Category: News/Misc. Page 213 of 242

Does this sound familiar? You’ve placed one of your characters (let’s call her Jenny) in a pretty sticky situation, and now you have no idea how to get her out of that pickle. You’ve tried several scenarios, but none of them quite works. Finally, you decide to take a break, clear your mind a bit. You’re thinking grab a quick shower, drive over to Starbucks for a latte, then come back and get to work on saving Jenny. Five minutes later, you’re halfway into that shower, and suddenly, it hits you, the perfect way to extricate Jenny from that sticky situation.

That sort of thing has happened to me often enough that, at some point, I began to wonder about the possibility of a connection between water and creativity. So, of course, I Googled it, and I quickly learned that there is a veritable waterfall of information on this topic. Yeah, I know. Waterfall of info on water. I couldn’t resist it. No more, I promise. Anyway, I discovered that there does, indeed, appear to be a connection, although it’s not the water per se, but rather a progression of events in which water is just one part. With apologies to Mr. Metcalf, my high school science teacher, I’ll do my best to walk you through the process. It involves dopamine, and one of the few things I still remember from Mr. Metcalf’s class is that dopamine equals good. Apparently, dopamine aids in the creative process (no idea; I got a C- in science), but to get the dopamine released into our brains, we first need to be doing something relaxing, like taking that warm shower or a long walk or a leisurely drive in the country. During these types of activities, your mind is distracted from whatever subject you’ve been concentrating on all day (for instance, poor Jenny), which allows your brain to relax at the same time it’s being flooded with dopamine, and before your know it, genius hits.

Okay, there you have it. Maybe not the most scientific explanation of the process (again, C-), but it gives you the general idea. Relaxation plus distraction plus dopamine equal problem solved. So the next time you’re sitting there staring at that blank page, take a hike.

Tour Hosted by Susan Barton, My Book Tour

A Few Quick Questions With…Michael Landweber

By HCNewton

On May 24, 2016

In A Few Quick Questions With..., General Fiction/Literature, Writing

For our third post on this Blog Tour stop, the author of Thursday, 1:17 PM, Michael Landweber was gracious enough to A some of my Q’s. As is typical, I kept it short and sweet, because this dude is busy and he doesn’t need to take up too much time with lil’ ol’ me. There are two questions here about the book we’re focusing on, and then we move on to more general questions. Hope you enjoy.

Michael Landweber lives and writes in Washington, DC. His short stories have appeared in literary magazines such as Gargoyle, Fourteen Hills, Fugue, Barrelhouse and American Literary Review. He is an Associate Editor at Potomac Review and a contributor to Washington Independent Review of Books. Michael has a soft spot for movies about talking animals and does not believe he would survive the zombie apocalypse. His first novel We was published in 2013.

There are so many questions that I’d like to ask about some of the details of this book, but I’m going to have to settle for something about the process: did you have the rules for the Frozen World set up before beginning the book, or was that something you felt out along the way?

The rules were pretty simple and set from the beginning. Nothing moved unless it was affected by Duck. He would be the only force in the universe capable of changing anything. Otherwise, everything remained in exactly the state it was in when the world froze. Simple, right? Making up the rules was easy; following them was hard. There were many times while I writing when I would decide to do something and realize it didn’t fit in with this world. For example, in an early draft, I thought about shooting someone with a gun. But in order to fire, a gun required more than just Duck power. Similarly, I found myself realizing that he couldn’t cook anything; he could only eat food that was edible at the time the world froze. He couldn’t start a car, but he could ride a bike. So it was never a question of changing the rules. It was a constant struggle forcing myself to not cheat. Hopefully, I policed myself reasonably well. One of the reasons that I had Duck write a guidebook was because it was a great way to share everything about the frozen world I had spent so much time figuring out. That’s why you’ve got multiple pages about how to flush a toilet (and of course because I find details like that amusing).

How hard was it to get into the headspace of an almost 18 year-old (even one of above-average intelligence/thoughtfulness)? Once there — was it as much fun as it seemed?

It is always a challenge to get into a new character’s head. Or maybe the challenge is getting out of your own head. With a teenager, I did have the advantage that I was once 17 years old. However, it is true that when you become an adult, you forgot how desperate everything feels at that age. As adults, we learn to repress some emotions. It’s a survival skill. So, to write Duck, I tried to remember what it felt like when every emotion was on the surface and raw. I think that immediacy is what we lose as adults. Once I got in that mindset, it was fun to write Duck. Anytime I started to think that Duck shouldn’t be doing something, I usually put it in the book, figuring if I thought it was a bad idea then a teenager probably wouldn’t.

What’s the one (or two) book/movie/show in the last 5 years that made you say, “I wish I’d written that.”?

There are so many books and TV shows that I enjoy. I’d love to have written any of them. Of course, the flip side of that is that if I had written them, then I wouldn’t get to experience them the same way. I do surprise myself sometimes when I’m writing, but that’s not the same as the visceral thrill that you can get from watching or reading someone else’s work when the unexpected hits you with a perfectly timed twist. That said, there are two very different works that I wish I could have written. First, The Martian by Andy Weir. I would love to have written something that was so meticulously researched and incredibly readable at the same time. You get to the end of the book thoroughly entertained while somehow convincing yourself that you could now survive on Mars if you had to. Second would be Breaking Bad. The entire series. I admire how strictly it stuck to its vision from the beginning. The writers didn’t seem to care how popular it got. They weren’t trying to make anyone happy. It was unflinching to the very end.

Is there a genre that you particularly enjoy reading or watching, but could never write?

I could never write a good mystery. I don’t watch or read a lot of them, but I do enjoy them when they are well done. As a reader, I never know who committed the crime. Ever. I’ll always think that it is someone who was innocent. I admire the writers who are able to put that puzzle together and keep me guessing to the last piece. But as a writer, my mysteries would probably be more like a pre-schooler’s giant floor puzzle with only four pieces and no irregular edges.

I’ve often heard that writers, or artists in general, will forget hundreds of positive reviews but always remember the negative — what’s the worst thing that someone’s said about one of your books, and has it altered your approach to future books?

There was one reader review posted on a website about my first novel that stuck with me. He said that after reading it he had to bleach his brain and encouraged everyone to keep the book away from children. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe that was one of my good reviews. Seriously though, there are always going to be readers who don’t like certain things I write. So far, it hasn’t changed what I decide to write next.

Guest Post: 5 Books about Time by Michael Landweber

By HCNewton

On May 24, 2016

In Book Tour, Books, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

I’m a little obsessed about the concept of time in my writing. My first book, We, was about a man who travels back in time only to get stuck as a parasite inside the head of his seven-year-old self. In my latest novel, time stops completely, except for one 17-year-old kid. I suppose the recurring theme is that we have no control over time, even when it gets a little bit wonky. In honor of my obsession, I have created a list of five time-related books (or more precisely that have the word “time” in the title) that I’ve enjoyed over the years.

1) The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
The one that started it all. The original time travel story. Without it, there never would have been Timecop. Seriously though, it is a little hard to imagine that we’d have more than a century of time travel related books, movies, TV shows, etc. if Wells hadn’t had the idea that a time machine was the way to travel to different eras. Of course, unlike most modern time travel fiction, which focuses on the ways that traveling through time can change the present, purposefully or not, Wells had his protagonist travel into the far future where he encountered a parable about class and society. Still, the guy coined the phrase “time machine.” That’s pretty cool.

2) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
We don’t need no stinking time machine. In L’Engle’s classic children’s book series, the characters travel through space by “wrinkling time” by means of the tesseract. Most writers now call it a wormhole. No vehicle required. That freed a lot of writers to just zap characters from place to place without tricking out a Delorean. The book also is about how children can save the world without the help of the adults around them, particularly parents. Hello, Harry Potter!

3) A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
OK, this one has the least to do with manipulating time though it is a story about how past family narratives can help soothe present pain. A young woman in Tokyo considers suicide, but researching the stories of her feminist Buddhist nun great-grandmother and her disgraced WWII pilot great-uncle lead her to some surprising revelations about herself.

4) Time’s Arrow by Martin Amis
Amis uses a unique device to write about the horrors of the Holocaust. The narrator is a consciousness inside the head of a former Nazi who is now living a new life in America. But the story is told in reverse chronological order. Time in the book literally runs backward, so we start with the war criminal as an old man and travel unavoidably to his horrific past. It is an unusual and difficult book that allows the reader a new window into understanding the inconceivable cruelty that people are capable of.

5) Time Bandits
OK, I’m totally cheating here. Time Bandits is a movie. But it also happens to be my favorite movie. And it is about traveling through time. So there. One of Terry Gilliam’s earliest films, this one follows a young boy who falls in with a group of dwarfs who previously worked for the Supreme Being until they stole the Big Guy’s map of time holes and decided to use it to steal from the rich throughout history. That only begins to describe how gloriously messed up this movie is.

Thursday, 1:17 PM Book Tour

By HCNewton

On May 24, 2016

In Book Tour, Books, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, YA/MG/Children's Books

Time stopped. You didn’t. Now what?

Duck is 17. He will never be 18.

Tomorrow is his birthday. It will never be tomorrow.

Time stopped at 1:17 p.m. on a beautiful Thursday afternoon in Washington, DC. Duck is the only person moving in a world where all other living beings have been frozen into statues in an endless diorama. Duck was already in limbo, having lost his mother to cancer and his father to mental illness.

Now, faced with the unimaginable, he approaches his dilemma with the eye of an anthropologist and the heart of a teenager trying to do the right thing under the strangest of circumstances. Ultimately, he realizes that while he doesn’t understand the boundaries between friendship and love, that uncertain territory may be the key to restarting the world.

Trade Paperback – Available now
Publisher: Coffeetown Press
ISBN13: 9781603813570
208 pages

Coming up: We’ve got a Guest Post from Michael Landweber, a Q & A with him, too — and finally, my $.02 about the book. Come back and check these posts out (the links will work when the posts go up) — or just go get the book. Whatever.

Saturday Miscellany – 5/21/16

By HCNewton

On May 21, 2016

In Books, News/Misc.

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

11 best things we saw at BookExpo America 2016 — EW takes a look back at BEA 2016 and a look forward at the rest of the year in books.
Goodreads Offering Personalized Daily E-book Discounts — I’m not sure this is a good thing or not, I like the deals, but do I really need another email telling me about books to buy?
No Genre Ever Dies: On Loren D. Estleman and the Pulp Tradition
Not-So-Civil War, or Embracing Polyfanory — not a shock that I like something Anton Strout says, but this piece is really good.
The Rook Is a Delightfully Weird Twist on Urban Fantasy — B&N Reads makes the case that you should read (or re-read) The Rook in the month we have until the sequel comes out. Sounds like a solid plan, The Rook was good. Don’t take my word for it, click the link.
White Noise is an outsider’s look inside small-town Americana — I never turn down an excuse to read about, talk about, think about DeLillo’s book. Neither should you.

The Highwayman. by Craig Johnson — a Longmire novella.
Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? by Paul Cornell — the third Shadow Police novel — I can’t tell you how much I want to read this one. If you’re not reading this series, here’s a great hopping on place. Check out his Big Idea post about it.
This Damned Band also by Paul Cornell and Tony Parker — is out in collected form now. This is a demented looking story.
Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me: What Pop Music Rivalries Reveal About the Meaning of Life by Steven Hyden — going behind the music to look at pop music’s best rivalries
The Second Life of Nick Mason by Steve Hamilton — could be the start of a heckuva series, getting a lot of good buzz, too.
My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix — described by the author as “basically Beaches meets The Exorcist.”

Saturday Miscellany – 5/14/16

By HCNewton

On May 14, 2016

In Books, News/Misc.

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

Elphie and Dad go on an Epic Adventure — it was just featured on the Youtube channel Storytime Pup. Very cute.
HC Starts Bookstore Development Program — There may be a catch to this, but at least at first glance, this sounds pretty nice.
School Principal Says Reading ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Game of Thrones’ Causes Brain Damage — um, what?
Dear J.K. Rowling: Stop Apologizing! — I wanted to write something like this when I saw Rowling apologizing for killing characters. The choices she made about character deaths were part of what made the series what it is. But Vanessa Willoughby says it better than I would’ve.
Ace Atkins talks about SLOW BURN, THE INNOCENTS — because you can never have enough Atkins…

The Vagrant by Peter Newman — I heard Newman recently on The Cornell Collective, and look forward to getting to read this release

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to extraordinarydog for following the blog this week.

15 Years Ago

By HCNewton

On May 11, 2016

In Authors, Calendar Items, Douglas Adams, News/Misc., The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I distinctly remember where I was sitting, and who was around, when I read the news 15 years ago that Douglas Adams, a mere 49 years old, had died of a heart attack. I’m not usually one who reacts when a celebrity dies (usually), but this one shook me.

Adams’ wit, style, perspective, and books had a formative impact on my adolescence — for good or ill — and my adulthood.

I hadn’t realized this year was the 15th anniversary of his death when I decided to do my big re-read of his works this year, but I’m glad I’m doing it. I’ll talk about him a little bit more in a couple of weeks (and when I get around to reading the next books on my list), but for now, I just wanted to take a brief moment to reflect on his death.

A couple of days later, John Kovalic’s Dork Tower ran this comic (tweaked 5 years ago) which pretty much summed things up for me.

Epic Book Battle from Future House Publishing Ends Today

By HCNewton

On May 10, 2016

In News/Misc.

Today’s the last (and best?) day of the Epic Book Battle/Sale/Event from Friends of the Irresponsible Reader, Future House Publishing.

They’re having a special sale in honor of Star Wars Day (a great sale on already low prices, I should emphasize) and being in business for a year. Go, check it out! There’s a chance at prizes, too.

Be sure to check out Got Luck and Guardians, in particular — I talked about them here and here, respectively. But all their books look promising.

Saturday Miscellany – 5/7/16

By HCNewton

On May 7, 2016

In Books, News/Misc.

Before I get going today, I’d like to take a moment to say congrats to my oldest son, who is getting his AA today, well done, sir.

Now on to the odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

The Novel Still Exists — The Millions Interviews Don DeLillo
The LA Times also has A rare interview with Don DeLillo, one of the titans of American fiction
And lastly, Don DeLillo’s Total Art of Memory — Jonathon Sturgeon talks DeLillo himself, his new book, and connections to his old ones.
What Two Forgotten Pieces Tell Us About Harper Lee — from the New Yorker
Bestselling novelist Ace Atkins appears Wednesday for ‘Beer & Books’ — a nice profile on Atkins and his two series.
Crime pays for crime-fiction writer Michael Connelly — a nice profile of Mr. Connelly
Five Literary Worlds That Smacked Me in the Face — I’m not Charlaine Harris’ biggest fan, but she knows what she’s talking about.
All Different Kinds of Strong, by Gail Z. Martin — this is just good.
The 10 Fiercest Mothers in SF/F — a good list for Mother’s Day, and some of these are really good choices. BTW, hope the Moms out there have a good one.
The Money of Dogs: A Conversation with The Dog Merchants‘ Author Kim Kavin — a book I almost don’t want to read, it’ll probably depress me.
The 7 Stages of Hate-Reading — seeing this the week that I posted about Songs in Ordinary Time seemed really fitting.

NOT

Zero K by Don DeLillo — It’s DeLillo, the very definition of a Must Read.
Everybody’s Fool by Richard Russo — wasn’t the biggest fan of Nobody’s Fool, but I don’t know that I’ve really stopped thinking about it in the 2 or 3 years it’s been since I read it. So yeah, will have to get to this one
Robert B. Parker’s Slow Burn by Ace Atkins — You know it’s a big week when Atkins is #3 on my list. This was another strong one — will try to get my post up next week about it.
The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan — a new series in the Percy-verse. Apollo is sent to earth as a regular teen, trying to get back to Olympus.
Blood Defense by Marcia Clark — the first of a new series by Clark. This time the hero’s a defense attorney.
Double Down by Gwenda Bond — I enjoyed the first book about Lois Lane, teen reporter. Expect this one’ll be better.
The Jewel and Her Lapidary by Fran Wilde — don’t care what this novella is about, really. Fran Wilde’s Updraft earned her enough credit to just get whatever has her name on it for a year or two.
Outriders by Jay Posey — Military SF with a synopsis that starts with the line, “Captain Lincoln Suh died on a Wednesday. And things only got harder from there.” How do you not give it a chance?

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to J. L. Gribble and Looseygoosey for following the blog this week.

(I looked and looked for a source on this one…would love to link to it)

May the 4th Book Battle

By HCNewton

On May 6, 2016

In News/Misc.

I should’ve posted this two days ago, but this is one of those weeks where email that doesn’t look urgent (or from authors who I’ve talked about repeatedly here) gets ignored. Oops.

Friends of the Irresponsible Reader, Future House Publishing, are having a special sale in honor of Star Wars Day (a great sale on already low prices, I should emphasize) and being in business for a year. Go, check it out! There’s a chance at prizes, too.

Be sure to check out Got Luck and Guardians, in particular — I talked about them here and here, respectively. But all their books look promising.