith systems; two levels of consciousness; two geographical, sociological, historical, & psychological planes of existence – yet in each sentence, she searches for grandeur, wholeness & transcendence in both.
– Charles Ades Fishman, poet, Chopin's Piano.
Danusha Goska is a terrific writer and thinker and reading Save Send Delete – whether you're an atheist or an agnostic or a true believer – will be a blessing to you.
– John Guzlowski, poet, Lightning and Ashes.
It is a given, as consistently observed by others in print, that Danusha V. Goska is an exquisite writer. Her words paint the richest of images for the reader, while the images themselves become the suddenly clarifying metaphors for those parts of our humanity we may have forgotten. What is not so often stated is that one is hard pressed to read Ms. Goska's writing passively. Her essays and books oblige readers to assert their own positions on a wide variety of issues ~ note her work in "Bieganski," "Homosexuality and the Bible," or her latest work, Save Send Delete. Ms. Goska ultimately draws us into a dialogue about her and our faith – a theme that is the common thread throughout her writing. To this I can attest personally, as one who reads her works and is always energized by the debate.
– Dr. Michael Herzbrun, Rabbi Temple Emanu-El, Rochester, NY
Zippy and vivid writing; Goska spins a fascinating tale.
Oriana Ivy, poet, My Grandmother's Laughter
Cheeky, mystical, merry, dark, and deep, Goska's wit, intelligence, and faith shimmer on every page.
– Jim Leary author, So Ole Says to Lena
A powerful and evocative reflective journey.
– Paul Loeb, author, Soul of a Citizen.
Goska writes with wit, exuberance, and grace about matters of the heart and the soul. Save Send Delete works on multiple levels –emotional, spiritual, and physical – to evoke in readers an awareness of life's splendid mysteries. It's a Christian Eat, Pray, Love (without the Eat), offering readers an entertaining, insightful story about two very different but equally unforgettable individuals.
– Daiva Markelis, memoirist, White Field Black Sheep.
With spare but dramatic and searing description Goska takes the reader on a quest for the essence of life – and faith. Along the not-so-beaten path her followers discover heart. Save Send Delete is a story to Read Realize Retain.
– James Conroyd Martin, author, Push Not the River and Against a Crimson Sky.
I honestly absolutely love Save Send Delete. I was reading it last night and I was laughing so hard, I nearly fell out of bed!!
– Krystyna Mew, publisher, Lost Between Worlds.
Save Send Delete tackles meaty and timeless topics in a fresh and highly entertaining form. It packs in age-old questions of love, God, suffering, transcendence and death with humor, grace and wisdom. It explores relationships: between men & women, between students & teachers, and ultimately between ourselves and who we want ourselves to be and mean. As a practicing Catholic, I found myself humbled by Mira's insights and experiences. As a computing professional, I reveled in the interaction of two minds reasoning about faith. I inhaled this book in hours, yet I feel it will have a profound and lasting impact on my life.
– Barbara E. Moo, author of programming language textbooks and former executive at Bell Labs
Falling down the gap
When you arrive into the stations of the London Underground, a recorded voice intones 'Mind the gap. Mind the gap.' It is something Londoners take for granted.
We live in a world that, we are told, is getting smaller. We can travel around the globe in a matter of days, move between cultures in a matter of hours. What do we see when we arrive? We see the golden arches, the logos of familiar shops and all too often, the familiar sound of the English language. The world is getting smaller, we say. A comfortable mantra. A comfortable untruth.
We no longer see the gap.
Danusha Goska's book, Save Send Delete, tears that comfort away. She writes about a divided world, a world in which the unbelievably wealthy live in world that they barely see and are not aware of the immense privilege of their existence; and the unbelievably poor live in a world more harsh than we can imagine, but that also contains beauty and generosity.
Danusha Goska turns what could be an academic abstraction into the living world of real people who come vividly alive in her prose.
She not only sees the gap, she has gone into it, and in her writing offers to share that journey and the insights it has given her.
– Danuta Reah, author, Listen to the Shadows.
I'll admit I was skeptical, but Goska is such a good writer she had me hooked on the first page.
– Vivian Chern Shnaidman, author, Homicidal Intent
The writing is stunning, the intelligence razor sharp. A beautiful piece of writing and a story that will stay with me for quite a long time, I can already feel it.
– Laura Young, photographer, author, All is Well: Drawing Wisdom from the Well of Grief and Joy.
***
CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT
Take the quiz, below.
Send your answers as messages to my Facebook account.
From those who answer correctly before midnight, EST, on March 31st, 2012, a winner will be chosen at random, and will receive a free copy of "Save Send Delete."
According to the description in the blog entry above,
1.) TRUE or FALSE: "Save Send Delete" proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that God exists.
2.) TRUE or FALSE: "Save Send Delete" is entirely fictional.
3.) TRUE or FALSE: "Save Send Delete" will be of interest only to Christian readers.
4.) TRUE or FALSE: "Save Send Delete" is an unrelievedly serious, solemn book.
5.) TRUE or FALSE: The main characters of "Save Send Delete" are Mira, a Catholic teacher, and the English aristocrat, Lord Hoss Cartwright.
