I had a couple of blog post ideas for
this week but life seems to have gotten in the way. I figured, I love
lists, so why not do a quick hits blog to get some thoughts out
there. Here goes:
1) If you happen to be a fan of the
Colbert Report then you most likely saw the bit on The Great Gatsby
last night. If you didn't, catch it on the show’s website here. It was
pretty funny and got me wondering if hosts of these types of
interview shows really read the books or not. Would be interesting to
know, because that means they are either some of the most well read
folks on the planet, or are simply blowing smoke like everyone else.
I think I will default to the latter of those two choices. Also, I'm a little disappointed with what I am reading about the movie reviews. I had high hopes when I saw the first preview, but from what I read it is more glitz than substance. Guess I'll catch it on DVD.
2) Another great thing that happened
during that bit on Colbert, was the shout out to Reading Rainbow.
This show was one of the things, along with my parents’ love of
reading, that got me so into book and made me want to be a writer
when I was little. I used to write poems and short stories and think
about how cool it would be if one of them was on Reading Rainbow,
then my classmates could see it when we watched the show every
Wednesday at school. Too bad that show isn't on anymore. A whole
generation of readers are missing out on a wonderful opportunity to
learn about books. Yeah, I know, there is an Ipad app, but it isn't the same and, really, isn't that half the problem? Go watch some episodes on YouTube, they are still great.
3) I would not consider myself a fan
boy of much of anything, well, maybe The Walking Dead, but I digress.
That being said, I am a huge Stephen King fan. His book “On
Writing” inspired me to finally get off my lazy butt and write my
first book. I love the universe he has created and how one obscure
thing in a short story can alter another part of his universe
completely. I freaked when I came across this flow chart today. It is
completely overwhelming at first and I cannot believe someone has the
time to update it, but this thing is seriously cool once you get the
hang of it. Check it out and support this person’s passion for one
of the best current American authors.
4) I caught The Daily Show’s
interview with David Sedaris last night and the guy seems to be
hilarious. What rock have I been living under that I didn't know
about this man? I am planning to buy one of his essay collections and
they receive pretty high reviews on Amazon. Anyone have any favorites
or a certain collection I should start with? Hit me up in the
comments.
5) A few months ago I read “World War
Z” by Max Brooks. Yes, this has everything to do with my obsession
with The Walking Dead, although the current story line in the comics
is being painfully drug out. I really wasn't sure about the book
when I started it but, halfway through, I couldn't put it down. It
is a clever way to approach the zombie apocalypse (for those of you
who don’t know, it is written as a collection of post-apocalypse
interviews with survivors and you have to piece things together as
you go). My love of this book made coupled with recent interview with
Max Brooks concerning the World War Z movie has me a little disappointed. You can read what he is
saying here, however, it basically boils down to “This movie is
gonna suck” and “This movie only shares the name of my book, not
the story”. Both very disappointing.
6) I am planning on finishing up my
short story collection this weekend and getting to my editor next
week. Still not sure on a potential release date, however, I have
decided this will be a free download on Amazon and will include a
prequel to my novel The Hunter's Son. It will also have some other
short stories I am experimenting with. If you want to know as soon as
it comes out, visit my website, http://www.jewellbe.com/Contact.html
and sign up for my email list. You will be the first to know when the
collection comes out and may even get offers for freebies or contests
in the future.
That's it for today. As always, thanks
for reading and shoot me a line if you want to discuss some books or
anything else that appeals to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment