Forgive me Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) for riffing on your famous line to head this post, but (true confession time) i couldn’t resist. According to Wiki, the Canadian communication theorist coined the title ‘The Medium is the Message’ for the first chapter of his book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, published in 1964. He liked the phrase so much he used a variation (actually a printing error) as the title of a later book, The Medium Is the Massage. He preferred the misprint  because people notice it; it works as a teaser, as a way of getting attention.

And talking of attention (ahem), that brings me to my reason for referencing (ever so subtly) (not) McLuhan’s title: Ragini Werner_author is getting noticed by the mass media. Now, don’t worry, I’m not going to go all Trumpian and start referring to me, myself and and The Big I in the third person from now on, even if you, dear Author, and I both know that using the third person is a great way of creating essential distance from ourselves our characters (double-ahem). But I digress.

Much as I hate showing off (triple-ahem), I can’t resist offering this roundup of items that have appeared on mass media to date, all thanks to the publication by Iguana Books of Becoming Janice in April 2024.

 

“I love the big sky, the cloudscapes, and the evening light”
By Brandon Hartley
Ragini Werner was born in Indonesia and grew up in New Zealand. After a rough spell in London, she moved to Amsterdam where she eventually became a corporate journalist at Elsevier. READ MORE

 

IWCN volunteer set to launch new book
By Rita Alves
Almost ten years after her debut novel was published, author Ragini Werner who is a member and volunteer at Groningen’s International Welcome Center North (IWCN) is back with a poignant tale. READ MORE

The Northern Times spoke with author Ragini Werner about her new book Becoming Janice and how the queer characters play a role in it
By Marielle (Mary) Spelde
“It doesn’t matter what the sexuality of the character is. It’s the person,” says author Ragini Werner  READ MORE

 

Feestelijk boeklancering
By Truus Top-Hettinga
Aan de deur van haar huis in de Luddestraat in Thesinge word ik ontvangen door Gini Werner met haar enthousiaste hond, een bruine Jack Russell, naast zich die bezoek kennelijk heel gezellig vindt. MEER LEZEN

Festive Book Launch English translation by Haye van den Oever. READ MORE

 

‘Becoming Janice’
By Erwin K. de Vries
On Monday, May 6, author Ragini Werner will present her second book ‘Becoming Janice’, a sapphic tale of a search for love. READ MORE

 

Book Time: Let’s Talk Books
BLOG by Lisa Day
Q&A with Ragini Werner
Werner talks about developing realistic characters and how – thankfully – sapphic fiction or lesfic, has evolved. READ MORE

 

LESBIreviewed
BLOG By Carol Hutchinson
Joining Janice on her adventure through finding herself had a wonderful personal sense to it. READ MORE / WATCH VIDEO REVIEW

 

 

 

TOP REVIEW FROM CANADA
A wonderful sapphic tale with rich nuance and detail to spare!
by Chris Houston
Highly recommended to anyone who values a queer story with more than a few strings attached! READ MORE 

TOP REVIEW FROM THE UNITED STATES
Despite her flaws, Janice is the woman you long to root for
by Jill Rey
As the title indicates, “Becoming Janice” follows our main character Janice as she navigates life after the death of her girlfriend, Ariel. Ragini Werner delivers a beautiful coming to age story. READ MORE

TOP REVIEW FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM
Beautifully Written
By Veronica
Having previously devoured another of Ms Werner’s books, “Revealing Philippa’, I was looking forward to sinking my teeth into this. And let me tell you, the lady did not disappoint! READ MORE

TOP REVIEW FROM THE NETHERLANDS
Not what the blurb promises – great twists at the end!
By Annesmoeder
The blurb on the back of the book makes it sound like this is nothing more than a love story – I thought I already knew what was going to happen, but I was wrong! There’s much more to it and I loved the twists at the end. READ MORE

 

Becoming Janice
queer_aussie_review
Becoming Janice is a coming-of-age story about loss and love and all the joy and heartbreak in between. READ MORE

The inescapable forces of love and friendship
By A
The book is easy on the reader, although Janice is hard on herself sometimes. READ MORE

 

Becoming Janice
By Mari (Sapphic_Bookworms)
Becoming Janice by @raginiwerner_gram is a queer coming-of-age book that shows the importance of finding oneself instead of relying on finding another. READ MORE

 

 

 

Featured image “Janice & Janice” by Red Toque Arts on Facebook
“Janice from Ragini Werner ‘s book ‘Becoming Janice’ and Janice (me) hanging out at Arenal volcano in Costa Rica. This book had a lot of similarities with my own life, it was almost scary. Not to spoil the story, but we both moved abroad at age 21, and went through a lot of self discovery shenanigans. The book is worth a read, so what are you waiting for? Go read it!”