The Dark Knight won its third week in a row. When's the last time a movie did that? It's a phenomenon. Thus, we're getting spoofs.
Here's one (via SFSignal; thanks!) that, uh, 'speaks' to a common criticism of the film.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Happy Birthday Dennis Lehane
Today, in the Writer's Almanac, Garrison Keillor let me know that it's Dennis Lehane's birthday. As I've mentioned elsewhere, it was Lehane's Mystic River that introduced me to modern crime fiction. From there, I discovered George Pelecanos (in the form of his Derek Strange novels) and, later, the novels from Hard Case Crime.
Happy birthday, Mr. Lehane. I hope you have a good one. And I'm looking very forward to your new novel, The Given Day.
Happy birthday, Mr. Lehane. I hope you have a good one. And I'm looking very forward to your new novel, The Given Day.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
George Pelecanos: Website Update
In case y'all don't travel to his website, George Pelecanos's website received a major update. He's book-related stuff, "The Wire" related material, and Pelecanos riffing on various things such as his favorite westerns, music he listened to on past tours, readings, and even his new GT.
Friday, August 1, 2008
New Friday Feature: Links of the Week
Nothing too complicated here, just some links I enjoyed throughout the week.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
- Bullets, Broads, Blackmail, and Bombs (via Bookgasm, every Wednesday)
- Writing Advice David J. Montgomery heard at Thrillerfest
- Trailer for Michael Connelly's next book (thanks Ed Gorman)
- Richard Stark's career (via Independent Crime)
- Brett Battles on the impact of 9/11 and this decades wars on literature and culture (via Murderati)
- Book review of Donald Westlake's Somebody Owes Me Money (via Pulp Fiction Reviews)
- Classic SF authors on SF (via SF Signal)
- Two new author interviews (Tony Black and Scott Phillips) at Allan Guthrie's website.
- Lou Anders on the future of book reviews, blogging, and peer-to-peer reviewing.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Currently Reading: The Dawn Patrol by Don Winslow
While I certainly hold Christa Faust as "Favorite Author I Personally Discovered in 2008," I think I now have a contender for the top spot. I am freaking enjoying the hell out of The Dawn Patrol. And this is a case where the audiobook is so much better than the printed word. I'll save my thoughts for my review but I can already tell you that this is a book you just need to read. And quickly before the summer ends.
Treason at Hanford: A Harry Truman Mystery - Chapter 3 online
Thursday's Novel Writing Tip: Reading Aloud
As I retool my second novel, Justice in H-Town, I decided to take Chapter 3 of my first novel, Treason at Hanford: A Harry Truman Mystery, to my writing group last night. The usual format is that we make copies of the chapter in question, pass them all out, and then read aloud. Finally, the members of the group make helpful suggestions and then each writer can go home and incorporate the changes. It's an excellent way to get some great feedback and my writing group is of high caliber.
I think every author would benefit by reading their story aloud, preferably in front of someone else. The best reason is to improve dialogue. Sometimes, as I write dialogue, I hear it in my head. But when I hear it for real, with my ears, dialogue that sounded true in my head is revealed to be false to my ears. Just last night, I realized "There is no way folks would talk that way, even in 1944."
The reason you should do it to another person is to pick up on their cues, whether physical or if they interrupt you. As I read aloud to my writing group, I can see them marking something on their copy at a certain place. I make a mental note (or a literal one on my own copy) to come back to that place and see what troubled them. When I read to my wife, she interrupts me if something bothers her. It's not always something she can explain. But, if it bothered her, it will bother a reader I don't know. So, I fix it.
Sometimes, as I'm reading aloud, my brain and mouth will actually fill in some gaps with words not on the printed page. I pay special attention to those times and actually mark my copy with the words I just spoke. If I say something that feels natural in my mouth, then I should have my characters speak that way, too.
This one may sound corny but it comes from my long association with audiobooks: change your voice. Not every author has a voice good enough to read his/her own work as an audiobook. But when it's just you and a small group or a spouse, go ahead and change your voice. Sure, men will sound funny trying to make their female characters talk but changing your voice will get you into those characters better. If you're making an effort to make, say, a Texas character sound like a Texan, give him an accent. Then, as you write the Texan's later scenes, you'll be able to 'hear' how he sounds and write truer dialogue. I do, at least. And then, after you've established that the Texan sounds a certain way, give some clues in your prose to the way the character sounds. That is, have one character comment/think about how the Texan sounds. It'll liven up the voice in a reader's head.
Lastly, if you don't have anyone to read to, record yourself. You may cringe at your own voice but you will be able to hear your story from a source that is not your own brain. It helps. I've done it.
In summary:
I think every author would benefit by reading their story aloud, preferably in front of someone else. The best reason is to improve dialogue. Sometimes, as I write dialogue, I hear it in my head. But when I hear it for real, with my ears, dialogue that sounded true in my head is revealed to be false to my ears. Just last night, I realized "There is no way folks would talk that way, even in 1944."
The reason you should do it to another person is to pick up on their cues, whether physical or if they interrupt you. As I read aloud to my writing group, I can see them marking something on their copy at a certain place. I make a mental note (or a literal one on my own copy) to come back to that place and see what troubled them. When I read to my wife, she interrupts me if something bothers her. It's not always something she can explain. But, if it bothered her, it will bother a reader I don't know. So, I fix it.
Sometimes, as I'm reading aloud, my brain and mouth will actually fill in some gaps with words not on the printed page. I pay special attention to those times and actually mark my copy with the words I just spoke. If I say something that feels natural in my mouth, then I should have my characters speak that way, too.
This one may sound corny but it comes from my long association with audiobooks: change your voice. Not every author has a voice good enough to read his/her own work as an audiobook. But when it's just you and a small group or a spouse, go ahead and change your voice. Sure, men will sound funny trying to make their female characters talk but changing your voice will get you into those characters better. If you're making an effort to make, say, a Texas character sound like a Texan, give him an accent. Then, as you write the Texan's later scenes, you'll be able to 'hear' how he sounds and write truer dialogue. I do, at least. And then, after you've established that the Texan sounds a certain way, give some clues in your prose to the way the character sounds. That is, have one character comment/think about how the Texan sounds. It'll liven up the voice in a reader's head.
Lastly, if you don't have anyone to read to, record yourself. You may cringe at your own voice but you will be able to hear your story from a source that is not your own brain. It helps. I've done it.
In summary:
- Read aloud to improve dialogue
- Read to someone and pick up on their reactions
- Record yourself reading your story and study how your voice flows over passages
- Make notes on your draft if you find yourself filling in words that are not on the printed page
- Change your voice to match the characters
Happy Birthday J. K. Rowling
Today is the birthday of Harry Potter's creator, J. K. Rowling. The Writer's Almanac has a nice little piece. The Harry Potter books now rank as some of my favorites I've ever read. I still hold a special place for book 3, The Prisoner of Azkeban, mainly for its history and SF aspects. Oh, and the trailer for the sixth Harry Potter movie is out. The Houston Chronicle has it.
There are some good quotes in the Writer's Almanac piece. Here are two of my favorites (italics are mine):
There are some good quotes in the Writer's Almanac piece. Here are two of my favorites (italics are mine):
What struck me is the planning part. As I mentioned in last week's post on writing, I outlined my entire first book before I started writing. And, even though I manipulated certain segments along the way, I still mapped everything before I wrote those new segments. I wrote the book in less than ten months. As of tomorrow, I will have officially spent two years NOT writing my second book. Thus, I'm going back to that which I know: outlining. I'll save the experimentation for book three or later.She planned out the entire Harry Potter series before she wrote the first book, and she says: "I wrote the story I meant to write. If I lost readers along the way, so be it, but I still told my story. The one I wanted. Without permitting it to sound too corny, that's what I owe to my characters. That we won't be deflected, either by adoration or by criticism."
And she says, "You have to resign yourself to wasting lots of trees before you write anything really good."
John Scalzi on The Dark Knight's Chance at an Oscar
John Scalzi, a SF novelist whose blog I read regularly, also blogs at AMC, the website for the channel of the same name. Today's topic: Is The Dark Knight Oscar Ready?
I like his conclusions...and his final prediction. Check it out.
I like his conclusions...and his final prediction. Check it out.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
George Pelecanos: A Voice for Modern America
I just love it when books by my favorite authors are published because lots of periodicals start producing interviews and excerpts. I already referenced a great piece from the Washington Post in a previous blog.
Today comes a wonderful piece (with links aplenty) from The Rap Sheet. Pay special attention to the link, from Britain's Observer, about Pelecanos's career.
I bought Pelecanos's latest, The Turnaround, this past Saturday. The review will be forthcoming. In the meantime, visit The Rap Sheet.
Today comes a wonderful piece (with links aplenty) from The Rap Sheet. Pay special attention to the link, from Britain's Observer, about Pelecanos's career.
I bought Pelecanos's latest, The Turnaround, this past Saturday. The review will be forthcoming. In the meantime, visit The Rap Sheet.
More News from the Future: eReader
From Lou Ander's blog, he posts a video tutorial for the eReader feature on iPhone or iPod Touch. This is the kind of technology that could easily get more people to read more books and stories. Again, just like with my Stephen King post yesterday, it all comes down to content. If you have good content, people will read, no matter the medium. If you don't, then no amoung of bells and whistles will be able to entire the reader to read your work or part with their money.
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