Todays Free Fridays selection, First, There Is a River by Kathy Steffen, is a complex novel that evokes the simple pleasure and frequent pain of early 1900s riverboat life.

From the outside, Emma Perkins seems to have it all a hardworking farmer for a husband and a beautiful family. Yet, like many women in her day, Perkins is the virtual captive of a mean spirited and controlling man who haunts her every waking moment.

Each week, we ask our featured author to recommend a book or author that you may want to check out. Since authors are such passionate readers themselves, we thought you might like to find out what they love to read, too. Here is what Kathy Steffen recommends.

Ordered List Looks Like This

1. Brush: The Chinese brush is a mandatory tool for Chinese painting. The brush should be sturdy and pliable. Two types of brushes are used. The more delicate brush is created from white sheep hair. This brush should be soaked first, and then dried to prevent curling. The second one is made from fox or deer sable fibers, which are very durable, and is inclined to paint better. The procedure the brush is used depends on the varied features of brush strokes one wants to obtain, such as weight, lightness, gracefulness, ruggedness, firmness, and fullness. Various forms of shades are applied to impart space, texture, or depth.
2. Ink Stick: There are three types of Ink Stick: resin soot, lacquer soot, and tung-oil soot. Of the three, tung-oil soot is the most commonly used. Otherwise, Chinese ink is best if ink stick or ink stone are ineffectual.
3. Paper: The most generally used paper is Xuan paper, which is fabricated of sandalwood bark. This is exceptionally water retentive, so the color or ink disperses the moment the brush stroke is put down. The second most well-known is Mian paper.
4. Color: The most former Chinese paintings used Mo, a type of natural ink, to produce monochromatic representations of nature or day-to-day life. Made of pine soot, mo is combined with water to get unique shades for conveying appropriate layers or color in a painting.

Shui mo is the combination of shui (water) and mo. There are two styles of Chinese painting. They are gong bi or detailed style, and xie yi or freehand style. The second is the most common, not only since the objects are depicted with just a few strokes, but likewise because shapes and sprites are drawn by uncomplicated curves and natural ink. Many ancient poets and students used xie-yi paintings to give tongue to their religious anguish.