‘Iowa Trouble’ is a politics centered memoir by Tyler Granger, a lifetime Iowan who was heavily involved in the area’s politics. Photo: Tyler Granger, used with permission.
Tyler Granger is a lifelong Iowan who wanted to share his life’s journey and began writing his memoir in 2020 for his infant daughter so she would have a book about her father and her family’s history. He shares his journey in this memoir, which includes stories ranging from football to Warped Tour to working for the Obama campaign. He has a degree in political science from Northwestern College and has worked on a variety of political campaigns and non-profits across Iowa. “Iowa Trouble” is a memoir of political violence across Iowa mixed with a variety of horror stories from punk sub-culture to Iowa gangsters to the politics of the Iowa Caucus. (Tyler Granger, 2023)
“Iowa Trouble”– while it is not for everyone, it includes something for everyone. It is a coming of age/gangster novel/political thriller/horror memoir with the target audience being punks and political junkies.
* Disclaimer: This self-published memoir includes stories of murder, rape, drugs and alcohol, political corruption, and other violent crimes that could be potentially emotionally distressing for some readers.
Author Tyler Granger. Courtesy photo, used with permission.
‘Arranged Mating: Otherworlders Series’ is Chris Rogers’ new paranormal romance book. Photo: Amazon
Chris Rogers has been in education for over 17 in public education and post-secondary education. She is the first in her family to go to college; earning a Masters in Science Degree in Science Education and an Educational Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership. Her love for science inspired her to go into education. Reading and writing is a passion. She loves getting lost in a good book or relaxing by writing. As a new writer, Chris Rogers wants to bring her love for paranormal romance to readers giving them a world to get lost in when they open the book. In her new book “Arranged Mating: Otherworlders Series,” will Isla’s magical whip and her budding romance with her future werewolf mate be enough to help her save the worlds from bloodthirsty monsters? (Chris Rogers, 2023)
“Arranged Mating: Otherworlders Series” – Disciplined, strong, and skilled with her magical whip, Isla Bane was raised far away from prying human eyes, among the male wolves of her pack. But the future she has always imagined as the Alpha of her pack becomes nothing more than fantasy when her grandfather interrupts her morning coffee to tell her she is to be mated to the infamous womanizer Axel Griffith – the heir to the wealthy Shadow Pack. As she joins the Shadow Pack in preparation for the mating ceremony, her feelings for Axel grow unexpectedly fast, as does the threat from the insane and bloodthirsty Crazed Otherworlders. Faced with this deadly and suddenly organized enemy, Isla and Axel need to trust each other with their world-altering secrets and overcome their stubborn attitudes if they want to save their packs and the world order Isla was Chosen to protect – even if no one else can be trusted.
San Antonio Book Festival, set for April 15, announces 2023 lineup for festival featuring 100 local, regional, and national authors. Photo: San Antonio Book Festival, used with permission.
The San Antonio Book Festival (SABF) is excited to announce its 2023 author lineup, which includes 100 notable local, regional, and national authors who will be participating in the festival. This year’s lineup includes nationally renowned authors such as Kiese Laymon, Geraldine Brooks, Melissa de la Cruz, Matthew Desmond, and more. The free festival will take place Saturday, April 15, 2023 from 9a.m. to 5p.m. at the Central Library and UTSA Southwest Campus in downtown San Antonio. (San Antonio Book Festival, 2023)
The full author lineupis now available. Locally owned and operated bookstore Nowhere Bookshopwill be the Festival’s official bookseller. Book sales and signings will take place at the Nowhere Bookshop tent in the Festival Marketplace (UTSA Southwest Campus parking lot).
The 11th annual San Antonio Book Festival starts at 9a.m., and will officially kick off with an opening ceremony at 9:30a.m. featuring remarks from SABF’s executive director and Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
SABF is a free, family-friendly event that draws anywhere from 15,000 to 20,000 festival goers to downtown San Antonio for a full day of author presentations, panel discussions, book sales, signings, children’s and teen activities, and food trucks. SABF showcases debut authors and established writers, introducing attendees to new literary talents and connecting them with their favorite authors. A detailed festival schedule will be available in late March.
The 2023 SABF will assemble a wide array of authors—for all ages—who will travel across Texas and the nation for the one-day festival.
“The past year in US publishing has been vibrant and varied. Readers sought romance books in greater numbers, thanks to the rise of BookTok (TikTok, but for book lovers). For the first time, we will have a romance panel at this year’s Book Festival. There’s also been a trend towards thriller and horror lately, with authors using the genre to discuss trauma and mental health, likely because the past few years have been so anxiety-provoking.” – Anna Dobben, the San Antonio Book Festival Literary Director.
Joining the festival this year are award-winning authors like Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award Finalist Rebecca Makkai, who will be promoting her new book “I Have Some Questions for You,” a literary mystery set at a boarding school exploring gender, class, and race. Matthew Desmond, MacArthur Fellow and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of “Evicted,” will participate in the festival with his new nonfiction book “Poverty, By America,” a look at why poverty persists in America and who benefits from it. Marytza Rubio and Alejandro Varela will be promoting their 2023 National Book Award–honored novels.
Popular young adult authors like Adam Silvera, author of the New York Times bestseller “They Both Die at the End,” will join the festival to promote “The First to Die at the End,” the prequel to the aforementioned novel about two strangers who spend a life-changing day together. New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz will also be promoting her new Snow White retelling, “Snow & Poison.”
Additional award-winning authors participating in this year’s festival include Pulitzer Prize–winning Geraldine Brooks promoting her book “Horse;” 2022 MacArthur Fellow Kiese Laymon and his memoir “Heavy;” New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones with a new thriller “Don’t Fear the Reaper;” and Pulitzer Prize–winning Jane Smiley with a new novel, “A Dangerous Business,” to name a few.
The festival will also bring plenty of Texas authors to the festival, such as bestselling author Jeff Guinn, who will be promoting his new book “Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and a Legacy of Rage,” which accounts the disastrous siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco in 1993. Award-winning author Elizabeth McCracken will also participate in the festival with her new novel, “The Hero of This Book,” a story about a writer’s relationship with her larger-than-life mother. Poet Laureate of Houston, Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton will present her memoir, “Black Chameleon.”
In honor of its hometown, SABF is also excited to welcome local San Antonio authors to the lineup for 2023, including Lewis F. Fisher and his book about one of the city’s most beloved natural areas, “Brackenridge: San Antonio’s Acclaimed Urban Park.” Marcia Argueta Mickelson brings her young adult novel, “The Weight of Everything,” to the festival, a story about grief and reconnecting with your roots after the death of a loved one. San Antonio favorite Sandra Cisneros will once again join the festival, this time to promote her first published collection of poems in twenty-eight years, “Woman Without Shame / Mujer sin vergüenza.”
SABF will also host a variety of children’s, middle grade, and young adult authors, including National Book Award finalist Brandon Hobson, whose new middle grade book, “The Storyteller,” mixes the anxieties, friendships and wonders of a Cherokee boy’s life with Cherokee history and lore. Three-time Newbery honoree Christina Soontornvat brings her fantasy middle grade novel, “The Guardian Test: Legends of Lotus Island,” to the festival, a story about a special academy where kids learn to transform into magical creatures that protect the natural world. Children’s author Claudia Guadalupe Martinez will be promoting her bilingual picture book, “Still Dreaming / Seguimos soñando,” a story about a child’s journey during the Mexican Repatriation. SABF’s children’s lineup also includes Newbery and Caldecott–honored creators Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham with a new picture book from their bestselling Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn series, “Party Hearty Kitty-Corn.”
This year SABF will also host a new 21+ event called Lit Happens on the evening of April 14, from 6p.m. to 9p.m. Lit Happens is a night of engaging literary entertainment with libations on the side. Taking place on the eve of the festival, Lit Happens is a celebration of storytelling and community in the heart of downtown San Antonio. The night will kick-off with an outdoor poetry activation featuring Jose Olivarez and San Antonio Poet Laureate Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson at 6p.m. The second phase of the evening at 7p.m. is Worth Repeating, a live storytelling event at Texas Public Radio. Stacked with San Antonio Book Festival authors, this Moth-style session will include writers Rafael Agustin, Mahogany L. Browne, Rebecca Makkai, and Stephen Graham Jones. The night will officially end with a game of Literary Death Match at 8p.m. with Texas-connected authors–V. Castro, Rubén Degollado, Bobby Finger, Jonny Garza Villa–at nearby Legacy Park. Those looking to extend the celebration can easily walk to several local bars.
Book It! Luncheons will also be featured in this year’s programming. The SABF will host three separate intimate luncheons with festival authors hosted by various Book Festival board members. Our three luncheon authors are Ada Calhoun, Dean King, and Reza Aslan.
‘The Union’ by Leah Vernon is a coming of age novel set in a dystopian future. Photo: Amazon
Leah Vernon is an author, body-positive activist, and the first international plus-size Hijabi model. During her double master’s program, she started a blog about being a fat Black Muslim in Detroit experiencing everything from eating disorders to anti-Blackness. She has been featured in ads from Target to Old Navy and even made it to the New York Times and HuffPost. She currently resides in New York City. Her new book “The Union” is a daring dystopian novel that explores the power of friendship in a future society built on violence and division. (Amazon, 2023)
“The Union” – A thousand years in the future, a black elite class reigns. The lower classes, made up of whites, toil in the fields or scrape by in blighted cities, serving their rulers in a cruel, divided world. The story begins with Saige Wilde, a mixed-race enslaved girl whose only goal is escaping beyond the borders of their brutal nation. Among the Lower Residents, there are three classes: Domestic, Chattel, and Impure. Because she is mixed, she is simply labeled as Impure. In this dystopian world, color determines everything: “the paler you were, the worse you got it.” Among the Elites is eighteen-year-old Avi Jore, born to a powerful father and destined to rule. As she comes of age, Avi cannot help but notice the injustices in her world―the treatment of enslaved workers and the oppression of the lower classes. Her disillusionment grows when she meets Saige, who saves her from an assassination attempt, and their paths become intertwined in ways they never imagined. As Saige plots her path to freedom, Avi tries to enact change from the inside but it is a complicated endeavor, filled with danger and malice. Together, their efforts could spark a revolution and underscore the staggering power of friendship.
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” this is the quote from George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” that comes to mind while reading “The Union.” Regardless of who is in charge, there is a risk of them eventually going power hungry and those who are not end up under their heels. Such is the case in this totally engaging speculative novel that dares to imagine a world where whites are not the ruling class. Add in elements of a coming of age novel and friendships that are tested by life’s complications and you have a thought provoking story. Judging by the ending, this is likely to be a series and it would be interesting to read where the author takes these characters. They are well developed, relatable, and strong willed. The narration is in the first person point of view and switches back and forth between Avi and Saige, giving readers a glimpse into their thought processes. With descriptive language that is simple and down to earth, the story flows through the pages, making it a fast read. “The Union” is a coming of age fiction set in a dystopian future similar to the Hunger Games. It may appeal to fans of the genre who appreciate strong characters in tales of revolution and class struggles all mixed in with politics.
“The environment was nothing that I’d ever experienced. It was as if an acidic mist lingered over the entire block, turning everything into the same dull color. The buildings were tall, connected, and intimidating, like they had trapped any soul that had tried to escape. It was like being in a parallel universe, eons away from home.”
*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.
‘The Paper Tiger Syndrome’ is a guidebook on the journey of healing and self-repair. Photo: Amazon
Rebecca A. Wardis an American therapist, activist, healer, author, speaker, and coach. As a trauma survivor herself, she has triumphed over extraordinary suffering and come out on other side to her joy again. As a licensed therapist in California and ICF-Certified Professional Coach, Rebecca holds a multitude of trauma-informed certifications, including Somatic Experiencing®. She is a member of the International Coaching Federation and CA Marriage and Family Therapists Association. In her new book, “The Paper Tiger Syndrome: How to Liberate Yourself from the Illusion of Fear,” Rebecca shares her personal trauma-to-resilience story and the wisdom from her own clients to help readers transform their own trauma wounds into personal growth, presence, resilience, and joy and reconnect back to the truest version of themselves—what she calls the Original Blueprint®. (Amazon, 2022)
“The Paper Tiger Syndrome” – Paper tigers are thoughts and experiences that conjure up dread but do not present any real danger, they just create the same physiological responses in the human body that our ancestors experienced when they were stalked by predators on the plains. In the modern world, however, those responses are unwarranted. They are neurological “misfires” that harm our mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing, all in an effort to keep us “safe.” In the Preface section of the Introduction, the author explains that the book is “a roadmap to guide you on that journey back home.” This is followed by the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) survey to help readers find out where to begin since ACEs are known to be linked to chronic health problems, mental illness, and substance abuse in adulthood. The book consists of examples from her clients’ lives, and her own, as well as journaling ideas and exercises/rituals to enhance the healing process. All together, she shares ways to overcome fear, stress, and trauma in your life to help regulate your physical body. Based largely on the principles of somatic therapy, it contains specific exercises and tools to help you walk the bridge from fear to safety to unconditional love. It is divided into ten chapters including The Anatomy of Fear, How We Survive Childhood, and It Takes a Village.
Now more than ever, people are struggling with anxiety and depression. Life’s hardships can create a sense of apprehension that is hard to shake but the truth is that most fears and anxieties are really just paper tigers. A paper tiger is defined as ‘something, or someone, that appears to be a threat, but in reality is powerless.’ The difficulties the author experienced and surpassed give this book an aura of authenticity; she knows what she is talking about and her tone is caring without being condescending. She even pauses every now and then to encourage readers to take a break if necessary. The language is easy to understand and the layout of the information includes diagrams, lists, and reflection opportunities. To get the full benefits, the author recommends having a personal journal to complete the written exercise and write down your thoughts or download the Companion Workbook. Highlights include Chapter Four: It Takes a Village where she stresses that a lack of connection ‘heightens fear reactions and diminishes virtually ever aspect of life, including longevity’ and Chapter Seven: Healing Childhood Wounds where she shares guidelines to help overcome harmful childhood conditionings like body shaming. “The Paper Tiger Syndrome” is a highly informative resource guide that is encouraging and therapeutic and includes the necessary tools to guide readers through their healing journey. It is recommended for readers interested in self help, personal transformation, and spirituality books.
“Fear is a cheap marketing tool to keep you in line. Fear is not the way any infinite Source wants us to feel. We’re here to discover love for all that is in us and around us.”
*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.
The San Antonio Book Festival brings together readers and writers to celebrate the literary world. Photo: San Antonio Book Festival, used with permission.
The San Antonio Book Festival was supposed to take place this April 4 but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 health crisis. The festival would still like to encourage people to read while at home during this time of social distancing and quarantine. They have put together a list of recommended books for adults as well as options for parents to provide for their children while homeschooling. (San Antonio Book Festival, 2020)
If You Feel Like Confronting the Pandemic Head-On:
Fiction:
– “Cold Storage” by David Koepp
– “The Memory Police” by Yoko Ogawa
– “Severance” by Ling Ma
– “Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel
– “The Dog Stars” by Peter Heller
Nonfiction:
– “Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World” by Laura Spinney
If You’d Rather Be Distracted:
Fiction:
– “The Jetsetters” by Amanda Eyre Ward
– “A Good Neighborhood” by Therese Anne Fowler
– “Simon the Fiddler” by Paulette Jiles
Nonfiction:
– “The Hunt for History” by Nathan Raab
– “The Falcon Thief” by Joshua Hammer
– “The Rumi Prescription” by Melody Moezzi
For Kids/Teens Stuck at Home:
Kids:
– “Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom” by Louis Sachar
– “Prairie Lotus” by Linda Sue Park
– “Amal Unbound” by Aisha Saeeed
Teens:
– “Tigers, Not Daughters” by Samantha Mabry
– “The Hand on the Wall” by Maureen Johnson
– “Bull” by David Elliott
The mission of the San Antonio Book Festival (SABF) is to unite readers and writers in a celebration of ideas, books, libraries, and literary culture. SABF was first presented in April 2013. Founding partners include the San Antonio Public Library, the Southwest School of Art, the San Antonio Public Library Foundation, and Texas Book Festival. This “Fiesta for the mind” is a gift to visitors and the citizens of San Antonio, free and open to all.
This year’s San Antonio Book Festival will be held on Saturday April 4. Photo: San Antonio Book Festival, used with permission.
The San Antonio Book Festival (SABF) is excited to announce its 2020 author lineup, which includes more than 120 local, regional and national authors who will appear at the 8th annual festival as well as a new event – Lit Crawl. This year’s lineup includes nationally renowned authors such as Saeed Jones, Attica Locke, Marie Arana, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández and more. The amazing weekend of festivities will take place on Saturday, April 4, from 9a.m. to 5p.m. at the Central Library and Southwest School of Art. (The San Antonio Book Festival, 2020)
The book festival is a free, family-friendly event that draws more than 20,000 festival goers to downtown San Antonio for a full day of author presentations, panel discussions, book sales, signings, children and teen activities and food trucks. It showcases first-time novelists and established writers, and introduces attendees to new literary talents and connects them with their favorite authors. A listing of all festival writers as well as a detailed festival schedule will be available online in March.
This year, there will be an additional free event, Lit Crawl, a big block party for books and everyone who loves to read them. This is the first time Lit Crawl is held in San Antonio and the city is just the 15th one globally to produce Lit Crawl. The event will take place the evening of Friday, April 3, as part of First Friday in Southtown in the Blue Star Arts complex. Lit Crawl brings literature to the streets, offering a mini-festival within the larger Book Festival that features writers, poets and storytellers performing their work and inviting audience participation. Lit Crawl will feature several events, including Literary Death Match, where four writers will compete for “bookish” glory; at another event, writers will speak about writerly topics but will be unaware that the audience has been instructed to take a shot every time one of the writers utters specific words. Lit Crawl involves the local literary scene and captures San Antonio’s unique flavor—all while getting book lovers and revelers alike drunk on words. The inaugural Lit Crawl is produced with the help of Ricos Products and the Blue Star Arts Complex.
Internationally acclaimed writer Sandra Cisneros will debut a new festival event, Sandra Cisneros Presents, where she introduces four of her favorite writers to festival audiences. Cisneros’ long list of accolades includes NEA fellowships in both poetry and fiction, the Texas Medal of the Arts, a MacArthur Fellowship, several honorary doctorates and national and international book awards, including the National Medal of the Arts awarded to her by President Obama in 2016.
The San Antonio Book Festival is also excited to bring back the 4th Annual Book Appétit Literary Feast at the Witte Museum’s Mays Family Center on April 2 featuring novelist Amor Towles. SABF will also be hosting Book It! luncheons, three opportunities to have an intimate lunch with a festival author at Club Giraud on April 4.
The mission of the San Antonio Book Festival (SABF) is to unite readers and writers in a celebration of ideas, books, libraries, and literary culture. SABF was first presented in April 2013. Founding partners include the San Antonio Public Library, the Southwest School of Art, the San Antonio Public Library Foundation, and Texas Book Festival. This “Fiesta for the mind” is a gift to visitors and the citizens of San Antonio, free and open to all.
‘Firewall’ by Eugenia Lovett West. Photo: Barnes & Noble
Eugenia Lovett West is an American author who attended Sarah Lawrence College and worked for Harper’s Bazaar and the American Red Cross. Her first novel was “The Ancestors Cry Out” and was followed by two Emma Streat mysteries: “Without Warning” and “Overkill” and the historical novel “Sarah’s War.” Her latest novel, “Firewall: An Emma Streat Mystery” was released in November and has Emma involved in the dark world of cybercrime when her rich, feisty, socialite godmother is blackmailed and turns to Emma for help.
The Emma Streat Mysteries revolve around Emma, a former opera singer who survived the murder of her husband and the destruction of her beautiful old house. She is now a single mother struggling to move on and make a home for her two sons. Because of her detective skills and her connections, she has become a go-to-person when family and friends are in trouble. “Firewall” begins with Emma’s plans for a Caribbean getaway disrupted when her godmother Caroline calls her and demands she drop everything to help her find her ex-husband Pierre who she believes is behind a blackmail attempt. Caroline mentions that Pierre was last seen in Paris so Emma cancels her plans to go halfway around the world to find him despite the fact that Caroline already paid the ransom demand. This case takes Emma to exclusive European settings where she interacts with top people in the financial and art world . Along the way, she has to rely on a past lover for information, she gets caught up in a kidnapping and is herself kidnapped and nearly killed. It takes all her resilience and wits to get her through it all and bring a ruthless criminal to justice.
Emma Streat is back in top form for another thrill ride of mystery solving. Her character is well developed from past novels: she is smart with admirable detective skills but is easily swayed and does not seem to be in control of her own life. Her newest mystery is an enjoyable and easy read with a story that moves along at a brisk pace written in down to earth language. The first person narration draws the reader into Emma’s life and provides insight into her thought processes. The first part develops the blackmail story but part two has little to do with this storyline and does not circle back to Caroline and her situation. Hopefully it will be addressed in future novels. There are several sub-plots with characters that keep changing and then abruptly dropped and only one briefly deals with cybercrime, as promised by the title. Overall, “Firewall” is a combination of mystery, suspense and romance with enough thrills and plot twists to keep the reader guessing and is recommended for fans of mystery and suspense novels.
*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.
‘Bone Box’ is the new mystery novel by Faye Kellerman. Photo: amazon
Faye Kellerman is an author of mystery novels with the most popular being the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus series. Her stand-alone novels include “The Quality of Mercy,” “Moon Music” and “Straight Into Darkness” and overall her books have sold millions of copies worldwide. “Bone Box,” her newest Decker/Lazarus novel was released today and has Rina Lazarus making a shocking discovery in the woods of her upstate New York community.
According to Amazon, in “Bone Box,” Rina Decker is out for a walk when she stumbles upon human remains that were once buried deep beneath the forest. Her husband Peter, a former detective lieutenant with the LAPD who is now working for the local police is brought in to investigate the case. It turns out that the body had been buried for years and the evidence includes the skeleton of a young woman, a skull wound and long dark strands of hair surrounding the frame. The victim is identified as a missing student from the nearby college. This leads Decker, his partner and Rina to investigate what turns out to be a series of gruesome, unsolved murders that point to a diabolical serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight for years. They are in a race to protect the community from a killer who is still in the area and in search of a new victim.
‘Fearless and Free’ is new the book by Wendy Sachs
Wendy Sachs is an Emmy-award winning TV producer and a former Capitol Hill press secretary, public relations executive, media and content strategist and CNN contributor. She often writes about work and life issues and women’s issues and has appeared in dozens of radio and TV shows. Her new book ‘Fearless and Free: How Smart Women Pivot – and Relaunch Their Careers’ was released on February 7, 2017. It is a career advice reference book about how women can redefine themselves and their careers regardless of age or experience.
‘Fearless and Free’ begins with an introduction by the author where she introduces herself and what she has learned from her numerous career pivots. The rest is divided into chapters such as ‘Strike a Pose and Feel the Power,’ ‘Congratulations, You’re Fired!’ and ‘Branding Is Not Bragging.’ The job market is always evolving and workers need to adapt if they are to succeed. Some of the practical advice the author gives includes the need for women to believe in themselves, think outside the box and take risks. Most importantly, they should not be too timid to brag about themselves and their skills and should take full advantage of networking. There is also advice for women who have taken time off, sometimes years off, to raise a family. She writes about how these women can translate those experiences into transferable job skills that will help them ease back into the workforce.
Even though it may be geared towards women, both men and women can benefit from this book. The subject matter and conversational tone makes it easy to read and understand. Knowing that even the author herself has struggled makes her relatable and her advice more believable. The subject of branding may be new for some but in this day of age of social media it is more relevant than ever. It is worth nothing that she has previously worked on Capitol Hill so her political connections do come to light. Overall ‘Fearless and Free’ is an excellent resource for career advice. It is recommended for readers looking to sharpen their skills and work ethics to meet the demands of an ever evolving job market.
*A copy of this book was given for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are solely the author’s.
SA Examiner 