Thursday, September 11, 2008 Next two "IN" Books... POST A COMMENT 'Feeling a bit like the "IN" club? -- 'next two books on my desk have the IN-word in the title, coincidence? or destiny? -- ('hmmmum, technically In Odd We trust is a graphic novel); anyhoo, first up is In the Woods... And I'm looking forward to revisiting with the master of suspense, Dean Koontz, who lends his name to a comic book adaption of his popular Odd Thomas series... If ya feelin a bit Oprah-book-club-ish, 'pick 'em up and read along with me --(or leave me a comment on what you're reading, 'cause I'm always up for another good book after I'm done). As usual I'll post a short review of each when I'm done reading 'em. Labels: Books, Comic Books, Dean Koontz, In Odd We Trust, In the Woods, Tana French, what I'm reading posted by Henry Cruz at 6:17 PM Sunday, September 07, 2008 Cruz Review: Twilight, true Love at 17? POST A COMMENT 'Doubtful Teen-lit author Meyer needs any help pushing her Twilight book series, but as promised here's my perspective: Book Genre: Teen Vamps -- 'Propelled by suspense and romance in equal parts,' offers Publishers Weekly. Story Blurb: A perfect male-model-type Vampire falls for your ordinary girl next door -- (or what coulda been subtitled, finding your soul mate at age 17...'subtracting of course anything to do with sex), so it's a big time fantasy. Page-turner meter, (or the can't-put-it-down factor): I gotta be honest, I was not hooked from page one, but I ending up reading the entire book in under four days...'in large part my I'm-not-buying-this meter got in the way of fully enjoying the suspense. Could also have something to do with the fact that I'm not the intended female teen audience; but, the good news is that regardless of your age (or gender), the story kicks into high gear after about page 90. So, on a scale of 1-10, it gets a shaky 8. What I really liked: I do get it; 'and especially understand why girls really love it. The protagonist, Bella, is your average teen girl and after spending so much time in her head we see a modern day Prince Charming story (or in this case, add a touch of the Prince of Darkness danger factor to the mix). What I least liked: I got it down to two things that really bite at me... (1) In Meyers world nobody has, or talks sex...'I'm sure, if memory serves correctly, that your average 16 or 17 year old might have at least thought about it once. One of the most seductive things in Vamp-lore is the erotic nature, so to cut that out completely feels very Sarah Palin-ish. (2) A few critics have accused Meyer of 'peddling saccharine melodrama,' I think that's in part to do with the dialogue. The characters in this book don't sound like your average teens...unless they all live on a Amish farm. 'That being said, there's a part of me (like any screeching teen girl) that also yearns for eternal love and finding my soul mate...'so, I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing the movie, and reading more from Meyer. Labels: Books, Cruz book reviews, Film, Stephenie Meyer, Twilight Saga, what I'm reading posted by Henry Cruz at 7:09 PM Thursday, September 04, 2008 Twilight-mania: Playing catch up! POST A COMMENT 'late-to-lunch on that Vamp-Twilight-saga (by Stephenie Meyer)...'but, my hunger for pop culture, cool Vamps, and a writing-success story got me reading. Both on the Meyers back-story and the 1st Twilight book: 'bout the sappy-relations between a abercrombie-looking-vamp and an semi-average teenage girl -- (I'm on the final few pages of the book, and I'll post a review later in the week)... 'Lets get into how-Meyers-did-it-story. Those big sales -- 'isn't due simply to her vivid imagination for vampire romance,' as Business Week points out. They called it -- 'the first social networking best seller.' 'Meyer, a 34-year-old mother of three from Phoenix, went well beyond standard marketing. She engaged with online readers to answer their most detailed questions about the star-crossed lovers, Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. She put up her own Web site, in addition to the one by her publisher, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, posting her personal e-mail address and family photos...' In turn, 'Meyer's readers have responded by creating an entire world of Twilight on the Web.' While the web -- (and the rabid-fans-need-to-know) is the best way to connect with other fans...it's not without pitfalls. 'Just yesterday: Meyers punished fans after a partial (rough) draft of the next book was leaked on the web. As Meyer wrote on her website, "I'd rather my fans not read this version of Midnight Sun...'My first feeling was that there was no way to continue. Writing isn't like math; in math, two plus two always equals four no matter what your mood is like. With writing, the way you feel changes everything. If I tried to write Midnight Sun now, in my current frame of mind, James would probably win and all the Cullens would die..." Source: Business Week Labels: Books, Can Writing be Taught, Stephenie Meyer, Twilight Saga, Vampires, web trends, what I'm reading posted by Henry Cruz at 4:33 PM Thursday, August 28, 2008 Cruz Review: Dirty-handed-fun! POST A COMMENT Meg Gardiner knocks-it-out-the-park with her American-debut (and here with her sixth novel), The Dirty Secrets Club. I wrote briefly about this author last week, now After finishing the book, I'll offer ya'll my short review below: Book Genre: Like getting ya' hands-dirty with suspense, crime, and danger, leading up to nail biting climax? -- Then The Dirty Secrets clubs right up your alley. Story Blurb: Police call in Forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett to sort out a crime; 'the clock is ticking 'cause they have 48 hours before somebody else dies. Page-turner meter, (or the can't-put-it-down factor): On a scale of 1-10, this gets a solid nine. I could almost see a Julia Roberts (or another A-lister) doing twirls in the film version. What I really liked: I'll focus on two things, but there's lots to like here: (1) The villains here could've been flat, but the author smartly went out of her way to make it less of a one noter, which looks at the good and bad inside humanity, as opposed to plain 'ol good guy versus bad guys. (2) Getting back to the suspense level, it's very well plotted. A touch of Alfred Hitchcock mixed with the girls of ABC's short lived legal drama series Women's Murder Club. What I least liked: If I really have to pull something from between my butt cheeks to Pu-pu the fun...'or something that set me off, I got two things (but, I'm nitpicking here): (1) We don't meet our protagonist Jo, until chapter three (around page 14th). Which made my brain work harder to sort out whose story it is, for a brighter person this might be okay...for a slow learner like me I don't like so many obstacles (2) I love those quirky character driven books, but this story's so very very plot by the numbers which never slows down long enough to give me a throw away moment that doesn't tie right into the plot. I know, I know, everything nowadays is story story story, or cut it out...but, I would like to see more small moments for the sake of character in the next book, and nothing to do with moving the plot. For example, for my money the best part of the USA's Monk is less about the crime, and more about the quirkiness of Monk. The Dirty Secrets Club Labels: Critics, Cruz book reviews, The Dirty Secrets Club, what I'm reading posted by Henry Cruz at 4:54 AM Sunday, August 17, 2008 Can anyone be a Best-selling Author? POST A COMMENT Having hit page 165 of Meg Gardiners "The Dirty Secrets Club" -- (that book Stephen King hailed as "The next suspense superstar") -- 'meant it was high time I took a few minutes to Google-her-ass; If only to investigate how a person gets to be this talented. I mean, do good writers just wake up with a silver-pen in their mouth, or what? I'll offer my full review here when I'm done reading it, but if you haven't heard about it, the book has been billed as a -- "thriller with a psychological bent." If y'all are feeling a bit crazy today, go join my very-own cyber-Oprahish-like-book-club, and pick up a copy, and we'll read along together...I'll hopefully be done reading it by next week -- (but I'm always curious what others think). On Gardiners personal blog she humbly answered such a reader-submitted question: "can writing be taught?" -- I'll post a few excerpts below, but I really think that reader was fishing for -- 'a few tricks of the trade... or "Hey, can a average slob like me actually become a best selling author?" Here's some of what she said: "The essentials of good writing can be learned. You can teach people how to edit, how to structure an argument, how to use evidence to prove a point." "You can train the eye and the ear to recognize cliche. You can push students to clarify sloppy thinking. You can show them how to write with strong, vivid nouns and verbs. In teaching nonfiction, you can explain how to build an argument so that it persuades the reader. You can show students how to illustrate an article or a legal brief with a single, telling detail." "Raw talent can be cultivated. And it should be." "You can open people’s eyes to the essentials of great writing. But you can’t give people a gift. You can’t teach genius." Gardiners big writing advice for newbies is to "Create sympathetic characters and put them in jeopardy. That's advice crimewriter Leonard Tourney gave me, and it's stuck. Also, grow a thick skin. Learn how to take criticism and grow from it." But, she's quick to add that you also need to have a good story to tell as well: "If my books aren't entertaining, I'm not doing my job," Gardiner adds. Because this is the world wide web -- (where every average Joe is now a critic) -- I of course felt compelled to leave my own stream of rambles in her comments section of her blog that went like this: Henry Cruz comment - "As someone with a share of fiction workshops sticking out of my side pocket; I can say that I learned more about writing when it was my turn to offer critique of other writers in my group. Maybe it was something about being “on” — or accessing dusty brain cells and allowing a part of me to “live that moment” — listen better? jump better? and dare I say, sound halfway smarter than my usual fumbling." "I just finished a scriptwriting workshop and the big advice from the teacher was to say “steal often” — (or borrow a lot), until something original clicks inside…so, what I’m saying — (or asking)…or both, being able to access my brain in various ways I find helps…or maybe I’m just dreaming it all….whaddya think?" -- Hmm, pure caffeine brilliance?...or another crazy-man's babble that you might amuse with a stiff smile. What I really meant to say I think was actually better said by one of the masters: "I think self knowledge is one of the beautiful and marvelous creative aids that we have -- know thy self," offers creator / writer of the Twilight Zone, Mr. Rod Serling. "Because you can look at yourself in the mirror and get a whole list of all the human attributes and human frailties that are extent. Whatever is wrong with you is conceivably wrong with most of your peers." "Whatever is decent and good and fine and caring that is a part of your nature is also the meritorious aspects of your peers..." Serling goes onto add that you should test out how things sound: "Just a piece of dialogue -- would I say it? -- and if I heard it would I believe it." I'd sum up the basic rules to becoming the next best-selling author like this: 1. You do need all those technical tools to be able to throw it down correctly on a page. The basic "nuts and bolts mechanics" of writing. Your basic -- "how to structure a story." How to go about -- "revising and editing," -- are all key. 'And some of that you can grasp by reading, and studying the works of other great writers. 2. But like Gardiner suggests -- doesn't it really start with creating believable, interesting characters that connect with readers; A really compelling voice on the page -- that doesn't give away all the goodies ('sorta to keep 'em guessing and turning the page). For my money, the best book out there on the craft is Stephen Kings' On Writing. Kings book is full of advice, some of it common sense, and like Gardiner he talks about the need for a... writer's toolbox: "Common tools on the top shelf (vocabulary and grammar), elements of grammar and style on the second level, along with an understanding of the paragraph as the basic element in fiction..." "If you want to be a writer," King says, "you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." King calls reading the creative center of a writer's life. He says you gotta -- "read in small sips as well as long drinks - in waiting rooms, in line at the theater, in the checkout line at the grocery store, on the treadmill at the gym and in the john." So, before we all collectively run out to the john, let's listen as Serling drops other pearls-of-wisdom: Source: Meg Gardiner's Blog Labels: Can Writing be Taught, Meg Gardiner, Rod Serling, screenwriting, screenwriting group, stephen king, The Dirty Secrets Club, Twilight Zone, what I'm reading posted by Henry Cruz at 1:14 PM Wednesday, July 30, 2008 Digging for Happiness POST A COMMENT I've been trying to keep up with reading one book a week - although, it usually turns into two books a month. This week it's about the trappings of fame, from Playwright Theresa Rebeck -(known for her black comedy)... In her first novel: Three Girls and Their Brother — 'which has been described as "a fizzy satire of celeb-obsessed NYC about flame-haired teenage sisters who get photographed for The New Yorker and soon become megastars...." The book has annoying-first-person points of view from four-of-the-most-annoying self-absorbed teenagers imaginable -- think Paris Hilton but void of any humanity; or a really bad episode of that aw full CW show "Gossip Girl." The story starts off with a picture of three sisters and an article in the New Yorker declaring them the “It Girls of the Twentieth Century” - It has very little description and almost all dialogue...so, it moves very very fast if you can get past the annoying characters that is. The only thing that saves this book is the writer's bits of humor...I mean these Three girls pretty much live in this empty-bubble of blah and then get seduced by "fame"...and still remain dead inside. It's one thing to look at tabloid pictures of Paris Hilton being famous for no reason at....'but can you imagine living in her head for more than a minute? But, like the rest of us slobs these characters keep-on digging for happiness...albeit, in a shallow, brainless kinda way. ** Speaking of digging for happiness: Here are a few happiness tips - (from Hesketh Pearson’s The Smith of Smiths): ** In a letter dated 1820, Smith wrote to an unhappy friend...and offers tips for cheering up 1st. Live as well as you dare. 2nd. Go into the shower-bath with a small quantity of water at a temperature low enough to give you a slight sensation of cold, 75 or 80 degrees. 3rd. Amusing books. 4th. Short views of human life—not further than dinner or tea. 5th. Be as busy as you can. 6th. See as much as you can of those friends who respect and like you. 7th. And of those acquaintances who amuse you. 8th. Make no secret of low spirits to you friends, but talk of them freely—they are always worse for dignified concealment. 9th. Attend to the effects tea and coffee produce upon you. 10th. Compare your lot with that of other people. I like think we can find happiness -- outside of fame -- and keeping busy, comparing your lot with that of others seem like good tips for a muggy summer day. Source: The Happiness Project Labels: The Happiness Project, Trends, what I'm reading posted by Henry Cruz at 3:01 PM Sunday, May 25, 2008 That Library is closing? POST A COMMENT Here's a novel idea: let's open a chain of store's it'll be like a big coffee shop with a lot of reading material... call it "Barnes and Noble" -- yeah, it seems that plan ain't working out so good. I know, I know...it's supposed to create a welcoming environment; but, if folks can sit all day and read, why would they buy that book afterwards? After some serious hurting, B & N now got a management team to study the "feasibility" of a possible Barnes & Noble-Border's combination...so, they can both go out of business together. Fact is less folks are reading books; the price is another thing, what's the incentive to pay $20 for the new paperbacks? Worse, B & N charging $25 "memberships" so we can save 10% on a book...I'd get that management team working on getting the next generation to slow down and read more, and actually enjoy reading more - (to ensure future customers). Main things effecting the book-slump is technology -- aside from gearing us all to move faster and get-it-now... how 'bout the fact that Barnes and Noble can't hold a candle to something like Amazon.com where you can find almost any single book I can think of, and always at prices cheaper than B&N. More so, since they added the ability to buy used books from other dealers through their website. What I'm reading: Mary Monroe's "In Sheep's Clothing" - okay, the book cover art sucks...but, it has a strong opening, with a likable female protagonist. I'll report back when I'm done reading it...'got any good books of note, drop me a line (leave a comment)...always looking for something new. Resource: CNBC News Labels: Books, In Sheeps Clothing, Mary Monroe, News Trends, novels, what I'm reading posted by Henry Cruz at 1:21 PM Thursday, April 17, 2008 Getting your hands dirty...online POST A COMMENT Talking Books Today, so here's a 'little known' interesting Fact: Did you know...Best Selling Sci-Fi Author Kurt Vonnegut once managed a SAAB dealership, go figure. I don't manage a dealership - (not yet at least - sounds like a "Dirty Job"), but, I have been writing a few hours each day, and apparently with all the bloggers who have gotten book deals....it's become sorta a trend to write your books online. Let me back up, I'm also reading this week, a really funny book, Christopher Moore's "A Dirty Job" - (because, we all know you need fuel for that creative fire, and the number one rule for writing: read, read read...hoping something sticks and good stuff comes back up). If you're out there writing novels a 'sudo' trend is doing a online collab, check this out: Calling all writers! The LA Times presents "Birds of Pardise." One of their writers, Steve Lopez wrote the first chapter, and he'll write the last. But the stuff in between is being written by the "readers" (and hopefully writers who can put two sentences together...all happening online) -- So, check it out here. It could be your big break on getting your work seen, and being the next Kurt Vonnegut (or the even funnier Christopher Moore)...speaking of writing, here's a short vid with George Lucas who talks about his own daily writing habits, sounds a lot like my own: Labels: novels, Trends, what I'm reading, writing posted by Henry Cruz at 2:03 PM     ARCHIVES October 2005 . November 2005 . December 2005 . August 2007 . September 2007 . October 2007 . November 2007 . December 2007 . March 2008 . April 2008 . May 2008 . June 2008 . July 2008 . August 2008 . September 2008 .