tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37686277716471249072024-03-13T23:54:01.943-04:00GAZALAPALOOZAAn Author's Continuing AdventuresRichard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-55557345263045787342017-12-09T12:48:00.001-05:002017-12-09T12:48:44.012-05:00Author Spotlight: Ray Hoy<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There
are lots of great things about this writing gig. Sure, at the beginning it’s
all fame and glory and sacks of gold, plus having to build walls of shelves throughout
your mansion to display all those trophies you haul away by the barrel from award
shows. After a while, though, and not so long as you might imagine, all that
gets old. And that’s when it really gets great, because you realize the best
things about this writing gig is you get to meet some very cool people. Today’s
guest at the Gazalapalooza Author Spotlight is one of them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ray
Hoy has been a professional writer, editor, and publisher for decades. Twenty
years of that included time spent as a casino marketing executive, working with
major properties such as Caesars Tahoe, Wayne Newton Gaming, and others. He and
his wife, also a casino marketing executive, specialized in opening land-based
casinos, river and ocean-going gambling boats, and casino/horse racing
facilities. But Hoy was always a writer. He sold his first freelance article
when he was sixteen years old, and in the sixty-plus years since he has
written the hundreds of magazine articles, numerous screenplays, and a half-dozen
novels.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
addition to his casino career, Hoy has another connection to Nevada—a more
sinister one. He is one of those so-called “Atomic Soldiers” from the Cold War
1950’s. While serving with the Signal Corps, his unit was sent to Camp Desert
Rock, Nevada, to provide communications for a series of atmospheric atomic bomb
tests. While stationed there with 5,000 fellow servicemen, he observed a number
of “shots” (as the military referred to them), up close and personal. Today the
number of survivors is down to 500 or so, and most of those men died horribly. We’re
fortunate Hoy remains healthy and strong into the ninth decade of his long,
productive, and happy life. Hoy wrote a book about his atomic experiences,
<i>Letters from Under the Mushroom Cloud</i>. It is on permanent display at the
National Atomic Testing Museum, in Las Vegas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
where does Hoy do all these things? The man’s in his eighties. You’d be pardoned
for guessing he makes his home on Floridian beaches, or sun-kissed California coast land, or maybe someplace where tropical Hawaiian winds caress his brow as
he writes his books and articles. No. That would be too easy, and far too
mundane. Hoy’s base of operations for all these good works is deep in the untamed
and untamable Alaskan interior, where bears outnumber people by a wide margin. As
we type this sentence our office robot informs us the current temperature in
Hoy’s forest paradise is 19 degrees Fahrenheit. And the calendar says winter
doesn’t start for another couple of weeks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">All
very cool, figuratively and literally. Likely so cool the blazing heat of our
famous klieg lights won’t even make Hoy break a sweat. Let’s begin. We believe
we’re in for a good ride.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Gazala: In my omnipotence, I’ve sentenced you to be
stranded alone on a desert island for offenses best left unnamed. In my
beneficence, I’ve decided to allow you a limited amount of reading material to
make your stay a little less bleak than it would otherwise be. I’ll spot you
your religious text of preference, and the collected works of William
Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the one fiction book, and the one
nonfiction book, you’d choose to take with you, and tell why you choose them.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hoy: For
nonfiction I’d take a copy of <i>The Art of War</i>, by Sun Tzu. It may have been
written 2,000 years ago, but it still makes sense today.<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> For fiction, I’d take any of John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee series
books. John is no longer with us, but he was one of the great storytellers of
all time.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Gazala: <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You’re the author of the gripping Jack Frost
thriller series. The book you’re sharing with us today is the first in that
series (congratulations on its being optioned for film rights!), <i>The Vegas
Factor</i>. It’s a wild trip through some of the the darkest alleys Sin City has to
offer, and introduces readers to the series hero, Jack Frost. Frost is former
NFL player and special forces op who knows too well both Vegas’ neon glamor and
the brutality thriving in its shadows. Frost’s companion is J.T. Ripper, a
hellhound Doberman Pinscher with a penchant for Scotch. The story follows the
adventures of Frost and J.T. as they fight to protect a beautiful woman in
mourning from a ruthless casino boss and his savage bodyguard. I enjoyed it
immensely, and recommend it highly. Shockingly enough, however, from time to
time my bare recommendation doesn’t always motivate a book’s potential reader
to become a book’s actual reader. Tell us something about <i>The Vegas Factor</i>, and
why its potential reader should make the leap and become its actual reader.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hoy: <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Okay, but before I get started on Jack Frost,
perhaps I should let you know what kind of a loose cannon you’re interviewing
here: I am a hopeless romantic, chaser of rainbows, lover of dogs, and a
reluctant realist. I sold my first freelance article when I was sixteen years
old, and I’ve been steadily plying my trade as a professional writer, editor,
publisher, and producer ever since. Writing has provided me with the freedom
and wherewithal to get married, buy homes and cars, have kids and put them
through college, and then marry them off. I’m a lucky guy, and I know it.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></span></span>Somehow during my long media career, I managed
to spend twenty years as a casino marketing consultant working with major
properties such as Caesars Tahoe, Wayne Newton Gaming, and others. I
specialized in opening land-based casinos, river and ocean-going gambling
boats, and casino/horse racing facilities. My real-life experiences in the
“Casino Wars” have provided me with a wealth of authentic material for my Jack
Frost thriller series (my latest writing endeavor). Following the time-honored
“Write what you know” tradition, I have based my Frost storylines on my two
decades of exposure to Nevada’s colorful characters, and true (but often nearly
unbelievable) casino yarns, many of which I actually witnessed and/or was a
participant.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">About
my Jack Frost thriller series: I have set my thriller series—to date consisting
of <i>The Vegas Factor</i>, <i>A Proper Time to Die</i>, and <i>Nightmare in Neon</i>—against the
backdrop of three distinctly different Nevada gaming communities: Las Vegas,
Lake Tahoe and Reno, all of which are my old casino haunts.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
first three Frost titles are available in eBook and paperback formats. <i>Hard
Edges</i>, the fourth book in my Frost series, is scheduled for January 2018
release. Future titles include <i>The Frost Factor</i> and <i>The Alaska Factor</i>.
Audiobook (MP3) editions will be available late this coming year.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Each
of my first three Frost tales can be read as stand-alone titles, but the
storyline from <i>The Vegas Factor</i> really does continue through the second (<i>A
Proper Time to Die</i>) and third (<i>Nightmare in Neon</i>) book. The latter title
settles all old scores.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Jack
Frost, the title character in my Jack Frost thriller series, is an ex-Special
Forces loner who is blessed with a warrior’s mentality and toughness, and
cursed with a conscience and fierce loyalty to friends. His constant sidekick
is J.T. Ripper, an antisocial Doberman from hell. The two have a love-hate
relationship.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Frost
is actually a composite of three Special Forces men I was lucky enough to have
met when I was in the casino business. They’re gone now, victims of their
chosen profession, but they’re not forgotten, I can assure you. They were
amazing Americans doing an amazing job. One of them had a huge Doberman called
‘Scorpio’ and he was impressive, to say the least. Scorpio is gone now, too,
but I embellished him and he became J.T. Ripper in my Frost series.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
painted Ripper as a gigantic, sarcastic, evil-tempered, Scotch-drinking
Doberman. He puts up with Frost and pretty much detests everyone and everything
else—but Ripper is a warrior, too.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I must admit that writing Ripper into my Jack Frost stories has been a
lot of fun. I get as much fan mail for him as I do for Frost (sorry, Jack). I
have no idea why, because he’s not a dog you take for a walk in the park. I
conjured him up to be 36 inches at the shoulder, and weighing in at a whopping
150 pounds—all muscle, teeth and nastiness, and he was born pissed.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
reference to the “Scotch-drinking” comment I made earlier, Ripper does favor a
taste of Scotch whisky now and then (he prefers Haig & Haig). Consequently,
here’s my little disclaimer: Since J.T. Ripper lives only in the pages of my
Frost novels, it’s fine with me that he helps himself to a snort now and then.
I have a soft spot in my heart for dogs, and they should be kept away from
alcohol of any kind. However, since Ripper is not of this world, he can do
whatever he damn well pleases, and believe me, he does.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ghosts from my past: Some of the characters who appear in my Jack Frost
books are loosely based on people I met during those many years in the Nevada
casino industry. Are these stories true? Not quite. If they were, I’d probably
have to go to jail for withholding pertinent information. Let’s just say that
the casino business generates more than its fair share of interesting
characters, both good and bad, and let it go at that. For instance, Benny
Florentine, one of Jack Frost’s nightmare opponents in The Vegas Factor, is
based on a man I met early in my casino career. He was a cretin, the guy your
mother warned you about. When I asked the casino manager what the fellow’s job was,
I was told he ‘ran errands’ for the casino. I decided that explanation was good
enough for me, and I dropped it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
film option for my Frost series has been picked up by Someday Productions, LLC,
an East Coast indie production company. Will my series actually make it to the
big screen? The odds are long, but I’m an old casino guy, remember? We’ll just
have to wait and see how it plays out. I am blessed (cursed?) with an outlook
that assumes if ISIS is on the edge of town, and all I have to fight with is a
handful of rocks, they’re toast. So yeah, I believe it will eventually be made.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span> </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Marketing, and other distasteful subjects: Like many other authors, I
offer the first book in my Frost series as a free download, with the idea
being, of course, that if you like what you read you’ll buy the second, and
third, and . . . on and on. It’s an old, accepted marketing tool, and it works.
Here’s the link, if you are so inclined to give it a read: <a href="http://www.jackfrostthrillers.com/"><span style="color: red;">http://www.jackfrostthrillers.com</span></a>.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Since
I’m on the subject of free books: I might as well take this opportunity to
grumble a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a professional writer
I detest free books, even though (since I’m also a marketing guy) I certainly
understand why they’re used as a sales tool. Yes, it makes total sense to give
away the first book in the series free, because as I mentioned in the preceding
paragraph, hopefully it will result in sales of the second and third books. But
to give away the only book that you have written, free of charge, makes no
sense to me at all.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
have a pretty large Twitter following (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/thefictionworks"><span style="color: red;">www.twitter.com/thefictionworks</span></a>) and a
few years ago I posted this tweet: “I'm amazed that people will spend $4.00 for
a Starbucks, yet think $2.99 is too much for a book that took a year to write.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That
tweet apparently touched a nerve, because it has been retweeted thousands of
times, so a large number of you must agree with me. The weekly deluge of free
and 99 cent book titles have weakened the eBook market, and sales are down
everywhere. With thousands of free titles being released every week, small
wonder why anyone would want to actually pay for a book.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’ve
been in the media business for a long time. To the best of my knowledge, I am
one of the five original ePublishers on the Internet, dating back nearly 25 years.
I think I have pretty much seen it all, but the flood of free eBooks is
discouraging, to say the least.<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ah well, it is what it is. There certainly is a place for a free book
offering in certain marketing campaigns. Just use the practice wisely.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Gazala: What are books for?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hoy: <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Books in any format (paperback, hardcover,
eBook, audiobook) provide access to unlimited entertainment and knowledge. The
good news? It’s yours for the taking. The bad news? You won’t live long enough
to read everything available. But please do try.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Gazala: </span></span>W. Somerset Maugham said, “There are three rules
for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” Do you
agree, or disagree, and why?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hoy:<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Oh I totally agree. So many writers believe in
outlining and spending weeks and months (even years) of research before they
tackle the job. I just sit down and start blazing away, often without a clue
where I’m going. Most of the time the story just bubbles up out of my brain,
and I find myself humming along at my usual 90 wpm, hurrying to find out what’s
going to happen next. While I don’t necessarily recommend that approach, it
works for me. You simply have to find out what works for you.</span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Gazala: </span>You’ll pardon me -- it’s well past midnight and
there’s an enormous black dog pounding on my front door with a bad attitude and
an empty crystal tumbler. While I go see what he wants, ask yourself question,
and answer it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hoy: I’ve
always asked myself why fiction exists in the first place. Think about it for a
minute. We make up imaginary characters and put them in all kinds of situations
(dire, romantic, thrilling, dangerous, etc.), and people actually pay to read
the stories we’ve spun. Makes no sense to me, but I write ‘em and I buy ’em,
the same as you. It’s really quite wonderful, isn’t it?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Well,
it has been fun, but I have to burn some midnight oil. Jack Frost and J.T.
Ripper are calling out to me.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">–
Ray Hoy</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://fictionworks.com/"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">fictionworks.com</span></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://jackfrostthrillers.com/"><span style="color: red;">jackfrostthrillers.com</span></a><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: red;"> </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://mistymountainproductions.com/"><span style="color: red;">mistymountainproductions.com</span></a></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></span> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFcYYLbt964v6JxQqV5dLvH2h68RHRZmkCmFVWnpbrYPZfdQ-7BytCAgRLBX3Ltj7ZogGBdQSgWYr6rkqfCKyfPLhjBGecDhcra-pvCUip7ivLplXO5Az-Q3uiNJh8Cpx7Fw49ACRRimE7/s1600/Hoy_TheVegasFactor_GAS.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFcYYLbt964v6JxQqV5dLvH2h68RHRZmkCmFVWnpbrYPZfdQ-7BytCAgRLBX3Ltj7ZogGBdQSgWYr6rkqfCKyfPLhjBGecDhcra-pvCUip7ivLplXO5Az-Q3uiNJh8Cpx7Fw49ACRRimE7/s1600/Hoy_TheVegasFactor_GAS.png" /></a></div>
<br />Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-63132035583129228272017-10-15T22:59:00.000-04:002017-10-15T23:14:25.924-04:00Author Spotlight: Alexandrea Weis<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">New Orleans. Voodoo. Curses. Ghosts. It's October, dear readers. Creepiness real and imagined abounds with the season, and who's to say which stirs us more? Worry not, though -- we're no fools, and we're duly renown for being protective of our precious patrons. We're the first to concede some creepiness is to be avoided by the wise, and far be it from us to unleash such upon you. But, there is other creepiness. Delicious macabre. Tasty spooky. The eerie stuff that keeps you up late into the dark, cold night because the fear is something you invited to share the warm, orange glow in front of your crackling fireplace. That genus of creepiness is a valued guest who's both entertaining and mesmerizing. When it knocks at your door, or scratches your window, you usher it in, breathless in anticipation of the thrills and chills it brings to your rapidly beating heart.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Creating compelling stories stories full of the fear that fascinates is a specialty of today's esteemed guest, who has so graciously agreed to submit herself to the daunting glare of
the Gazalapalooza Author Spotlight. As an advanced practice registered nurse, her mastery of the corporeal is profound. She was born and reared in New Orleans, so she's steeped in in the myth, legend and lore of America's most haunted city. She was raised in the motion picture industry, imbuing in her from a tender age appreciation of the art of spinning spellbinding imagery to whisk you where she wants you to be. She is also a permitted and certified wildlife rehabber, rescuing orphaned and injured wildlife, so she brings too to her craft a tender heart of gold. She is <a href="http://alexandreaweis.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: red;">Alexandrea Weis</span></span></span></a>, and we're very pleased to present her to you here, in our humble confines.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Weis visits us today with a fresh copy of her brand new novel, titled <i>Damned: A Magnus Blackwell Novel (Book 1)</i>. The book tells the tale of Lexie Arden and her fiancé, Will Bennet. The couple have acquired a old, neglected island mansion called Altmover Manor, determined to restore it and make it their home. But the abandoned mansion's previous occupant, though a man dead over a century named Magnus Blackwell, hasn't completely surrendered his dominion over the property. Blackwell is drawn to Lexie. He senses the young woman's supernatural gift, and he wants to exploit it for his own ends.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">New Orleans. Voodoo. Curses. Ghosts. With these things pulsing in her veins, it doesn't seem Weis should be scared of being strapped to a
hard wooden chair in our grim guest quarters, under the blistering blast of our unforgiving klieg light array. We see now, she's not. Very well. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="st"><span class="f"> </span>Laissez les bon temps rouler</span></i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my
omnipotence, I've sentenced you to be stranded alone on a desert island for
offenses best left unnamed. In my beneficence, I've decided to allow you a
limited amount of reading material to make your stay a little less bleak than
it would otherwise be. I'll spot you your religious text of preference, and the
collected works of William Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the one
fiction book, and the one nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you, and
tell why you choose them.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Weis: My non-fiction preference would be easy. Mary Renault's <i>The Nature of Alexander</i>. I am a huge Alexander the Great fan. Fiction would be a bit more difficult and would probably be <i>A Christmas Carol</i>, by Charles Dickens. I love that story, and of course, it has ghosts.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your newest
book is an excellent and gripping paranormal tale titled, <i id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507405622078_588589"><i id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507405622078_589020">Damned: A Magnus Blackwell Novel (Book 1)</i></i>. The story follows the spine-chilling
adventures and ominous discoveries of a young couple trying to make a
home in an old mansion not yet surrendered by its long-dead previous
possessor. As the woman, Lexie, explores her new surroundings, she
unearths terrifying secrets from the specter's dark and twisted past.
Compelled to learn all she
can about the mansion's former owner, Lexie becomes immersed in a world
of
voodoo, curses, and the whereabouts of a mysterious dragon cane. I've read <i>Damned</i>. I enjoyed it immensely, and recommend it
highly. Shockingly enough, however, from time to time my bare recommendation
doesn't always motivate a book's potential reader to become a book's actual
reader. Tell us something about <i id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507405622078_588591">Damned</i>, and why its potential reader should
make the leap and become its actual reader.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Weis: Wow! First, thank you for that. I am thrilled you enjoyed the book. And why I think readers should indulge in my story is because it involves all things spooky and delicious about a place dear to my heart--my hometown of New Orleans. If you can't experience the city firsthand, then read this story and experience it through Lexie's eyes. I grew up in the French Quarter with all manner of the strange and spooky around me. I tried to bring that home in <i>Damned</i>, along with the unique flavor that is New Orleans. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are
books for?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Weis: Books are a means to awaken the imagination and give it a voice. For the writer and reader, books take you away and open your mind. As long as imagination is nurtured, our souls continue to grow. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W. Somerset
Maugham said, "There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately,
no one knows what they are." Do you agree, or disagree, and why?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Weis: I so agree. There are no rules for writing, only grammar. Every new hit book coming out on the market shows that. <i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i> would never have been considered a groundbreaker, but it was. It broke all the rules. When writing never follow the rules, break them. Be your own writer; not someone else's.</span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You'll
pardon me -- it's well past midnight and a diaphanous, rakish man is beating on my door with the head of a strange dragon cane. While I go see what he wants, ask yourself a question, and answer it.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Weis: Question: Why do I write? Answer: I have worked as a nurse, earned a Ph.D., and taught at the university level, but never in all my medical experience did I feel like I was using all of my brain. When I write, I do, and it makes me feel whole. </span></span></div>
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You can feel it, can't you? Halloween's lurking in the close shadows, watching you, and waiting. Who better to help you prepare for sight and frights of All Hallows' Eve than tonight's acclaimed Spotlight Author? Recall she confided to us, "<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I grew up in the French Quarter with all manner of the strange and spooky around me." </span></span>She's a subject matter expert on matters particularly requiring her expertise this shuddersome time of year. Delve for yourself. You're see we're right, and you'll thank us for the tip. It's easy to do, so quick and painless. Steel yourself, gather your courage, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Damned-Magnus-Blackwell-Novel-Book/dp/1944109447/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508106697&sr=8-1&keywords=alexandrea+weis" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">click here to snatch your copy of <i>Damned</i> right now from Amazon</span></a>.<br />
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-13608861806725524252015-06-21T13:00:00.002-04:002015-06-21T13:00:46.659-04:00Oil Falls From Titan's Skies<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Our oil prices skyrocket and plunge, and conspiracies
abound. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>But Saturn’s lifeless moon Titan
has hundreds of times more natural gas and other liquid hydrocarbons than all known
oil and natural gas reserves on Earth. <a href="http://www.space.com/4968-titan-oil-earth.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Hydrocarbons fall from Titan’s sky</span></a>.</div>
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So either oil can be formed via inorganic geological
processes, or, Titan supported enough life eons ago to make oil rain. Read the
award-winning international thriller "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Moon-Thriller-Richard-Gazala/dp/1440166943/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1418150223" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Blood of the Moon</span></a>," and you won’t
be so quick to dismiss the former.</div>
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-49497152728230206632015-03-11T14:49:00.001-04:002015-03-11T14:49:07.909-04:00Book Review: Sound Man, by Glyn JohnsLegendary rock producer Glyn John's memoir, <i>Sound Man</i>, is a good book,
but it could have been much better. It's full of interesting stories
about some of popular music's giants from the 60's, 70's and into the
80's (Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Who, Eagles, Steve Miller
Band, Wings, and the Clash are just some of the artists whose recordings
Johns engineered or produced). Most of the stories lack much depth,
though, and the whole book needs the touch of a skilled editor. In other
words, ironically enough, this book could have used a good producer.
Still, for fans of Johns' work and the artists he collaborated with
during a crucial era in popular music, <i>Sound Man</i> is worth reading.<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://2r62j11x4zsy3ytak02nzvbk24y.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/510SGwSeeWL._SY344_BO1204203200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2r62j11x4zsy3ytak02nzvbk24y.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/510SGwSeeWL._SY344_BO1204203200_.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-29277984435003264022015-02-20T17:30:00.003-05:002015-02-20T17:30:44.130-05:00Book Review: The Devil and Philosophy: The Nature of His Game, ed. by Robert ArpThirty-five philosophers of varying diabolic inclination gather under
editor Robert Arp's direction to opine on whether the devil exists, and
if so, what might be his objectives. The 35 thinkers spin short and
usually entertaining ruminations exploring deviltry's long reach into
history, religion, literature and the arts. The scattershot result
likely won't change a reader's mind about what Satan's up to if he's
actually around, but the book's a breezy, interesting read written with
forked tongues planted firmly in leathery cheeks. (Note: Readers
desiring a weightier and very amusing contemplation of Lucifer's
curriculum vitae and future plans will enjoy Jeremy Leven's 1982 novel,
"Satan, His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler,
J.S.P.S.")<br />
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-55106901415137309252015-02-20T17:27:00.000-05:002015-02-20T17:27:01.359-05:00Book Review: Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew RobertsThere are few, if any, people about whom more books have been written
than Napoleon Bonaparte. Given the man's appropriately lauded
sociopolitical and legal achievements contrasted against the nearly
unimaginable brutality of the wars bearing his name, unsurprisingly
Napoleon's myriad biographers are divided between admirers and
detractors, the latter outnumbering the former. However, Andrew Roberts'
book, <i>Napoleon: A Life</i>, places the author firmly among Napoleon's
devotees. The linchpin of this book, as stated on its jacket, is that
Roberts "take[s] advantage of the recent publication of Napoleon's
thirty-three thousand surviving letters, which radically transform our
understanding of his character and motivation." Roberts interweaves his
subject's vast written commentary covering the entire spectrum from
mundane to meaningful against the backdrop of Napoleon's improbable rise
and meteoric collapse as militarist and politician in a short life that
still resonates loudly in our world today. Roberts paints the end of
Napoleon's career as attributable less to a clearly flawed character
than to trusting the wrong people and fighting the wrong battles badly.
("When Waterloo is war-gamed, France usually wins," says a footnote on
page 766.) Either way, the result reduced Napoleon from Emperor of
France and ruler of nearly all Europe to Britain's lonely prisoner, left
to die an outcast on a barren, isolated volcanic rock in the South
Atlantic, light years from Paris.<br />
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-51531992414254145152015-02-20T17:22:00.002-05:002015-02-20T17:23:29.926-05:00Book Review: The Ghost Hunter, by Hans HolzerThe technology-laden art of ghost-hunting commonly practiced today
(evidenced by the scads of popular ghost-hunting shows currently
haunting your cable television for all the 26 weeks on either side of
Halloween) is based largely on an extravagant array of exotic gadgets
calibrated to detect the piercing of our earthly veil by ethereal forces
otherwise immeasurable dispassionately. This "objective" approach was
first widely championed and documented by Briton Harry Price in his 1940
tome, <i>The Most Haunted House in England</i>, a classic in the field
examining the haunting of Borley Rectory in Essex. But there are more
ways than one to confront a wraith, as celebrated American spirit chaser
Hans Holzer demonstrates in his seminal 1963 (reprinted in new editions
in 2005 and 2014) work, <i>The Ghost Hunter</i>. Rather than depend on cold
engineering's electronic or mechanical fruits like Price and most
phantom finders currently on TV, Holzer's methodology relies on
selecting deft and trustworthy psychic mediums to accompany him on
investigations of locations squatted by specters along America's
northeast coast. Once ensconced in a haunted location, Holzer's
medium-du-jour allows herself to be commandeered by the wronged spirit
so the latter can speak the grievances that compel it to wreak eerie
havoc. The book's collection of reports is mostly entertaining,
sometimes enlightening, and Holzer's interventions usually (but not
always) lead to the elimination of spooky doings once the living
appropriately address the ghosts' gripes. Holzer's book teaches it may
be folly to assume people's quest for fairness in love and war is
constrained by mortal borders, and that a good medium gives any fancy
contraption a run for its money in tracking ghosts.<br />
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-18309503825203004552015-01-25T18:12:00.000-05:002015-01-25T18:17:50.547-05:00Book Review: Ready to Hang: Seven Famous New Orleans Murders, by Robert TallantThere are as many ways to learn a city as there are people interested in
learning it. Surely there's no substitute for learning a place than
being there. But if circumstances conspire to prevent being there, the
next best thing is reading about it, and a great way to learn about a
grand old city is to steep yourself in a fascinating collection
exploring some of the most (in)famous murders ever to darken its stormy
history. Robert Tallant's "Ready to Hang" is just such a collection.
Each of the seven well-written stories in this book reveals no less
about how New Orleans has evolved from past to present than it does
about the victims and victimizers it chronicles. Perhaps the most widely
known of the sinister killers in Tallant's book is the person (or
persons?) known as the Axman, whose enduring macabre allure lead to his
recent resurrection in a pivotal role on the hit television series
"American Horror Story: Coven." Notwithstanding the Axman's considerable
legend in the annals of unsolved serial murder, not even his gruesome
story outshines the other half-dozen true tales in this book. Did you
know the Mafia first sharpened its American hooks in New Orleans? You
will, and you'll learn why the practice of "decorating the lamp posts"
did much to drive the Mafia out of New Orleans into friendlier digs in
New York. Tallant's skill with words and phrases, combined with his
meticulous research and attention to detail, makes "Ready to Hang" an
absorbing and worthwhile read that is nothing less than a bloodstained
love letter to the city where he lived his entire life.<br />
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<br />Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-30210623078445892015-01-03T14:37:00.002-05:002015-01-03T14:37:57.168-05:00Author Spotlight: Brett J. Talley<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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We at Gazalapalooza rightly pride ourselves on the long
roster of fantastic authors from all over the world who have kindly passed
through our notorious turnstile to submit themselves to the merciless glare of
the Author Spotlight. Yes, we’ve had authors who are attorneys. (Your humble
correspondent is indeed one himself.) Yes, we’ve featured authors who are professional
political speechwriters. Yet today’s edition positions us to present our dear
readers something even in our estimable
history <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>unprecedented<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– an author who habituated long-abandoned mansions
and misty midnight graveyards gigging as a paranormal investigator before taking
his lawyerly talents to Washington, D.C. to infuse Capitol Hill’s hallowed hallways
with a whiff of literary terrors distinctly apolitical. That writer is <a href="http://brettjtalley.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Brett J.Talley</span></a>. <br />
<br />
Not merely the subject of a recent profile in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/meet-the-ghost-hunter-and-horror-novelist-who-writes-sen-rob-portmans-speeches/2014/12/08/64b8bad2-7bd0-11e4-84d4-7c896b90abdc_story.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><i>The Washington Post</i></span></a>, Talley is the Bram Stoker Award-Nominated scribe of suspenseful horror fiction <i>That
Which Should Not Be</i>, and <i>The Void</i>. His is also the pen documenting matters spectral
in the nonfiction tomes <i>Haunted Alabama Black Belt</i>, and <i>Haunted Tuscaloosa</i>. If
this isn’t pedigree sufficient to raise hairs on the back of your neck, dare to
spend time alone with our guest’s array of short stories, every one as expertly
crafted and widely acclaimed as his books, and each finely honed to drive a
jagged wedge between a sound night’s sleep and you.</div>
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The story Talley brought along for our discussion today is
his latest work, a novella titled <i>The Reborn</i>. After treading about in spooky cemeteries
and shunned premises (much less in Congressional corridors renown for their otherworldly
disharmony), it’s not altogether unsurprising Talley appears fairly comfortable strapped to a
hard wooden chair under the blistering blast of our klieg light array. Let’s
proceed.</div>
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Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my
omnipotence, I've sentenced you to be stranded alone on a desert island for
offenses best left unnamed. In my beneficence, I've decided to allow you a
limited amount of reading material to make your stay a little less bleak than
it would otherwise be. I'll spot you your religious text of preference, and the
collected works of William Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the one
fiction book, and the one nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you, and
tell why you choose them.</div>
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Talley:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fiction
answer is actually pretty easy for me, though the answer might be surprising to
some of my readers—<i>The Great Gatsby</i>. I’ve always been a reader, but I didn’t
love reading until I read that book for the first time. It’s one of a handful
of books I’ve read more than once, and perhaps the only book I’ve read more
than twice. It is, in many ways, a perfect book. Not a word is out of place,
the story is timeless, the characters all too human. And it accomplishes all
that despite clocking in at only a little over 40,000 words. Remarkable, really.</div>
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As for non-fiction book, while <i>How To Survive on a Desert
Island</i> is tempting, I’m going to cheat a little and go with the <i>Encyclopedia
Britannica</i>. I’m one of those people who can look something up on Wikipedia and,
three hours and fifteen articles later, realize I let the day get away from me.
Since I assume I can’t have a laptop, I’ll go with the dead-tree version.</div>
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Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your newest
book is an excellent and gripping post-apocalyptic reincarnation thriller titled
<i>The Reborn</i>. The novella reveals how authorities capable of scrutinizing DNA to
identify murderers, rapists, and other criminals <i>in utero</i> are obliged to
eliminate these miscreants while they're still womb-bound. Except all is never
what it pretends to be, and Marcus Ryder, the soldier who killed Genghis Khan
reborn, finds himself and his compatriots battered by brutal moral ambiguities
in a very savage world. I've read it. I enjoyed it immensely, and recommend it
highly. Shockingly enough, however, from time to time my bare recommendation
doesn't always motivate a book's potential reader to become a book's actual
reader. Tell us something about <i>The Reborn</i>, and why its potential reader should
make the leap and become its actual reader.</div>
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Talley:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether you
want a book that makes you think or you want a thrill ride from the first page,
<i>The Reborn</i> is for you. I know that’s probably what every author says about
their books, but I’m serious about it here. And that was my goal. I wanted to
write a book that challenged the readers’ beliefs about morality and justice,
no matter what those beliefs might be. But I also wanted to write a book that
kicks ass. You’ve got firefights, chases, nuclear strikes, world wars, gun
battles, artillery barrages, pretty much everything you could imagine. And even
better, it’s short! Just a little bit shorter than <i>The Great Gatsby</i>, as a
matter of fact.</div>
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Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are
books for?</div>
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Talley:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Books are
like people; they have limitless possibility for good or ill. They are for
entertainment, for learning, for edification, for spreading a message. They can
rally people to do the right thing or rally the mob to do evil. A human life is
fleeting, but words can be eternal. Every person has a story to tell, and every
book is a window into its author’s soul.</div>
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Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W. Somerset
Maugham said, "There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately,
no one knows what they are." Do you agree, or disagree, and why?</div>
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Talley:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I agree
completely. I occasionally read those “10 Rules for Writing” blog posts just
for laughs. A blank page is not something to be feared, but to be relished. It
is the author’s playground, his universe. In that world, we are all gods, and
we can create or destroy whatever we see fit. Why would we cabin ourselves,
place false limits on ourselves? Now, are there rules for getting published? Of
course, and the bigger the house you are looking to land the more rules there
will be. And yet, running throughout all those rules will be “originality.” How
can we be truly original if we are constantly afraid we are going to violate
someone else’s rules? If I had one piece of advice I could give to new writers
it would be this—be fearless.</div>
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Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You'll
pardon me -- somebody who's the spitting image of Idi Amin Dada is beating on
my front door. Ask yourself question, and answer it.</div>
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Talley:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Question: Ha.
Well played. I’ll go with, “What scares you?” Answer: H.P. Lovecraft once said
that “the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and
strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” I think Lovecraft is absolutely
right, but I would also add that horror is not always about fear, as strange as
that may seem. It is also about unsettling the reader, about opening them to
ideas that are foreign to them and making them see things they would rather
not.</div>
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Take Poe for instance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some might claim (not this writer) that Poe is tame by today’s
standards. Whether or not that is true, the horror contained in Poe was
absolutely shocking for its time. Poe talked about things that polite society
preferred not to discuss. I think that’s why in today’s horror you see so much
overt and what might be termed “socially deviant” sexuality in many popular works.
The authors are trying to break through societal norms and horrify their
audience in a fundamental way.</div>
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Personally, I prefer the other kind of horror. I want my
readers to peer into the unknown. I want them to see what lurks in the shadows
or perhaps to discover that, indeed, the shadow itself is a lurking thing.</div>
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The shadow itself is a lurking thing. Very well said, Mr. Talley.
And like a bedeviled <i>matryoshka</i> doll, there slinks inside the lurking shadow
itself yet another skulking thing, waiting, watching, wanting… But you needn’t wait
to feed your fevered head <i>The Reborn</i>. All you need do is draw a deep breath,
steady your shuddering nerves, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Biters-Journalstones-Doubledown-Harry-Shannon/dp/1940161541/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420307598&sr=1-1&keywords=talley+the+reborn" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">click here to snatch a copy right now from Amazon</span></a>.</div>
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-2082302104315854932014-10-01T13:13:00.000-04:002014-10-01T13:13:25.004-04:00Author Spotlight: Todd Moss<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Today’s guest on the Gazalaplooza
Author Spotlight is <a href="http://toddmossbooks.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Todd Moss</span></a>, who has brought along with him his brand new
international political thriller, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Golden Hour</i>. We could rattle on and on about what a gripping novel Moss’
new book is, but then we’d just be following in the treads of scores of rave
reviews preceding our own recommendation. We might instead impress upon you our
guest’s extraordinary resumé, brimming with global treks and experiences (i.e.,
gigs at a Washington D.C. think tank, the U.S. State Department, the World
Bank, Georgetown University, and the London School of Economics) that imbue <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Golden Hour</i> with the hearty flavors
only someone who’s “been there, and done that” can whip up for your appreciative
literary palate. Read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Golden Hour</i>,
and you’ll soon see how 100 desperately dangerous hours in Mali will rivet you
in ways you’ll remember long after you’ve finished devouring this book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Given Moss’ quarter century
of professional and educational adventures in Africa, you might be excused for
thinking of the Spotlight’s infamous klieg light army will have unremarkable effects
on our guest. Perhaps, but we all know there’s only one way to find out for
sure. Moss is sitting comfortably in our hard wooden chair, seemingly unperturbed
by the blinding blaze. Let’s get this Spotlight underway.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my
omnipotence, I've sentenced you to be stranded alone on a desert island for
offenses best left unnamed. In my beneficence, I've decided to allow you a
limited amount of reading material to make your stay a little less bleak than
it would otherwise be. I'll spot you your religious text of preference, and the
collected works of William Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the one
fiction book, and the one nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you, and
tell why you choose them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Moss:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For fiction, I’d
probably pick Michael Chabon’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Amazing
Adventures of Kavalier & Clay</i>. It’s an epic, funny, and intimately
human story that I could read again and again. Nonfiction is tougher. I’d
probably choose Henry Kissinger’s tome <i>Diplomac</i>y, a window into political
history and the role of persuasion and raw power. And can I trade Shakespeare
for the collected works of J.D. Salinger? (Ed.—Sure, we’re fairly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">laissez-faire</i> about reading lists with
Salinger on them.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your new book is
an excellent and gripping international political thriller titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Golden Hour</i>. The novel tells how
Judd Ryker, chief of the State Department’s new experimental Crisis Reaction
Unit, rises to the formidable challenges of restoring the unjustly deposed
president of Mali, rescuing an American senator's kidnapped daughter, and
protecting the American embassy in Timbuktu from a terrorist attack, and doing
it all in less than 100 hours. I've read it. I enjoyed it immensely, and
recommend it highly. Shockingly enough, however, from time to time my bare
recommendation doesn't always motivate a book's potential reader to become a
book's actual reader. Tell us something about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Golden Hour</i>, and why its potential reader should make the leap
and become its actual reader.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Moss:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks, Richard. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Golden Hour</i> is supposed to be a fun
thriller. I read thrillers on the beach to relax and get away, so that was my
main goal. However, I also wanted to share a more serious experience: We seem
to read every day in the newspapers about some crisis around the world (tyranny
in Syria, Ebola in West Africa, terrorism in Yemen) where the U.S. Government
is expected to respond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I lived this
first hand as a senior State Department official working for Secretary
Condoleezza Rice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the novel, I wanted
to take readers right inside the White House Situation Room or into the sealed classified
rooms in the corners of U.S. Embassies to hear the conversations about what our
government should do. I wanted to give people some insight into how and why
decisions are made that so often seem wrong or misguided. That’s going on every
single day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are books for?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Moss:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Above all,
pleasure.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W. Somerset
Maugham said, "There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately,
no one knows what they are." Do you agree, or disagree, and why?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Moss:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I wrote my
first novel, I had no idea what I was doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I wrote the second one using a wholly different process. I’m now working
on the third, and still not sure which approach is best. The only rule I think
that applies to all novels:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you have to
sit in the chair and just do it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You'll pardon me
-- I've a sudden and unforeseen crisis requiring my immediate reaction. Ask
yourself a question, and answer it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Moss:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why’d I set a
modern thriller in a place few people know?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The plot was original inspired by a real coup in Mauritania, but I set <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Golden Hour</i> in Mali because I
thought everyone has heard of Timbuktu. (Yes, it’s a real city in northern
Mali!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also wanted to share some of my
love for Africa, a place I’ve worked on professionally for 25 years. I caught
the “Africa Bug” as a college student in Zimbabwe and haven’t looked back. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I hoped setting my story about American foreign policy in a
country like Mali might help make that part of the world a bit more accessible
to readers, and also highlight how Americans and Africans are being drawn
closer together than ever before. Our economies are increasingly tied as Africa
becomes an important growth market for American companies. Many people don’t
yet realize that Africa is booming. And our own national security is intimately
linked as terrorism and international crime become greater threats. That’s why
our military is more and more involved in places like Somalia or the Sahara
Desert. The continent seems far away for many people, but this is changing
quickly.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The old cliché from countless songs, poems and books is Timbuktu’s
mysterious glimmer is always half a world away from wherever you happen to be,
as in, </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Darling, I’d follow you all the way
to Timbuktu if you asked me to.” Not so right now, friends. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Golden Hour</i>’s mysterious glimmer is
as close as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Hour-Judd-Ryker-Novel/dp/0399168605" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">a mere Amazon click</span></a>. So much for never taking you anywhere fun, right?</span></div>
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</xml><![endif]-->Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-63652379531452782362014-09-11T15:37:00.000-04:002014-09-11T15:50:37.091-04:00Book Review: Ghost Stories of Old New Orleans, by Jean deLavigneFirst published in 1946, Jeanne deLavigne's excellent "Ghost Stories of
Old New Orleans" fell out of print for a long while. In 2013, the
Louisiana State University Press remedied that with a new edition,
including a foreword by folklorist and LSU Professor Emeritus of English
Frank de Caro. As de Caro accurately says of the 40 stories collected
in this book, deLavigne "...gave her legends a literary twist, and the
tales in [the book] read like literary stories." All of these genuinely
eerie (and allegedly true) ghost stories brim with fully developed
characters, intricate plots, intimate settings, and great attention to
historical detail. The world is full of books of ghost stories, but very
few of them are well-written enough to qualify as literature. This one
does. (Note: Like all art, this book is a product of its place and time
-- readers offended by occasional racial or ethnic slurs might not enjoy
this collection.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcL01uJuGUZfxKfxs81wg8ggAUlRD1g03NDJslHivFFuYwI4g5sOvLlrLQRY7Q7T4ip7FyMPiWmU5y3yY4La9AcEa65KXJFZJpRP3Py9jifOHIa32PxBiZosNv037w_9Ee8wyF33onl3qi/s1600/ghoststoriesofoldneworleans_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcL01uJuGUZfxKfxs81wg8ggAUlRD1g03NDJslHivFFuYwI4g5sOvLlrLQRY7Q7T4ip7FyMPiWmU5y3yY4La9AcEa65KXJFZJpRP3Py9jifOHIa32PxBiZosNv037w_9Ee8wyF33onl3qi/s1600/ghoststoriesofoldneworleans_01.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></a></div>
<br />Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-8385103863568643612014-09-02T12:35:00.002-04:002014-09-02T12:35:49.685-04:00Book Review: Edgar Allan Poe: The Fever Called Living, by Paul CollinsFor those interested in a brief and well-written biography of the man,
author Paul Collins' "Edgar Allan Poe: The Fever Called Living" is a
perfect place to start. At less than 120 pages (including a few pages of
Notes and recommendations for additional reading), the book's five
engaging chapters fly by quickly. By his own admission, this book adds
little "unusual or even unique" material to the subject of Poe's often
calamitous life, and his strange death, but that's no discredit to
Collins -- as one of America's most beloved authors and the
widely-acknowledged inventor of the modern detective story, there's
already a voluminous trove of scholarly information available about Poe
and his work. However, any reader keener to wade rather than drown in
Poe's murky pool will be glad for Collins' book.<br />
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-52848489467524033702014-08-13T13:16:00.001-04:002014-08-13T13:16:53.287-04:00Book Review: The Supernatural Enhancements, by Edgar CanteroEdgar Cantero's thriller "The Supernatural Enhancements" is the latest
entry in the centuries-old narrative device that is the epistolary
novel. The device, where a story is told via a montage of variably
trustworthy letters, journal entries, newspaper clippings, etc., been
used by many authors to better effect. (Stoker's "Dracula," Shelley's
"Frankenstein," and Collins' "The Moonstone" are a just a few classics
that leap immediately to mind.) Cantero's effort to tread in those
well-worn footprints is not an abject failure, but readers are justified
wondering why the author elected to tell the story this way. The plot
and setting, and the characters that populate them, are all sufficiently
intriguing to hold interest on their own merits without resort to
gratuitous epistolary gymnastics. Cantero's choice of narrative
technique detracts, often materially, from what could otherwise be a
solidly gripping paranormal mystery.<br />
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-86371264352136790212014-07-20T17:50:00.000-04:002014-07-20T17:50:58.309-04:00Book Review: The Slype, by Russell ThorndikeRussell Thorndike's 1927 novel teems with murder, blackmail, serial
kidnappings of man and beast, a secret book pointing the way to a
long-lost treasure, an ancient cathedral rifled with hidden tunnels and
clandestine doors, all tied to a haunted passageway called the Slype
(which gives this book its title). Toiling with and against each other
in this droll mayhem set in the English riverside town of Dullchester
are a cast of variously eccentric characters who can't help calling to
mind the singular personalities in some of Charles Dickens' classic
fiction, a literary canon that clearly inspired and informed Thorndike's
writing. Thorndike revels in taking his time to spin his engaging tale
through a labyrinth of puzzles, not unlike a pleasant stroll in what is
nowadays known as a "cozy mystery." Kudos to Valancourt Books for
publishing this high-quality reprint of a novel sure to please fans of
Dickens and Agatha Christie alike.<br />
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<br />Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-73163933590070457832014-07-20T17:48:00.001-04:002014-07-20T17:48:55.008-04:00Book Review: The Rule of Nobody, by Philip K. Howard"This town needs an enema." So said Jack Nicholson's "Joker" about the dysfunctionality of Gotham
City in Tim Burton's 1989 movie, "Batman." In "The Rule of Nobody,"
author Philip K. Howard embraces Joker's sentiments exactly, save that
Howard's disgust is aimed squarely at Washington D.C. Regardless of
one's political stripe, the list of what's badly broken in national
politics far exceeds the tally of what's working well. In this book,
Howard illustrates the vast and litigious space separating common sense
from bureaucratic inertia in modern America. Surely many ailments
explain the malady, and just as surely one of the more prominent among
them is bureaucratic malaise brought about by countless aged and
conflicting rules and regulations as immortal as they are useless, if
not downright dangerous. Thus the enema -- Howard's prescription to set
things right in part is to vigorously seek and eliminate outdated
federal bureaucratic regulations and regulators whose evolution has
rendered them poisonous to the health of our national body politic.
Howard's diagnosis, prognosis and suggested course of treatment all ring
true. There's no politician alive who wouldn't benefit himself and his
constituents by reading this book. You should read it, too.<br />
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-2166805842282240352014-04-12T15:14:00.003-04:002014-04-12T15:14:40.591-04:00Author Spotlight: Christopher J. Yates<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Today’s guest at the Gazalapalooza Author Spotlight is
<a href="http://www.christopherjyates.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Christopher J. Yates</span></a>, a writer who the <i>New York Post</i> recently declared might
very well be "…a new Stephen King, albeit with a British accent." That’s
an impressive accolade for any storyteller.</div>
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Yates’ debut novel is a highly acclaimed thriller titled, <i>Black
Chalk</i>. It’s an intricate, pleasingly complex, and deeply engaging tale about a
twisted version of the classic "Truth or Dare" game waged among a
close-knit group of college friends that goes darkly awry across years and
continents. It’s no spoiler to reveal here that not everyone who starts playing
this game survives to witness aghast its startling end.</div>
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Yates is remarkably well-suited to craft such a truly
ingenious book. He’s not only versed in the labyrinthine twists and turns of
the law via the degree he earned in his native Britain, but he followed up his
schooling with a successful career in puzzle magazines before embarking on the
literary journey that ultimately birthed <i>Black Chalk</i>.</div>
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One might assume an established puzzle-master like our
esteemed Mr. Yates would fare exceedingly well under the renown rigors of the
Author Spotlight. But there’s only one way to find out if that’s the truth. So
let’s tie him tightly to our sturdy wooden chair, crank up those unforgiving
klieg lights, and dare Yates to emerge unscathed at this interview’s
conclusion.</div>
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Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my
omnipotence, I've sentenced you to be stranded alone on a desert island for
offenses best left unnamed. In my beneficence, I've decided to allow you a
limited amount of reading material to make your stay a little less bleak than
it would otherwise be. I'll spot you your religious text of preference, and the
collected works of William Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the one
fiction book, and the one nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you, and
tell why you choose them.</div>
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Yates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For my
religious text can I please take the Book of Mormon. I'm an atheist who was
brought up Church of England (I was in the choir, no less), so I've heard a lot
of Bible and I'd like something to read for pure entertainment value.</div>
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For my non-fiction book, I'm going to be very unoriginal,
but honest, and plump for a dictionary. But no ordinary dictionary, <i>The
Chambers Dictionary</i>, a British dictionary (I'm from England and moved to the States
seven years ago). I have a much-loved copy, an 18th birthday present from my
mother, that is now falling apart. It's quite an eccentric dictionary both in
its word choices and definitions. For example, "Kazoo — a would-be musical
instrument," and, "Mullet — a hairstyle that is short at the front,
long at the back, and ridiculous all round."</div>
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And for fiction, I'd like Vladimir Nabokov's <i>Pale Fire</i>, an
extraordinary puzzle of a book that was one of the strongest inspirations for
my own novel, <i>Black Chalk</i>. <i>Pale Fire</i> is a thoroughly entertaining novel that
reads like the equivalent of a chess problem or Chinese puzzle box. The whole
story teases the reader with questions of the narrator's identity and intent. I
think it might take me a decade to even begin to glimpse some of its delicious
secrets, so it's a book that would certainly keep me occupied.</div>
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Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your new
book is an excellent and gripping psychological thriller titled <i>Black Chalk</i>,
set in New York and at Oxford University,
in which a group of six students play an elaborate game of dares and
consequences with tragic results. I've read it. I enjoyed it immensely,
and recommend it highly. Shockingly enough, however, from time to time my
bare recommendation doesn't always motivate a book's potential reader to become
a book's actual reader. Tell us something about <i>Black Chalk</i>, and why its
potential reader should make the leap and become its actual reader.</div>
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Yates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Firstly,
thank you so much for the praise and recommendation. I feel strongly that you
are a man of exquisite taste and utterly impeccable judgement and your
followers should listen to everything you say. However, if they're foolish
enough to need more information, then I would first tell a potential reader the
tagline for <i>Black Chalk</i> — "One Game. Six Students. Five Survivors."
Then I would reveal that I used to work full time as a puzzle editor and then a
puzzle compiler and that <i>The Times of London</i> described my book as "an
inventive and intricate psychological puzzle thriller". And to conclude I
would seal the deal with the words "Oh go on, pleeeease. It's really good.
Honest."</div>
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Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are
books for?</div>
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Yates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Books are
for many things — forming colorful browse-worthy rows; painting beautiful word
pictures; high-speed thrill rides through fascinating plots; pressing flowers;
education (even fiction can be educational, but in a subtle and alluring and
sometimes even dangerous way); hiding treasure (metaphorically — and literally
if you cut hiding spots into the pages); empathy training; attracting the
opposite sex (ask my wife how I wooed her — the answer beyond "nervously
and badly," is, "with books"); and finally, for balancing on
one's head to learn proper deportment. This is a complete list.</div>
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Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W. Somerset Maugham said, "There are three rules for
writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." Do you
agree, or disagree, and why?</div>
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Yates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone who's
ever read an article in which various writers present their rules cannot fail
to agree with Maugham. But I don't think most writers consider themselves in
sole possession of a set of hard-and-fast rules that form The Grand Secret To
Writing. But I think the media have to package things to make them grab the
reader's attention. And who's going to read an article entitled "Ten
Writers Share With Us Their Personal Guidelines, Which They Don't Think Are
Universally Applicable, But The Reader Might Find Useful Notwithstanding the
Fact That Writers Sometimes Ignore Their Own So-Called Rules"?</div>
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Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An old
college friend just dared me to do something I'm going to do despite my
better judgment. This may take a while. Ask yourself a question, and answer it.</div>
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Yates:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don't go
through with the dare, Richard, I implore you — you've read <i>Black Chalk</i> and you
know things are going to go very badly indeed. But while you struggle with your
dilemma, I will ask the following question of myself: The main narrator in
<i>Black Chalk</i> is a hermit living in New York; on
your Twitter profile, you describe yourself as a part-time hermit living in New York; are you
obsessed with hermits?</div>
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Good question, Christopher. The truth is, I have something of a hermit fantasy.
What I really want most in my writing life is an isolated log cabin in which to
work. However, my wife is a journalist in New York
and isolated log cabins are fairly hard to come by in Manhattan. (I've heard there's even a
shortage of them in Brooklyn, which is a huge
concern for the greater-bearded urban woodsmen population.) In fact, I recently
came across my personal Dream Writer's Log Cabin, <a href="http://www.canoebayescape.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a>, which is
sneakily classed as an RV, so you can just plonk it down on any piece of land
you own without zoning issues. I have thought about very little else in life
ever since I saw this. But until I can find a surreptitious way to get my wife
fired from her job, I have to create my own isolated log cabin. For example,
every morning I lock my phone and the Internet in a safe with a timer (OK,
admittedly not the WHOLE Internet, my wireless router). Hey presto — isolation.
Also, I work next to a school yard. There you go — wildlife. Plus, my building
has a gym in the basement that is almost always entirely empty — and so down I
go to 'hike' and 'chop wood'. Is any of this fooling anyone apart from myself?
And on that note, I think it's time for me to leave you. I have to go and build
an imaginary fire from a virtual log pile.</div>
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An imaginary fire built from non-dimensional logs by a pseudo-hermit
who resides in Manhattan?
Puzzling, indeed, putting aside for the moment the power to distance one's self quite vibrantly from banal workaday realities as circumstances warrant. You can dare
yourself a peek inside <i>Black Chalk</i> by clicking <a href="http://www.christopherjyates.com/book/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a>. Better yet, you can forgo the toe-dipping and take the mighty <i>Black Chalk</i>
plunge at Amazon.com by gathering a slow, deep breath, and clicking <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Black-Chalk-Christopher-J-Yates/dp/1846557283/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397323802&sr=1-1&keywords=yates+black+chalk" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a>. After
all, who among you doesn’t relish a formidable puzzle?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhepLwbAyYKwiWQwsOCLRohqIyX-gjO99tvhHvI1xrE3uYus614-IpliPklKR8Oba3878_hGSOrJH7iJXtrIbnFX-95hHqXCLfXsT_s3280w-Cjgtw8IeEwagMuZd5c4r7ChyphenhyphenEM0SEIzfQV/s1600/Yates_Black+Chalk_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhepLwbAyYKwiWQwsOCLRohqIyX-gjO99tvhHvI1xrE3uYus614-IpliPklKR8Oba3878_hGSOrJH7iJXtrIbnFX-95hHqXCLfXsT_s3280w-Cjgtw8IeEwagMuZd5c4r7ChyphenhyphenEM0SEIzfQV/s1600/Yates_Black+Chalk_cover.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-18519193430864923792014-02-19T13:31:00.001-05:002014-02-19T13:31:38.883-05:00Author Spotlight: David Burnsworth<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The literary genre that <a href="http://www.davidburnsworthbooks.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">David Burnsworth</span></a>, our guest today at the Author Spotlight, writes with aplomb sufficient to earn enthusiastic praise from peers and fans alike goes by the name "Southern Noir." But what is this "Southern Noir," exactly? Definitional borders in genre fiction can and should be be slippery things. That said, who doesn't enjoy something slippery every now and again? So we'll defer to the site <a href="http://crimefictionlover.com/"><span style="color: red;">CrimeFictionLover.com</span></a>, a deservedly well-respected authority in the field of, well, crime fiction. They define "Southern Noir" this way:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The American south is a hot, sticky, vast place
with a rich history, spanning all the way from Texas, through to Louisiana,
Arkansas, Alabama and on into North Carolina. Also called the Deep
South, this was often used to refer to the seven states that
formed the Confederacy, when, in actuality, the term wasn’t coined until long
after the Civil War had ended. The Deep South
is well known for its reputation for intolerance and staunch social conservatism
as well as being a deep pocket of religious fundamentalism. More than a few
authors have been able to mine this hotbed of social unrest to create some of
the most compelling, violent, and downright fascinating crime fiction in recent
history. Some call it Southern Noir, Rural
Noir, Country Noir or Southern Gothic and it’s also called, very appropriately,
Grit Lit. Whatever you want to call it, crime fans eat it up, and with good
reason."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Burnsworth selected South Carolina, and particularly the lowcountry area around Charleston and Sullivan's Island, to torment some twisted Southern souls for his readers' entertainment. Gazalapalooza has been to Charleston, more than once. Unless you've been thereabouts late some summer, you don't know what villainous notions the ruthless humidity of an endless August night in Charleston will percolate in your sweaty skull.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As clearly evidenced by his new thriller, our guest today is intimately familiar with what madness that kind of <i>Southern Heat</i> spawns. Without further ado, we'll fire up the Gazapalooza klieg light army and aim its blaze directly at the appropriately-named Mr. Burnsworth. Let's see how he sweats. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gazala: In my omnipotence, I've
sentenced you to be stranded alone on a desert island for offenses best left
unnamed. In my beneficence, I've decided to allow you a limited amount of
reading material to make your stay a little less bleak than it would otherwise
be. I'll spot you your religious text of preference, and the collected works of
William Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the one fiction book, and the
one nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you, and tell why you choose
them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Burnsworth: Thanks
for your leniency, Your Honor. And your
discretion. I’d hate for people to find
out I like catching snippets of the TV show "House Hunters" my wife watches as I
pass by on the way from my home office to the kitchen. The fiction choice is a tough one. My inspiration comes from Elmore Leonard,
Mickey Spillane, and James Lee Burke. But then, how to choose between those three? In the end, I’d try to sneak in <i>The Lord of
the Rings</i> trilogy, if I could find them all beneath one cover. Non-fiction is an easier choice for me. Aside from writing, I love cars. Give me something like <i>The Standard Catalog
of American Automobiles</i> and I’ll be good for a few years.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gazala: Your new book is an excellent and gripping thriller titled <i>Southern
Heat</i>, centered around ex-racecar driver and Afghanistan War veteran Brack
Pelton, who is both witness to and suspected of the murder of his hippie uncle
in Charleston, SC. I've read it. I enjoyed it immensely, and recommend it
highly. Shockingly enough, however, from time to time my bare recommendation
doesn't always motivate a book's potential reader to become a book's actual
reader. Tell us something about <i>Southern Heat</i>, and why its
potential reader should make the leap and become its actual reader.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Burnsworth: I lived
on Sullivan’s Island, just north of Charleston,
for five years and it was a life-changing experience. With the Atlantic Ocean
and a semi-private beach fifty yards from my front door, to say I was spoiled
is an understatement. <i>Southern Heat</i> came
out of that experience. When my wife
finally talked me into sitting down to write a book, something I’d told her I
wanted to do, I had the perfect setting. Because of my love of mysteries, hard-boiled detectives, and noir, I
chose to take a stab at something along those lines.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gazala: What are
books for?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Burnsworth: Books
are windows to other worlds and keepers of information. They can also be pretty darn fun to
write—sometimes. Other times, they can
be so frustrating you want to blow up your laptop.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gazala: W. Somerset Maugham said, "There are three rules for
writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." Do you
agree, or disagree, and why?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Burnsworth: Before
I answer, I have to confess that I had to look up who W. Somerset Maugham
was. Interesting fellow. Okay, now for the answer. It’s become cliché, but I’d say the one rule
is you have to sit down and write. And
then rewrite. And if you’re like me, you
rewrite some more (insert exclamation point).</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gazala: I've got to take this call.
Something about a lowcountry real estate deal unwise to reject. Ask yourself a
question, and answer it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Burnsworth: Q: What’s
next for Brack Pelton and his newfound friends?
A: Funny you should ask. I’m working on the second in the series. It took me six years to go from zero to a
signed contract with <i>Southern Heat</i>. The
next one should take slightly less time.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Southern noir is hot, sticky, and vast, and our guest's name is <i>Burns</i>worth... Think it through. What better way to fend off the February's chill ill will than with some <i>Southern Heat</i>? See for yourself by clicking <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Heat-David-Burnsworth/dp/1432828002/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392766312&sr=8-1&keywords=david+burnsworth+southern+heat" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a> for your own copy, via the folks at Amazon.com. The fire will do you good.</span></span></div>
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<br />Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-75742392067631015732014-02-02T14:05:00.001-05:002014-02-02T14:17:17.544-05:00Author Spotlight: Justin Gustainis<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sharp fangs red and bared, St. Valentine’s Day again charges
toward us sparing neither relent or mercy. In our hoary experience, not much is
scarier than that. Accordingly, we who toil at Gazalapalooza can think of no
better way to commemorate the imminent Valentine onslaught than by featuring at
the Author Spotlight <span style="background-color: red;"><a href="http://www.justingustainis.com/" target="_blank">Justin Gustainis</a></span>, a novelist whose writings deeply steep in
the sinister and the macabre.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">For the record, Guatainis’ books also are clever and witty. It’s
remarkable he writes so engagingly with his tongue so firmly jammed in his
cheek. We’d think that has to hurt at least a little.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gustainis joins us today to share thoughts and insights about
authorial crafting generally, and to discuss his just-released novel, <i>Known Devil: An Occult Crimes Unit
Investigation</i>. We’ll concede that via his writings he’s sojourned countless
midnights round the creepiest block in the ‘hood. We’ll admit too that his
robust educational achievements (a Master's degree in English plus a Ph.D. in
Communication), and his day job as a professor in Communication Studies at
Plattsburgh State University, may permit him to labor under the misapprehension
that he’s eminently prepared to withstand the broiling rigors of our infamous
Author Spotlight’s klieg light army. But as with all things sublime or ominous,
the proof’s in the actual pudding. Without further ado, let’s give the man a hefty
spoonful of blinding glare, shall we?</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gazala: In my
omnipotence, I've sentenced you to be stranded alone on a desert island for
offenses best left unnamed. In my beneficence, I've decided to allow you a
limited amount of reading material to make your stay a little less bleak than
it would otherwise be. I'll spot you your religious text of preference, and the
collected works of William Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the one
fiction book, and the one nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you, and
tell why you choose them.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gustainis: For
fiction, I’d take Tolstoy’s <i>War and Peace</i>
– but not for the reasons you might think. I read the abridged version in
college, and even that sucker was hefty enough to hurt somebody with, given the
inclination. Being stuck on the island with it, I’d have no choice but to read
the damn thing – <i>all</i> of it. Not only
that, but after the fifth or sixth reading, I’d probably even start to understand
it. Once I returned to civilization, my insight into the book would surely make
me a hit at academic cocktail parties – if I ever went to any.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The nonfiction choice is
easy – I’d take <i>How to Get Off a Desert
Island</i>, by I.M. Stranded. And if such a book doesn’t exist, it should.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gazala: Your new book is the third in your celebrated
"Haunted Scranton" series, marking the hotly-anticipated return of
Detective Sgt. Stan Markowski of the Occult Crimes Unit. It's an excellent and
wicked paranormal thriller titled <i>Known Devil</i>, centered around a street
drug addictive to supernaturals that births a crime wave as the creatures of
the night struggle to get drug money. I've read it. I enjoyed it immensely, and
recommend it highly. Shockingly enough, however, from time to time my bare
recommendation doesn't always motivate a book's potential reader to become a
book's actual reader. Tell us something about <i>Know Devil</i>, and why its
potential reader should make the leap and become its actual reader.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gustainis: Like
the first two books in the series, <i>Known
Devil</i> is set in an “alternate” universe where magic (both white and black)
and supernatural creatures really exist, and everybody knows it. But even
supernaturals have to obey the law. As Stan puts it, “When a vamp puts the bite
on an unwilling victim, or some witch casts the wrong kind of spell – that’s
when they call me. My name’s Markowski. I carry a badge.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">In <i>Known Devil</i>, Stan and his vampire partner Karl Renfer are dealing
with three big problems. As you mentioned, a new street drug called Slide has
appeared, and it’s addictive to supernatural creatures. Some get hooked and
then, like junkies everywhere, turn to crime to finance their habit. Thus, the
book begins with two elves trying to stick up a diner in which Stan and Karl
are taking their nightly coffee break. Things don’t work out too well for the
elves on that occasion.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Related to that is the
second problem. A gang war has broken out in Scranton between the local Mafia
family (which is made up of vampires) and a branch of a big Philadelphia family
(also consisting of vampires). The locals want to keep Slide out, because it
has the potential to addict their own. The new guys see the great economic
potential in the drug and are willing to do whatever it takes to turn Scranton
into a new market. Stan reluctantly sides with the local “fangsters,” reasoning
that the devil you know is better than the one you don’t. Or, as he says to Karl
at one point: “I know the difference between a mean dog and a mad one.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">And there’s also turmoil
among the rest of the city’s supernatural community. Victor Castle, unofficial
leader of the various “children of the night” who make Scranton their home, has
been blown to bits by a bomb. The perpetrator and motive are unknown, but it seems
clear that someone wants to take over as head of the local “supes,” and the
strongest contender is a particularly nasty vampire who likes to refer to
humans as “bloodbags.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then there’s the upcoming
city election. It’s not Stan’s business, but he can’t help but notice that a
new political entity calling itself the Patriot Party, whom nobody had even
heard of a year ago, seems poised to take over the city government. That
worries Stan, because the PP takes a <i>very</i>
hard line on supes, and if they take over, he may be faced with another war in
the streets – this one between supernaturals and humans.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">A perfect storm of
supernatural strife is descending on Scranton. As usual, Stan and Karl are
right in the thick of it.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gazala: What are books for?</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gustainis: You might as well ask me, “What is oxygen
for?” or “What is food for?” As far as I’m concerned, the answer to all three
questions is the same.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gazala: W. Somerset Maugham said, "There are
three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they
are." Do you agree, or disagree, and why?</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gustainis: I think it was Andre Norton who observed that
writing is a simple, three-step process: “Place butt in chair. Write. Repeat.” I’m
not big on rules (although I think Elmore Leonard’s ten rules for writing make
a lot of sense), but I’m pretty sure I know what leads to being successful as a
writer: talent, persistence, and luck. That was certainly true in my case. And
the greatest of these is all of them.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gazala: There's what appears to be a scowling elf
pounding on my front door, waving a big gun. This may take a while. Ask yourself
a question, and answer it.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gustainis: Okay, how about this: “Tell people why they
should buy a copy of <i>Known Devil</i>.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wow – that’s a tough one….</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">My natural modesty prevents me from going overboard on this, but
seriously – in what other work of modern genre fiction can you find:</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Elves
with guns</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
naked Siren</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Vampire
gang warfare</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
gnome who sets off car bombs</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
hamster named Quincey, AND --</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Twelve
distinct uses of the word “haina”</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I rest my case.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">And so Gustainis emerges from the Spotlight fairly unscathed. We
attribute this as much as anything else to the armed elves as to Quincey’s good
offices. So grab a haina or two and head to Amazon.com to sink your teeth into <span style="background-color: red;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Known-Devil-Occult-Crimes-Investigation/dp/0857661663/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391365571&sr=8-1&keywords=justin+gustainis" target="_blank">a copy of Known Devil</a></span>. What better St Valentine’s
Day gift for your beloved than that?</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBPg58zUIIE_QvCj7DS-xZigxvQEP8Qj45afkxAadNRGia3-E5u0cKkQZBerHAVzwsXLqUUA6nAobHytChxcZW_Be9SdbQX3VV3Vyt9n6Y9uNxxd3XFVBzj-Hm0qb0IR3onZG3owTzEPlC/s1600/Gustainis_KnownDevilcover_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBPg58zUIIE_QvCj7DS-xZigxvQEP8Qj45afkxAadNRGia3-E5u0cKkQZBerHAVzwsXLqUUA6nAobHytChxcZW_Be9SdbQX3VV3Vyt9n6Y9uNxxd3XFVBzj-Hm0qb0IR3onZG3owTzEPlC/s1600/Gustainis_KnownDevilcover_01.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-77927813784957301922014-01-10T17:40:00.002-05:002014-01-10T18:09:07.522-05:00Author Spotlight 2013's Greatest Hits<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Gazalapalooza is all about writers and writing. Our Author
Spotlight is a very popular recurring feature. That’s understandable, because
not only do we have only the most fascinating, erudite and attractive authors
visit the Spotlight, but these same literary luminaries shed bright light on
the art, craft and business of writing books that people everywhere love to
read. We’re fortunate that lots of very gifted authors generously spent some of
their valuable time educating and entertaining our blog’s readers. We’re
equally blessed that many thousands of Gazalapalooza readers like you from all
over the world dropped by to learn and laugh with the 14 authors who graced our
pages in 2013.</div>
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<br /></div>
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2014 is still new, all bright and shiny. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we bid goodbye to 2013, we decided to say
farewell by assembling a "greatest hits" compilation of sorts.
(Admittedly, it’s a highly subjective assemblage, but it’s our name on the
virtual door so we get to do what we want. That’s one of the benefits of being
boss blogger.) Accordingly, we’ve culled from our Author Spotlight interviews
some nugget of truth, fiction, wisdom, or inanity from each authorial soul
intrepid enough to venture into the Spotlight’s white hot heat in 2013.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Without further ado, please join us as we ring out the old
year and welcome in the new with the Gazalapalooza Author Spotlight Redux, 2013
Edition. Enjoy.</div>
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<a href="http://rgazala.blogspot.com/2013/02/author-spotlight-mark-alpert.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Mark Alpert</span></a>: "Then I try to map out a plot -- for
thrillers, the basic structure is usually a chase or a hunt -- but the outline
is very rough. I don’t want to predetermine everything because I like to be
surprised while I’m writing the book. For me, the whole effort is a leap of
faith. While I’m writing the novel I have no idea whether the book will
actually come together. I was three-quarters finished with the first draft of
<i>Extinction</i> before I figured out how the novel would end."</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://rgazala.blogspot.com/2013/06/author-spotlight-ron-felber.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Ron Felber</span></a>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"Just recently, we learned that IRS audits were made on groups
unfriendly to the current administration in order to take them out of operation
during key moments of the last election. Of course, this harkens back to the
Nixon years; but the capabilities of governments domestic and foreign, not to
mention the mafia, for example, to wipe out an individual's wealth and/or
identity with the stroke of a computer key has never been more genuine than
today."</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://rgazala.blogspot.com/2013/09/author-spotlight-geoffrey-girard.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Geoffrey Girard</span></a>: "I teach high school English and am
always reminding the guys that Art is Art: be it a book, song, painting, dance,
video game, movie, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when it’s
“just” entertainment, there’s usually a legit and worthwhile portrayal/
examination of “being human” within that entertainment. And for those books,
songs, etc., that strive to dig a little deeper, all the better. Books are
simply one way to do that."</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://rgazala.blogspot.com/2013/06/author-spotlight-layton-green.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Layton Green</span></a>: "I’ve never had a (fiction) writing class
and quite honestly, though I made good grades, I was not a good student. But
there are many ways to skin a cat, as they say (though I confess I don’t know
why they say that), and I think everyone’s journey to becoming a novelist is
different, whether it’s an Iowa MFA, being a lifelong reader before spending 15
years tearing up drafts and studying authors far more talented than myself (my journey),
or sitting down and rattling off a great work of literature and then calling it
quits, like Harper Lee."</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://rgazala.blogspot.com/2013/01/author-spotlight-james-grippando-returns.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">James Grippando</span></a>: "I want to be accessible to my
readers, but there is risk in putting yourself ‘out there.’ The good news is
that each time I’ve had a bad experience, I’ve worked it into a book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My scare with a heckler at a bookstore became
a scene in Lying with Strangers. When my identity was stolen (in part because
so much info about me is publicly available), I used that experience in Money
to Burn. And my most recent book, Blood Money, also grew out of one of these,
shall we say, ‘inconveniences.’”</div>
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<a href="http://rgazala.blogspot.com/2012/12/author-spotlight-bruce-t-jones.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Bruce T. Jones</span></a>: "What do you mean, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades of Grey</i> isn’t nonfiction?"</div>
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<a href="http://rgazala.blogspot.com/2013/10/author-spotlight-raymond-khoury-returns.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Raymond Khoury</span></a>: "Does it come with the royalties? In
which case, hello, Harry Potter and ka-ching. If we’re talking in more noble
terms: it’s a toss-up between Aldous Huxley’s <i>Brave New World</i>, and <i>Action
Comics</i> #1, which introduced Superman to the world. I mean, how cool would it be
to say you invented the superhero genre!?"</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://rgazala.blogspot.com/2013/11/author-spotlight-mike-maden_25.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Mike Maden</span></a>: "Only a moron would argue with a genius
like Maugham…so here it goes."</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://rgazala.blogspot.com/2013/02/author-spotlight-marvin-h-mcintyre.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Marvin H. McIntyre</span></a>: "I have yet to meet a person who is
happy with ‘politics as usual.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sprinkled throughout what I hope is an interesting meal for readers and
possible indigestion for the squeamish, are perhaps a few tasty tidbits about
the sadly novel idea that a politician should think first about the health of
our country."</div>
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<a href="http://rgazala.blogspot.com/2013/01/author-spotlight-brad-meltzer.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Brad Meltzer</span></a>: "Stories aren't what did happen; they're
what could happen."</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://rgazala.blogspot.com/2013/05/author-spotlight-david-morrell.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">David Morrell</span></a>: "Going to 1854 London is like going to
Mars. The era is so weird that the details alone are worth reading the
novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, how much did a
middle-or-upper-class woman’s clothes weigh?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thirty-seven pounds—because the hoop beneath the dress needed to be
covered with ten yards of ruffled satin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No wonder women kept fainting."</div>
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<a href="http://rgazala.blogspot.com/2013/10/author-spotlight-christopher-rice.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Christopher Rice</span></a>: "You drank a shot of Louisiana swamp
water? Did someone hold a gun to your head? Wait. That's not my question. My
question is: Why did your interviewer just drink a shot of Louisiana swamp
water while he was interviewing you? Answer: Because you're that boring,
Christopher."</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://rgazala.blogspot.com/2013/08/author-spotlight-glenn-shepard.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Glenn Shepard</span></a>: “All fiction is real life and all real life
is fiction.”</div>
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<a href="http://rgazala.blogspot.com/2013/12/author-spotlight-ian-tregillis.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Ian Tregillis</span></a>: "When asked why she never parted with
the books she had read, a friend of mine said something very wise. ‘I like
having large bookshelves,’ she said, ‘because they show me where my mind has
been.’"</div>
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<br /></div>
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Wow. It’s difficult to pick a favorite, isn’t it? Trust us,
it’s not nearly so easy as you might assume.</div>
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<br /></div>
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We extend our many and sincere thanks to all of our 2013 Spotlight
Authors. Remember to support our authors. Read their Spotlights. Then go read
their books. All of them are available all sorts of places, including Amazon.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Last, but immeasurably far from least, we also thank all of
you, Gazalaplaooza’s readers, for spending some of your precious time with us last
year. We wish all of you and yours a very happy, peaceful and bountiful 2014.
Be good to each other. And read more books this year than you did last year.
That’s a resolution you’ll not regret.</div>
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-41533383167633161372013-12-03T11:52:00.002-05:002013-12-03T11:52:41.469-05:00Author Spotlight: Ian Tregillis<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Give a man a chance to earn some University of Minnesota
degrees and write a doctoral dissertation drenched in computational
astrophysics, and what does he do with it? If he’s <a href="http://iantregillis.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Ian Tregillis</span></a>, our guest
today at the Gazalapalooza Author Spotlight, he'll get repurposed to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Then, when not grappling with matters nuclear at LANL, he’ll at least write the acclaimed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Milkweed
Triptych</i> trilogy, contribute meaningfully to the wildly popular and
long-lived George R.R. Martin <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/series/WildCards" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wild Cards</i></span></a>
series, and thereafter publish his new and remarkable novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Something More Than Night</i>, featuring among countless wonders the
very Voice of God.</div>
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<br /></div>
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That’s an impressive authorial resume for anybody, including
(or perhaps especially) a guy who spent a whole bunch of his younger years fixated
on something called "radio galaxies." Yeah, we don’t know what they
are, either.</div>
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In conjunction with the release today of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Something More Than Night</i>, Gazalapalooza
decided to track Tregillis down and encourage him to embrace the challenge of
our toasty Author Spotlight. To his enduring credit, it wasn’t difficult to convince Tregillis
to give the Spotlight a go. Rather, it seemed he relished the opportunity to
plant himself on our austere wooden chair, under our rows of white hot klieg
lights, and get interrogated. A brave physicist, indeed. So without further
ado, let’s see where Tregillis’ bravery gets him.</div>
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<br />
Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my omnipotence, I've
sentenced you to be stranded alone on a desert island for offenses best left
unnamed. In my beneficence, I've decided to allow you a limited amount of
reading material to make your stay a little less bleak than it would otherwise
be. I'll spot you your religious text of preference, and the collected works of
William Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the one fiction book, and the
one nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you, and tell why you choose
them.<br />
<br />
Tregillis:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I imagine myself
stranded on a desert island for the rest of my life, I wonder how I could keep
myself from going mad with loneliness and boredom. So I'd try to choose reading
that would comfort my troubled soul.<br />
<br />
My nonfiction book would be, well, not strictly a book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">per se</i>, but you could think of it as a real-life epistolary novel. Last
Christmas, my girlfriend (now fiancée) gave me a collection of all of our correspondence
stretching over the decades. (We've known each other for over 20 years.) I
would probably read it over and over until the binding fell apart and I knew
every word by heart.<br />
<br />
I have two fiction series that I reread every so often. Roger Zelazny's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chronicles of Amber</i> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Corwin's Chronicles: Nine Princes in Amber</i>,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Guns of Avalon</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sign of the Unicorn</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hand of Oberon</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Courts of Chaos</i>), and Steven Gould's
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jumper</i> books: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jumper</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reflex</i>, and the
new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Impulse</i>. If I could score an
omnibus of either one of those series, that would be my choice for my fiction
book. (Particularly if the Gould omnibus contained the forthcoming <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Exo</i>, which I am dying to read.)<br />
<br />
A bit of a cheat, perhaps, but either omnibus would serve me well and stave off
the exile-induced madness just a bit longer.<br />
<br />
Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your new novel is an excellent
and gripping thriller, titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Something
More Than Night</i>. Inspired by the work of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond
Chandler, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Something More Than Night</i>
is a noir detective story starring fallen angels, the heavenly choir, nightclub
stigmatics, dirty priests, swell dames, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">femmes
fatales</i>, and the Voice of God. I've read it. I enjoyed it immensely, and recommend it highly.
Shockingly enough, however, from time to time my bare recommendation doesn't
always motivate a book's potential reader to become a book's actual reader.
Tell us a bit about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Something More Than
Night</i>, and why its potential reader should make the leap and become its
actual reader.<br />
<br />
Tregillis:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you for the kind
words about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Something More Than Night</i>.
It's a book that I wrote entirely for myself, purely for the fun of it, and I hope
that fun comes across to readers. The project was something that I had wanted
to tackle for years and years (since before I started writing), and it kept
itching at the back of my mind throughout the course of writing my previous trilogy. I decided that if I was going to write
something for my own enjoyment, I should try to stretch and challenge myself
with it. I'm a big believer in writing against obstacles, because it makes me a
better writer, and sometimes the result is something I couldn't predict. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Something More Than Night</i> was one of those
projects.<br />
<br />
Also, as a minor footnote, it explains the meaning and purpose of the universe.
So there's that, too.<br />
<br />
Gazala: What are books for?<br />
<br />
Tregillis: When asked why she never parted with the books she had read, a friend of mine
said something very wise. "I like having large bookshelves," she
said, "because they show me where my mind has been."<br />
<br />
That was about 15 years ago, and it has always stuck with me. And I think it
gets right to the heart of your question. Books are magical objects that turn
us into different people by taking our minds on paths we couldn't find on our
own. This is true of fiction and nonfiction, of poetry and prose. Sometimes the
change wrought upon us is small but worthwhile (we know more than we did about
the history of salt, we suddenly understand just how unpleasant the life of a
Victorian servant could be), sometimes it's profound (the first time we read
Raymond Chandler or Roger Zelazny and realize, holy cow, <u>that</u> is how you
write a sentence), sometimes it's sheer joy (when we visit Terry Pratchett's
Discworld).<br />
<br />
Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W. Somerset Maugham said, "There are three
rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." Do
you agree, or disagree, and why?<br />
<br />
Tregillis:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, far be it from me to
disagree with Somerset Maugham on a question of writing. But the truth is that
I tend to agree. I've discovered that even though my approach to writing each
novel is the same, the experience and process of writing differs each and every
time. And, worse yet, I've learned (to my everlasting dismay) that having written one book doesn't actually teach me how to write the next book. What I
like to tell people is that writing a book teaches me how <u>not</u> to write
that particular book.<br />
<br />
Actually, you know what? I do disagree a little bit. Because we do know <u>one</u>
of those three universal rules for writing a novel. The first rule of writing a
novel is this, and it holds for everybody: Sit down and do the damn work,
because that novel won't write itself.<br />
<br />
The other two rules are up for grabs. Everybody writes differently, so what
might be a rule for me ("The purpose of the first draft is to put words on
paper so that the real writing, the rewriting, can happen."), might not be
a rule for you.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some
disgruntled malcontent keeps beating on my door, bellowing nonsense about
unfathomable heavenly crises and a missing ram's horn. I best go humor her
until the cops arrive. Ask yourself a question, and answer it.<br />
<br />
Tregillis: Q: Ian, do you ever feel the need to pinch yourself?<br />
<br />
A:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why yes, Other Ian, as a matter of
fact I certainly do. When a box of author's copies arrives on my doorstep, or
when I receive an email from a reader, or when I see something I wrote on a
bookstore shelf, or when I'm asked to sign one of my books, or when I find
myself casually referring to "one of my books." I took up writing
because it was something I enjoyed, but only in my most secret dreams did I
imagine that I might someday become a published novelist. I have been incredibly
lucky, and I won't let myself forget it.<br />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No need to get so mushy about it, Ian.<br />
<br />
Shut up, Other Ian. I can get to you when you're asleep.</div>
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Our guest’s estimable erudition is not just entertaining. It’s
enlightening. And that’s not to mention the irresistible breadcrumb about his
new book Tregillis so casually drops. Did you pay attention? Tregillis says <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Something More Than Night</i> "explains
the meaning and purpose of the universe." Wow. Clearly, this is critical
information all of us must know. Each of us can obtain it via Amazon.com, with a mere click right <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Something-More-Than-Night-Tregillis/dp/0765334321/ref=la_B002S9KX44_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386027101&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a>.</div>
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-16872576749689386302013-11-25T20:25:00.001-05:002013-11-25T20:25:30.408-05:00Author Spotlight: Mike Maden<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 30.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span>Day and night, CIA drones armed with missiles scour Yemen,
Afghanistan and Pakistan, hunting terrorists. Pakistan is manufacturing its own
homegrown military drones for domestic deployment, even as its own people protest
American drone strikes on Pakistani soil. China reports glowing test results
for its first stealth combat drone. A recent Freedom of Information Act lawsuit
reveals federal agencies operate drone missions for a variety of state and
local agencies in the U.S. CNN, the Associated Press and News Corporation use
drones to shoot video of natural disasters. Drones broadcast Australian sporting
events, and capture intimate shots of unsuspecting wildlife doing the things wildlife
does when nobody’s watching. In Europe, the smarter celebrity now commonly scans
the skies for drones dispatched by paparazzi to document his inevitable <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">faux-pas</i>. The days when American
celebrities will be pursued the same way are coming, very soon. <span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 30.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">
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Why should governments, corporations and journalists have
all the fun? Right this moment for a mere $64.99 plus S+H, you can order the “Micro
Drone 2.0.” Imagine, your very own diminutive technological wonder carrying a
camera with both still photography and motion video functionalities, sporting a
swiveling lens to surreptitiously capture the juiciest angles of sights
otherwise invisible to you. After all, that one guy down the street seems
pretty suspicious, so why not fly your little robot around his windows and see
what dirty secrets a mere twist of your joystick can expose. Just make sure you
keep your blinds drawn tight—he might have a drone of his own.</div>
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Disturbing.</div>
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Our guest for this edition of the Author Spotlight is <a href="http://www.mikemaden.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Mike Maden</span></a>, author of the new UAV-centric techno-thriller titled, simply and fittingly,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Drone</i>. Maden earned a Ph.D. in
political science from the University of California (Davis), focusing on the
interaction among conflict, technology and international relations. He combined
his laudable academic achievements with jobs as a campus lecturer, political
consultant and media commentator to parlay his work into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Drone</i>, a timely and riveting novel exploring the proliferation of modern
unmanned aerial warfare.</div>
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How good a book is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Drone</i>?
Clive Cussler and W.E.B. Griffin applaud it with words like “astounding,” and “unforgettable.”
Suffice it to say such high praise from such esteemed writers doesn’t come
easily.</div>
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How good an author is Maden? Well, that’s why he’s here now,
squarely seated in our infamously unforgiving wooden chair, steeping in the sharp
glow of our blazing klieg light array. So without further ado we’ll get this
Author Spotlight underway, and leave you to decide for yourselves what kind of
a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">maestro</i> Maden is with the turn of a
keen phrase for your edification and entertainment.</div>
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Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my
omnipotence, I've sentenced you to be stranded alone on a desert island for
offenses best left unnamed. In my beneficence, I've decided to allow you a
limited amount of reading material to make your stay a little less bleak than
it would otherwise be. I'll spot you your religious text of preference, and the
collected works of William Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the one
fiction book, and the one nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you, and
tell why you choose them.</div>
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Maden:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For fiction,
I’d want to bring my favorite genre book along with me so I’d haul in a copy of
the original military-political techno-thriller, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Illiad, </i>by Homer<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. </i>But
I’d want a parsed interlinear Greek-English version which means that for my
non-fiction book I’d want a decent Greek grammar. That way I could not only
read and re-read the first great literary text of the Western canon in my own
native tongue, but acquire another (dead) language in the process. The stories
would enlarge my soul even as the language acquisition would hold at bay the debilitating
mental impairments of old age, for surely the literary offenses that exiled me
to the island in the first place would merit a life sentence. Maybe two.</div>
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Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your new
book is an excellent and gripping techno-thriller titled <i>Drone</i>, centered
around the unpredictable consequences of relying on drones to conduct wars
officially declared, or clandestine. I've read it. I enjoyed it immensely,
and recommend it highly. Shockingly enough, however, from time to time my
bare recommendation doesn't always motivate a book's potential reader to become
a book's actual reader. Tell us something about <i>Drone</i>, and why its
potential reader should make the leap and become its actual reader.<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Maden:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First of all, I can’t even imagine the
possibility that your gracious recommendation of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Drone</i>—based, no doubt, on your impeccable taste and keen literary
insight—would be insufficiently motivating to your audience to make a purchase.
(Who is this gentle, misguided soul, and how might they be contacted directly?
Sounds like an intervention is called for.) </span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">In answer to your hypothetical
question, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Drone</i> is unapologetically a
member of the species, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Techno</i>-<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thrillum Militaria.</i> It’s chock full o’
military-thriller violence and the usual tropes of the genre, but that might
not be enough of a draw for your discerning reader. In truth, the book is not
just about drones; it’s also about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">identity</i>.
The factual drone technology in the novel is absolutely fascinating, but the
people who operate those systems are even more interesting. I write about
damaged people because I am one myself, and the series protagonist, Troy
Pearce, is definitely a wounded man. Troy’s arc throughout the series follows
his struggle to answer the question: What does it mean to be a true warrior in
service of a government you no longer trust? That’s a variation on a question many
American citizens are asking today. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Drone</i>
poses a number of answers; I leave it for the reader to decide which one is
best for them. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t believe in moral ambiguity. There
really are bad actors out there who mean to do us great harm. But I do believe
in moral complexity, and sometimes my most dangerous enemy in the world is the
guy in the mirror staring back at me in the morning when I’m shaving. So what
I’m trying to say is this: if you shave, or know someone who shaves, you MUST
buy my book. Period.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are books for?</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Maden:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All fiction is a lie, but the best novels
can still tell the truth. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W. Somerset Maugham said, "There are
three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they
are." Do you agree, or disagree, and why?</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Maden:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only a moron would argue with a genius like
Maugham…so here it goes. There are actually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">four</i>
rules of writing that are quite well known among professional writers, but they
are closely guarded secrets. However, because this blog has an extraordinary
readership, I’m willing to share them despite the great personal risk it entails.
Here they are: 1. Write the first draft. 2. Re-write it again and again and
again until you can’t re-write it anymore. 3. Write the first draft of the next
novel. 4. Repeat 1-3 until you die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Of course, the
really advanced writers also lay hold of Pressfield’s Corollary: “Writing is
hard work.” And they also cling to Rilke’s Apothegm: “Write because you must.”
And finally, every professional writer has had to wrestle through Iglesias’s
Conundrum: “You must learn how to write, but nobody can teach you,” which is
resolved, in part, by the precept, “You only learn to write by writing.”</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">The bottom line is
that the answer to any question regarding the writing process is best answered:
“Get your butt in the chair and write!” It’s really as simple and as impossible
and as thrilling as that.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Gazala:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I need to venture outside and deal with the
annoying unmanned aerial vehicle buzzing my rooftop. This may take a while. Ask
yourself a question, and answer it.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Maden:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m often asked what the future holds in
regard to drone technologies. The easy answer is: Watch any six random episodes
of "Star Trek" (or any other great sci-fi show) and you’ll get a pretty good idea
of where this stuff is going, for good and for ill.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">In my research, I found
two emblematic trends in the emerging technologies, and I touch on each of them
in my novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Drone</i>. I mention these
two trends because I think what people really want to know is: Should we be
afraid of what the drones of the future might bring? That depends.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">The first trend to
consider is LARS—Lethal Autonomous Robotics. Essentially, we’re talking about a <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Terminator;"</span><i> </i>a killing machine that
operates completely independently from human control, relying entirely on
software and sensors to find, pursue and destroy the enemy. There are lots of
great reasons why we may not want to let machines fight our battles independent
of our control (again, check out "Star Trek") but the logic of war and physics will inexorably drive us to LARS.
Why? Humans are always the weak point in combat systems. Our bodies are fragile
and not only need protection in hostile environments, but truthfully, hinder
the performance capabilities of our most advanced weapons systems, e.g.,
fighters. Pull humans out of the cockpit and drone planes can fly faster, turn
tighter and carry more payload than is currently the case. But there’s another
reason to pull human’s out of the loop: our brains are fallible. A moment’s
hesitation in a high-speed combat scenario (measured in nano-seconds) might
mean the difference between victory or defeat in the battle, and maybe even the
war. Don’t forget, the best human chess player in the world was defeated by
IBM’s Big Blue, and isn’t chess a war game? Doesn’t logic also suggest that
computers, then, should not only fly our jets or captain our ships, but also be
the future generals and admirals? As humanitarians and Western liberal
democrats, we might shrink at the idea, but our enemies surely won’t. And
that’s why, inevitably, we’ll pursue LARS as well.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">On a brighter note,
another fantastic drone-related technology I touch upon in my novel is
neuro-prosthetics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the stuff of
pure science fiction, only it’s happening today. (Maybe we should call it
“science faction.”) In short, we are now able to jack into the human brain and connect
it to a computer interface. (We’re close to doing this wirelessly, by the way.)
Why is this exciting? Imagine the medical possibilities. A quadriplegic human
whose brain is wired to a computer can be attached to an exo-skeleton suit and
with the power of their thoughts be able to walk, run, lift, etc. Dr. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 30.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nicolelis at Duke
University plans to do this very thing next year at the 2014 World Cup. I can’t
wait to see it happen. Blind? No problem. Jack into the brain and wire it to a
video camera. (Yeah, I know. "Star Trek.")
Deaf? Wait—we already do that one, don’t we? You might ask how this is drone
related technology, but think about it: the ability to fly a drone or drive a
tank at the speed of thought would be a tremendous advantage in battle over
opponents relying on throttles, yokes and steering wheels, wouldn’t it? (Extra
points: Which 1980s movie featured a Soviet plane that could be piloted by
human thought? Hint: Clint Eastwood.)</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 30.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So there you have it: the possible perils and promises of drone
technology. At the end of the day, drones are neutral things. It’s the people who
operate them who are the most fascinating, and that’s why I wanted to write a
fictional story full of characters interacting with this amazing new technology.
Characters like Brother Gazala who, apparently, is still on his roof swatting
at drones.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 30.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Not only is "Brother Gazala" swatting at those pesky drones, but he even
captured one. Said drone is now repurposed to hunt robo-calling sales bots that
disregard do-not-call protocols, and dispatch them with extreme prejudice. Profuse
thanks to our guest for his invaluable inspiration in this regard. To enjoy the
terrific thriller <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Drone</i>, and perhaps procure
some drone-repurposing guidance of your very own while you enjoy it, all you
need do is click <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Drone-Mike-Maden/dp/0399167382" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a> to make your wish Amazon.com’s command.</span></div>
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-4321168906257243002013-10-28T18:47:00.002-04:002013-10-29T13:14:05.731-04:00Author Spotlight: Christopher Rice<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32287">Given our tastes for the macabre, it's no surprise to attentive readers that Gazalapalooza's favorite day of the Hallowmas </span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32287">triduum is the first one, All Hallow's Eve. It's the yearly night when the delicate veil separating the living and the dead is at its flimsiest. We venture tricking and treating, duly disguised to prevent shocking the souls of our dearly departed loved ones as we gallivant. Clad as fiends or angels, heroes or villains, it's the one night our secret identities can wink without undue remorse from behind the prosaic masks we don the other 364 days a year.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32287">With Halloween bearing down upon us, who better to grace us with a bob under the Author Spotlight than <a href="http://www.christopherricebooks.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Christopher Rice</span></a>? In addition to the blood of his legendary and lovely supernatural chronicler mother, Anne, snaking through his veins, </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32287"><i>New York Times</i> best-selling author Christopher is eminently capable of spooking us all in his own right. And so he does with his brand new novel, <i>The Heavens Rise</i>. No less an authority than Peter Straub assures us <i>The Heavens Rise</i> "...</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32287">inhales wickedness and corruption and exhales delight and enchantment." Happy Halloween, indeed.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32287">When he's not writing, one of the many ways Rice keeps his hands from idling enough to attract the devil's attentions is </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32287">when he and his friend, bestselling novelist Eric Shaw Quinn, do their Internet radio show. Having sampled and enjoyed its tasty wares, Gazalapalooza can confirm the program is a comedy and variety program as
outrageous as it is irreverent. After you're done inhaling and exhaling <i>The Heavens Rise</i>, trick or treat yourself to a helping of "The Dinner Party Show with Christopher Rice and Eric Shaw Quinn." The program streams 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week at <a href="http://thedinnerpartyshow.com/"><span style="color: red;">TheDinnerPartyShow.com</span></a>, and new live episodes premiere <span data-term="goog_1688404824" tabindex="0">Sunday</span> evenings at <span data-term="goog_1688404825" tabindex="0">8:00 PM</span> Eastern, <span data-term="goog_1688404826" tabindex="0">5:00 PM</span> Pacific. Among other irresistible (but completely nonfattening!) <i>hors oeuvres</i>, the most recent episode includes tidbits of adventure and weirdness direct from our guest's ongoing promotional tour for <i>The Heavens Rise</i>.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32287">With all that, we would think Rice should find himself well-prepared to broil magnificently under the piercing glare of our Author Spotlight's klieg light blaze. Shall we find out? Without further ado, let's get this interview underway.<span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32286" style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32287"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32286" style="line-height: 115%;">Gazala: In my omnipotence, I've sentenced you to be stranded alone on a desert island
for offenses best left unnamed. In my beneficence, I've decided to allow you a
limited amount of reading material to make your stay a little less bleak than
it would otherwise be. I'll spot you your religious text of preference, and the
collected works of William Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the ocne
fiction book, and the one nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you, and tell why you choose them.</span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32289"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32292" style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32289"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32292" style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32289"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32292" style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<div id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32251">
<div class="yiv5727359989yui_3_7_2_31_1380575505506_116" id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32290" style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32289"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32292" style="line-height: 115%;">Rice: So
is the woefully easy way out of this question to make the non-fiction
title be something along the lines of <i>How to Survive on a Desert Island</i>?
Surely I'm not the first author to use that tactic here, am I? We're
doing these questions by e-mail so you're sitting next to me right now
shouting,
"CHEATER! CHEATER! CHEATER!" so I'm tempted
to make a go of it. But it does kind of feel like cheating. I have to
say, one way to answer the question would be to say that I'd take any
two books that would help me survive on a desert island, which sounds
like an absolutely horrifying proposition for which I am incredibly ill-suited. I'm not sure, when pressed, I'd be considering escape and
enjoyment here. Survival would be foremost on my brain. So maybe this a
good time to brag about how I do a lot of research for my writing? Or
maybe not. I don't know. I could also be a total brown-nosing simp and
say that I'd take one of my mother's novels "just to feel close to her,
and to home" (<i>sad violin sound</i>). And also, wouldn't someone always pick a
book that depicts the kind of bedroom antics they're into?
Because...you know, they're going to be <i>alone</i> for a long time and they
might need something to...you get me?</span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32289"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32292" style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32289"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32292" style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32289"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32292" style="line-height: 115%;">Gazala: </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Your latest book is an excellent and gripping supernatural thriller titled <i>The Heavens Rise</i>. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In it, three friends must confront an ancient, infectious evil lurking just beneath the surface of the Louisiana bayou. </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">I've read it. I enjoyed it immensely, and recommend it highly. Shockingly
enough, however, from time to time my bare recommendation doesn't always
motivate a book's potential reader to become a book's actual reader. Tell us
something about <i>The Heavens Rise</i>, and why its potential reader should
make the leap and become its actual reader.</span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32289"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32289"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32289"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Rice: </span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32253"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32255" style="line-height: 16px;">First
off, thank you for calling my book excellent, which was a pre-condition
of my agreeing to do this interview. [Editor's note: Our guest jests!] As for why others should read it?
Because if you do read it, I'll make love to you in the grass. And if
you don't read it, I'l disappear your family in an instant. Oh, sorry.
I'm just in marketing mode all the time these days. I write the books I
like to read. I like
books that take me right up to
the edge of darkness with complex and appealing characters as guides,
but don't just drop me into a pit of bottomless nihilism. It's easy to
write a dark beginning and a dark ending. The real challenge is making a
happy ending out of a dark beginning. <i>The Heavens Rise</i> is that kind of
book. It's meant to be a suspenseful page turner, one of the main
characters is a city (New Orleans) and its villain is super scary -
those are the three ingredients I like in a novel, so I put them in
mine.</span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32253"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32255" style="line-height: 16px;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32253"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32255" style="line-height: 16px;">Gazala:</span></span><span class="yiv5727359989yui_3_7_2_31_1380575505506_122"> What are books for?</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="yiv5727359989yui_3_7_2_31_1380575505506_122">Rice: </span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32246"><span class="yiv5727359989yui_3_7_2_31_1380575505506_122" id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32245">Books
are supposed to be immersive and independent imaginary experiences.
Books are sex between two brains, yours and the author's.
Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, sometimes it's bleh, but you
always walk away
tired.</span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32246"><span class="yiv5727359989yui_3_7_2_31_1380575505506_122" id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32245"></span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32246"><span class="yiv5727359989yui_3_7_2_31_1380575505506_122" id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32245"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32246"><span class="yiv5727359989yui_3_7_2_31_1380575505506_122" id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32245">Gazala: W. Somerset Maugham said, "There are three rules for writing the
novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." Do you agree, or
disagree, and why?</span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32246"><span class="yiv5727359989yui_3_7_2_31_1380575505506_122" id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32245"></span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32246"><span class="yiv5727359989yui_3_7_2_31_1380575505506_122" id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32245"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32246"><span class="yiv5727359989yui_3_7_2_31_1380575505506_122" id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32245">Rice: </span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32241"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32240">I
agree. But I like Graham Greene's three things a writer needs to write.
A professor I taught for told me this story. When he was a young
writing student, he wrote a letter to Graham Greene and asked him what
three things he needed to be a writer. Graham Greene wrote back, "A lot
of time, a lot of paper and a lot of pencils." The student wrote back,
"What's the time
for? Writing?" and Graham Greene wrote back, "No.
Reading." It might be an urban legend but any urban legend that
involves Graham Greene is automatically awesome. Like the one about the
driver who picked up a hitchhiker who turned out to be Graham Greene and
then he disappeared but not before he left a copy of <i>The Quiet American</i>
hanging from the door handle. Wait. I think I'm getting confused.
Sorry. I'm in marketing mode.</span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32241"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32240"></span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32241"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32240"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32241"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32240">Gazala: That
shot glass of Louisiana swamp water I just drank on a dare is making me
feel very...strange. While I attempt to gather myself, ask yourself a
question, and answer
it.</span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32241"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32240"></span></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32241"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_rc_1_1_1382652183833_32241">Rice: Y</span>ou drank a shot of Louisiana swamp water? Did someone hold a gun to your head? Wait. That's not my question. My question is: Why did your interviewer just drink a shot of Louisiana swamp water while he was interviewing you? Answer: Because you're <i>that</i> boring, Christopher. </span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">No, Christopher. You're far from boring, my charming and erudite friend. I drank that sketchy water because I'm an inveterate risk-taker, often to folly's sharpest edge. That said, one thing not even I am foolish enough to risk is not popping onto Amazon.com to get a copy of <i>The Heavens Rise</i>. To that end, we've created a risk-free way to do so, but putting the book's Amazon link right <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Heavens-Rise-Christopher-Rice/dp/1476716080/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382656157&sr=8-1&keywords=the+heavens+rise+christopher+rice" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
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<br />Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-67451215885963260282013-10-09T18:20:00.003-04:002013-10-09T21:24:33.689-04:00Author Spotlight: Raymond Khoury Returns<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m
walking down the street, just another day in the suburban jungle of trees and street
signs and cell phone towers, my mind on my mission and my mission on my mind. Nothing
unusual about that, nothing untoward. My thoughts are all as clear as they
normally are, sharply pointed in the right directions. When my boots take me past
the local bookstore’s picture windows, suddenly my thinking brakes, and then
swerves hard off course. No longer is my brain brimming with the plans and
visions that filled it mere moments before. Now it is full of one objective,
and one objective only—I <i>must</i> go
inside this shop <i>immediately</i> and purchase
copies of <a href="http://raymondkhoury.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Raymond Khoury</span></a>’s brand new thriller, <i>Rasputin’s Shadow</i> for me and everyone I know. <i>Plus</i> several dozen
spare copies just in case for any spontaneous gift-giving occasions that might
arise, like Thursdays, for example.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
hear you chuckling at my feeble impulse control. But before you mock me mercilessly,
I suggest you reconsider the cell phone towers I ambled by so nonchalantly just
before the book store’s siren bewitched me. Can it be the Khoury Media Marketing
& Manipulation Machine microwaved into my skull an irresistible lust for <i>Rasputin's Shadow</i>?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You
say far-fetched? My credit card says ouch. Khoury says ka-ching. (He loves the
ka-ching—see below.) Perhaps remote impulse control isn’t quite so far-fetched
as you might hope. And using that awesome power to stuff his purse with my
hard-earned money, odious though Khoury may be for doing so, is surely one of
the more benign outcomes in our hypothetical scenario. He could have beamed any
impulse he chose into my head. He could have used the technology to force me,
without my knowledge (much less my acquiescence), to buy all the copies of <i>Rasputin’s Shadow</i> I could get my hands
on while singing Bee Gees songs and dressed as a rabbit. Or, he could have puppeteered
me into acts of arson, robbery, or much worse.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s
a pity we can’t use this technology to turn the tables on our esteemed guest
today as he returns for his second debriefing at the Author Spotlight. Otherwise,
we could not only ensure the accuracy of his replies to our questions, but we
could make Khoury answer our questions dressed as a rabbit, each reply rendered
to the tune of "Staying Alive." But we digress. Brain beam unavailability
notwithstanding, we shall get this Spotlight underway.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gazala: What is the most surprising occupational
hazard to being a novelist?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Khoury: I work from a home office, so it has be to
having a kitchen within easy reach. All day. Every day. It’s there, constantly
calling out to you, beckoning you to explore its hidden temptations, luring you
with the succulent siren call of—damn, see what you’ve done<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>?
Back in a sec.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gazala: Your latest book is an excellent and
gripping thriller titled <i>Rasputin's
Shadow</i>, about a brutal 1916 Siberian mining catastrophe whose deadly
secrets rise up again a century later in the person of a remorseless killer
roaming the streets of New York City.
I enjoyed it immensely, and recommend it highly. Shockingly enough,
however, from time to time my bare recommendation doesn't always motivate a
book's potential reader to become a book's actual reader. Tell us something
about <i>Rasputin's Shadow</i>, and why its
potential reader should make the leap and become its actual reader.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Khoury: Frankly, I’m surprised. I found it really
boring and wouldn’t recommend it at all. Unless you’re in the mood for a
suspenseful page-turner about an über-effective rogue Russian FSB agent who’s
only known as “Koschey” (meaning “the deathless”), shady CIA operatives and
“security contractors,” Psy-loving Korean car-jackers and nightclub-dwelling
Russian mobsters, all of whom are after something that goes back to the days of
Rasputin and that could basically turn a whole city into one big bloodbath. I
certainly wasn’t. Any more of that chamomile tea?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gazala: Have you ever killed off one of your
characters only to greatly regret the death later?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Khoury: After trawling through my extensive oeuvre
(all of six novels), I have to say: no, actually. And I’ve killed a few.
Gleefully. Which could be worrying. I did have second thoughts at (SPOILER
ALERT) Farouk in <i>The Sanctuary</i>. It was unplanned and totally unexpected and,
after I wrote it, it changed a major dynamic in the book, which I think made it
a much more interesting book. But I liked poor old Farouk. He deserved better.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gazala: If you could take credit for writing one
book not your own, God's, or Shakespeare's, which would it be, and why?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Khoury: Does it come with the royalties? In which
case, hello, Harry Potter and ka-ching. If we’re talking in more noble terms:
it’s a toss-up between Aldous Huxley’s <i>Brave
New World</i>, and <i>Action Comics #1</i>, which introduced Superman to the world. I mean, how cool would it be to say you
invented the superhero genre!?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gazala: Who, or what, is the most terrible fiend
ever to torment a novelist's imagination?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Khoury: The notion that after spending over a year
working on something you firmly believe in and pouring your heart and soul into
it, someone else will have come up with a similar idea and bring his or her
book out before yours.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is
it just us, or did Khoury unknowingly half-sing his last answer <span class="st"><i>à la</i></span> The Brothers Gibb? We warned you this impulse control stuff isn’t as outré as you’d like to believe. So don’t wait for the brain beam
to take over your mind and make you do it. Simply click <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rasputins-Shadow-Raymond-Khoury/dp/0525953132/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381356946&sr=8-1&keywords=rasputin%27s+shadow" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a>, and you’ll be
whisked to Amazon.com, where you can get your copy of <i>Rasputin’s Shadow</i> on your
own accord. You’ll be relieved you did.</span></span></div>
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-72409136009368563382013-09-26T20:05:00.000-04:002013-09-26T20:14:07.995-04:00Author Spotlight: Geoffrey Girard<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Remember your high school English teachers? One
of them was the strict grammarian, right? He seemed like he was always on the
edge, ready to break into a million jagged pieces if you wandered just a little
bit from the tidy corner of Strunk & White. There was the classic lit
teacher—she was at least 100 years old and could quote Shakespeare and Dante
better than Shakespeare and Dante. And what about the grizzled fireplug who
taught you bits and shards about Twain and Hemingway and Faulkner when he wasn’t
investing way more energy coaching the school football team, visions of state
championships and college sidelines swirling in his head.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But then there was the other English teacher.
The cool one, as cool as you dared believe any high school English teacher can
be. He seemed to get you, and you seemed to get him, and even though neither of
you had a clue about what the other did off school grounds, to this day you
smile when you remember what he taught you about reading and writing that
matters.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That man is our guest today on the Gazalapalooza
Author Spotlight. His name is <a href="http://www.geoffreygirard.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Geoffrey Girard</span></a>, and his new scary thriller <i>Cain’s Blood</i> is fresh of the presses.
When he’s not teaching English at a prestigious private boys’ high school in Ohio, he’s writing, and
winning awards and accolades for what he writes. Exemplifying the latter, no
less an authority than the National Book Examiner calls <i>Cain’s Blood</i>, "Compelling <i>and</i>
repulsive… A page-turner <i>par excellence</i>."</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It appears our esteemed authorial colleague Mr.
Girard copes masterfully with the grisly, and the macabre. <i>Cain’s Blood</i> is exhibit one on that score, trust us. Perhaps it’s
too much to hope that the piercing beams from our array of unforgiving klieg
lights will make the man sweat, or squirm a bit. But hope o we will, as we get
this edition of the Author Spotlight underway.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gazala:
In my omnipotence, I've sentenced you to be stranded alone on a desert
island for offenses best left unnamed. In my beneficence, I've decided to allow
you a limited amount of reading material to make your stay a little less bleak
than it would otherwise be. I'll spot you your religious text of preference,
and the collected works of William Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the
one fiction book, and the one nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you,
and tell why you choose them.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Girard:
Literary practicality wins here. There are perfect books I’ve reread a
dozen times (e.g., <i>A Prayer for Owen
Meany</i>, <i>Shadowland</i>, <i>Dubliners</i>), but the idea of having to
read only one of them for the rest of my life is not appealing. And while <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> is probably the
most pivotal fiction of my life, the writing itself ain’t all that hot. So… I’m
gonna go with <i>Infinite Jest</i>. I think
Wallace is a brilliant writer and thinker. I reread his shorter work often just
for the language, but have only tackled <i>Jest</i>
once. At 1000+ pages, that’s a lot of ground still to cover a few more times.
Broken up, <i>Infinite Jest</i> can be
hundreds of stand-alone stories/scenes.
It’s my generation’s <i>The Divine
Comedy</i> in a way, I think. So, plenty to think over there.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Since you’ve stranded me alone on a desert
island, under those circumstances there is no nonfiction book I’d ever want to
re-read other than <i>1000 Ways to Cook a
Seagull</i>. (Ed. note: despite valiant
effort, to date Gazalapalooza’s crack staff of expert librarians has been
unable to confirm the existence of this book. The closest they’ve gotten is <i>1001 Ways to Cook Jonathan Livingston
Seagull</i>.)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gazala:
Your latest book is an excellent and gripping novel titled <i>Cain's Blood</i>, centered on the U.S.
Defense Department's use of cloned DNA from nefarious serial killers to develop
a new breed of terrifying bioweapon. I've read it. I enjoyed it immensely, and
recommend it highly. Shockingly enough, however, from time to time my bare
recommendation doesn't always motivate a book's potential reader to become a
book's actual reader. Tell us something about <i>Cain's Blood</i>, and why its potential reader should make the leap and
become its actual reader.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Girard:
Thank you for the endorsement.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For thriller/horror fans: <i>Cain’s Blood</i> is <i>Jurassic</i><i> Park</i> with
serial killers. If you’re a serial killer aficionada, you might enjoy. They’re
all here: Gacy, Bundy, Dahmer, Fish, etc. And they’re all teens, some of who
would scare the shit out of their genetic forefathers. There’s some dark fun to
be had. <i>The Ruins</i> author (ed. note:
Scott Smith) called <i>Cain’s Blood</i>
“deeply twisted,” and R.L. Stine says it “still creeps him out.” Coming from
those guys…</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For you English-class lovers: <i>Cain’s
Blood</i> is something more like <i>Huckleberry
Finn</i>, or <i>On the Road</i>. Two broken
characters (a war vet not quite home yet and a teen who’s just discovered he’s
the clone of Jeffrey Dahmer) make their way across America (and all that
means), figuring out how to deal with each other and themselves, and hopefully
come out okay on the other side.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gazala:
What are books for?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Girard:
Easier than finding a cave to paint on, I suppose. I teach high school
English and am always reminding the guys that Art is Art: be it a book, song,
painting, dance, video game, movie, etc.
Even when it’s “just” entertainment, there’s usually a legit and
worthwhile portrayal/ examination of “being human” within that entertainment.
And for those books, songs, etc., that strive to dig a little deeper, all the
better. Books are simply one way to do that.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gazala:
W. Somerset
Maugham said, "There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately,
no one knows what they are." Do you agree, or disagree, and why?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Girard:
I might make it ten rules to writing to muck it up even more. Yes, I agree no one knows what these rules
(three, ten, or 50) are. I believe Twain has some line to the effect that the
three rules are: write, write and…
write. Other than that, who knows? I’ve
been doing this seriously about ten years and have met a hundred other authors,
each with his or her own style, methods, voice, habits, weaknesses, craft, etc.
And even once you’ve tied it down to one writer, they’ll change it up too. <i>Cain’s Blood</i> was written in an entirely
different way than <i>Project Cain</i> (a
spinoff I wrote for teen readers). I changed up the devices used, voice, story
structure, mechanics, etc. Wanted to try something new for that particular wall
painting. Part of the fun of writing
(and reading) is trying new things, even it proves personally unsatisfying in
the end.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gazala:
I'm knee-deep in a robust philosophical argument about nature versus
nurture with a weird guy who calls himself Tad Bundy. This may take a while.
Ask yourself a question, and answer it.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Girard:
Q: Do you think the science in <i>Cain’s
Blood</i> is possible? A: We went from cloning sheep to cloning monkeys in just
three years. And that was 15 years ago. You’re asking me to believe we haven’t
gone from monkey to human in those ensuing 15 years? That’s absurd.
Furthermore, America
spends more money researching weapons than it does on medicine, agriculture,
manufacturing, education, and transportation combined. And most all of that
research is conducted via black budgets with 0.0 regulation or public
accountability. I’d say “possible” is fair.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Compelling and repulsive though it surely
sounds, we still can’t track down a copy of <i>1000
Ways to Cook a Seagull</i>. We’re not often stumped—it’s quite disturbing. How
can we make this up to you, our very gracious and stunningly attractive reader?
By positioning you with the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cains-Blood-Novel-Geoffrey-Girard/dp/147670404X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380231463&sr=1-1&keywords=geoffrey+girard" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">merest mouse click</span></a> to get your own copy of Geoffrey
Girard’s <i>Cain’s Blood</i> right from
Amazon.com, that’s how. We overpay our debts, here. You’re welcome.</span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFsHoj3tWlsrVq_AFCb6LesuneIET_bg046KDLZ-2K8hAnvh-UThKlQdwxaMx1lBZi_cKe4WRgLkQ7JKKfHzw_zcbXHKUGMPVryP8p_aSTc9px3szIWG3M5VmPFLWg8UtUGTvIbeuUszlK/s1600/girardcover_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFsHoj3tWlsrVq_AFCb6LesuneIET_bg046KDLZ-2K8hAnvh-UThKlQdwxaMx1lBZi_cKe4WRgLkQ7JKKfHzw_zcbXHKUGMPVryP8p_aSTc9px3szIWG3M5VmPFLWg8UtUGTvIbeuUszlK/s320/girardcover_01.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3768627771647124907.post-13418450286606429962013-08-25T15:27:00.001-04:002013-08-25T15:27:47.260-04:00Author Spotlight: Glenn Shepard<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>In
this edition, our Author Spotlight is aimed squarely at <a href="http://mysteryhousepublishing.com/1794.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Dr. Glenn Shepard</span></a>.
Shepard is an esteemed medical doctor and retired surgeon whose debut thriller,
<i>Not for Profit</i>, was recently released to stellar reviews. As a matter of fact, one
of <i>Not for Profit</i>’s hearty endorsements comes from none other than <a href="http://www.rgazala.blogspot.com/2013/06/author-spotlight-layton-green.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Layton Green</span></a>,
who’s not only a fellow thriller author, but an alumnus of the Gazalapalooza Author
Spotlight. Green calls Shepard’s novel “slick and intelligent.” After you read <i>Not
for Profit</i>, you’ll see Green made the right call.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Every
author’s journey from blank page to published work is unique. For example, if
memory serves Shepard is the first combination M.D. / thriller author we’ve
hosted at the Spotlight. Shepard wrote his first novel decades ago, while his
surgical practice was in full swing and his free time was far scarcer than it
is now. At its end it was 1,000 pages long, but that first book was never
published. Nonetheless, that book taught Shepard invaluable lessons about
the art and craft of writing. Those lessons, combined with the wisdom and professional
expertise he gained from his medical practice plus his abiding love for the
written word, culminated in the publication of <i>Not for Profit</i>.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>In
an interview about his new book and writing generally, Shepard said, “All
fiction is real life and all real life is fiction.” We’ll advise him to use
that thought for a mantra as we strap him into the Spotlight’s unforgiving
wooden chair and beam the glaring white heat of our klieg light array at him.
Not to worry if the conditions are harsh – there’s a doctor in the house. So
with no more ado, we’ll get this Author Spotlight underway.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Gazala:<span> </span>In my omnipotence, I've sentenced you to be
stranded alone on a desert island for offenses best left unnamed. In my
beneficence, I've decided to allow you a limited amount of reading material to
make your stay a little less bleak than it would otherwise be. I'll spot you
your religious text of preference, and the collected works of William
Shakespeare. In addition to those, name the one fiction book, and the one
nonfiction book, you'd choose to take with you, and why you choose them.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Shepard:<span> </span>The nonfiction work I'd choose is <i>Gray's Anatomy</i>.
In med school, there was so much to cover in a limited amount of time that just
the highlights were spot-lighted. In between these were millions of bits of
overlooked minutia that are quite fascinating and worthy of study. I'd love to
have unlimited time to enjoy this. David Foster Wallace's book, <i>Infinite Jest</i>
would be my work of fiction. It takes time to read and understand this work.
Each time I start it, there are many things occupying my mind and I always put
it down to pursue pressing objectives. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Gazala:<span> </span>Your new book is an excellent and gripping
novel titled <i>Not For Profit</i>. It follows plastic surgeon Dr. Scott James as he
struggles to clear his name of two murders of which he's been falsely accused,
in a setting deftly spiced with love, violence, sex, mystery, orchids, and
renegade drones. I've read it. I enjoyed it immensely, and recommend it highly.
Shockingly enough, however, from time to time my bare recommendation doesn't
always motivate a book's potential reader to become a book's actual reader.
Tell us something about <i>Not For Profit</i>, and why its potential reader should
make the leap and become its actual reader.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Shepard:<span> </span>Three things motivated me to write this
book. The first and principle one was that some not for profit hospitals have
used their tax exempt status to enter markets in hospital services and even in
areas remote from hospital care and compete successfully with tax-paying
individuals and groups, in many instances claiming the bulk of the market
share. I can understand that the price the hospitals pay for buildings,
equipment, and products necessary to run the acquired properties and services
are tax deductible for hospitals as well as private individuals, but what the
public doesn't know is that the out flow of dollars to these entities magnifies
the unrelated cost each patient pays for the hospital services. And the salary
paid to the executives may not be the $250,000 the newspapers report as their
salaries (the figure given in the book for the salary of the fictitious chief
administrator), but a figure hidden in the multitude of corporations within a
single hospital group. This is a work of fiction. I am not blowing a whistle on
any group as no individual can stand in court and face any billion dollar hospital.
But I call attention to the high cost of hospital services that in my belief
relates to the expensive expansion of hospitals beyond primary patient care
that has the potential of ballooning the executive compensations of the
hospital leadership. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>The
second thing I want people to be aware of is the importance of drone warfare in
protecting America from terrorists. I applaud the headlines telling almost
daily of the accomplishments of our drones.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Thirdly,
I want my readers to share with me the horrors of terrorism. I used the
character Ethel Keyes to convey this message. A brilliant woman’s fear of the torture
she would face if she disobeyed her bosses led her far beyond the limits
imposed on her by her own conscience. Several readers objected to the violence
I portrayed. Describing what terrorists did to the book characters, in my
belief, equates to the actions of real life. But we don't want to see this
violence. Like in the recent Boston bombings, people read headlines and are mad
that people died and many were injured. The close-up images of the horrible
injuries at the scene are purged from the TV reporting. People don't want to
see the anguish and suffering at the scene. They're happy to gloss over the
actual horrors and just count the numbers dead and wounded. So with terrorist
attacks all over the world. The suffering is censored from our eyes. I did no
censoring. I hope people were horrified and will open their eyes.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Several readers objected to the book's
sexuality. Ethel Keyes' prior sexual experiences were all tainted by her
poverty and the wealth promised to her by the terrorist, Omar Farok. I showed a
real, romantic relationship that changed her negativism about sex. I felt it
necessary as the first step in her recovery. I thought it important for readers
to be with her in this part of her journey. You'll see this in my future books.
I plan to use her again. You'll see how this talented woman has benefited from
the positive sexual experiences of Not For Profit.<span> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Gazala:<span> </span>What are books for?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Shepard:<span> </span>Good books serve for self-understanding. I
become one with the main characters and try to see the world as they see it. Sometimes,
it is not with the same perspective as mine, and a good book gives me a better
knowledge of differing points of view. Some flow with my points of view, and reinforce
and sometimes even modify my way of thinking. I like books that make me think. I
hope <i>Not For Profit</i> makes people think beyond the "yellow brick road"
of the plot.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Gazala:<span> </span>W. Somerset Maugham said, "There are
three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they
are." Do you agree, or disagree, and why?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Shepard:<span> </span>This statement says a lot about the manner
of Somerset Maugham. It makes me think. Think deeply, as do his writings. His
is a rare talent. I enjoy reading him over and over again. Another of his great
quotes is, "Life isn't long enough for love and art." And it really
isn't.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Gazala:<span> </span>An unmarked black drone has been circling a
couple hundred yards over my rooftop for the past 15 minutes. While I'm dusting
off my sniper rifle, ask yourself a question, and answer it.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Shepard:<span> </span>A black drone! At a hundred fifty yards! It's
small. I can take it with my .223! A well placed shot in the engine will knock
it out of the sky! But wait. Is it on an intelligence mission tracking a
terrorist group working in this area? Or is it controlled by a terrorist group
surveying the military establishments in eastern Virginia? Or, just maybe, it's
from a <i>Not For Profit</i> outfit that didn't like my book? I take aim on the
unmanned aircraft. My finger is on the trigger. If it fires a rocket toward
me, I'll pull the trigger. Maybe, I'll be killed. But at least, I'll take that
sucker with me!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>“All
fiction is real life and all real life is fiction.” Based on his last response alone, it seems Doc Shepard may be
onto something. You’ll think so too, after reading Not for Profit. We’ve made
it easy for you to get your very own copy of the book from Amazon. All you have
to do is click <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Not-Profit-Glenn-Shepard-M-D/dp/0615765521/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377454969&sr=1-1&keywords=glen+shepard" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a>. Happy reading.</span></span></span></div>
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Richard Gazalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00805443072576939707noreply@blogger.com0