Christine Amsden's Blog: Christine Amsden Author Blog, page 50
June 13, 2011
Book Review: Unforgettable
Sixty seconds after you turn away from Nat Morgan, you won't remember anything about him — not how he looks, not what he said, not even what you did together. And if you think that sounds disconcerting to you, just imagine how it feels to Nat.
His mother forgot him every night when she went to sleep, remembering she had a child only because of the extensive notes she left herself each and every day. Nat has no true friends, nor the chance to find true love. The only jobs he is suited to are thief or spy, so he goes to work for the CIA.
One day, on a routine mission to steal some useful technology from a company in Barcelona, he runs into Yelena — a Russian spy after the same thing. They end up handcuffed together, and then, something strange happens — she remembers him.
What follows is a thrilling tale of espionage with the fate of the world — and Nat's heart — at stake.
Nat was a great character — a genuinely nice guy with a heartbreaking problem that nonetheless made him uniquely qualified to stop an evil plot. There were moments of wry humor, and defining choices.
This is the sort of science fiction story that would make a terrific movie, although the book was very good as well, and probably gave insights into Nat's character that wouldn't be easy to translate onto the screen. Nevertheless, it was exciting, fast-paced, and very visual.
I recommend this to science fiction fans.
Rating 4/5
Title: Unforgettable
Author: Eric James Stone
Genre: Science Fiction
Published April 1st 2011
ASIN: B004UVQRK2
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June 12, 2011
Movie Review: Super 8
I don't normally do movie reviews because I almost never get to the movies. When you have two young children, the cost of a movie goes well beyond the $10 per person ticket prices — the baby-sitter will often run you that much per hour! By the time I do see movies, thanks to Netflix, there doesn't seem much point in reviewing them because they're old news.
Yesterday, however, my husband took me out for my birthday and we got to see Super 8 in the theaters. With all the action, it was a good movie to see on a big screen, especially during the spectacular train crash scene.
The premise: It's 1979, and six teens are filming a zombie movie. One night, while out on a shoot, they witness a strange train crash. Within minutes, air force personnel swarm onto the scene, and from there, things get really weird.
The characters were great, and the actors who played the kids did an admirable job. Each one came to life in the short two hours the movie had, especially Joe, whose mother dies at the beginning of the movie.
In fact, for the first hour and forty-five minutes I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The trouble is, the ending sucked. I can't say how without spoiling things, but it truly disappointed, especially after the great setup.
This movie is more creepy than horrifying, and while there are moments of intensity, a lot of the suspense builds gradually.
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June 10, 2011
Follow Friday
Q. The magic book fairy pops out of your cereal box and says "you and your favorite character (from a book of course) can switch places!" Who are you going to switch with?
A. That's a tough one because life really sucks for many of my favorite characters! I'm not sure I could live up to the heroic image I enjoy so much. I have always had a soft spot for Hermione Granger, because she's bookish and brainy like me, but then she decided to go for Ron, and I just don't know that I'd make the same choice. 
Oooohhhh…how about Margaret O'Keefe from the Wrinkle in Time series? She also reminds me a bit of myself growing up, and she ends up with a great guy.
I'm very curious to see other people's answers on this one. I bet I'll see something I should have said!
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And while you're here, you may want to check out my husband's latest review and giveaway: Purgatory Chasm
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Book Review and Giveaway: Purgatory Chasm
Guest review by Austin Morgan
[image error]Steve Ulfelder's Purgatory Chasm is a great way to start off a writing career. I get to read a lot of debut novels, frequently before they are published. I feel this gives me more experience in identifying some of the foibles new authors frequently work through in the first books. I didn't see any of the typical beginner jitters from Steve Ulfelder. Then I googled Steve and found out he is not kicking off a writing career, he has been a journalist for 20 years. Of course converting journalism to novel writing is a difficult skill also and Steve has speed past the competition.
What stuck me most about Purgatory Chasm was that it was obvious that Steve knows Conway Sax very well.
Conway Sax strangely reminds me a lot of Rooster Cogburn from True Grit. He charges into the fray without a plan and some how comes out on the other side mostly unscathed. He also will follow a job no matter what it costs him both financially or health wise even after his client is dead.
The mystery is deep and satisfying. And while Steve has tried to hide the fact, the mystery is not what this book is really about. Because I googled Steve I happen to know that he is working on a sequel to Purgatory Chasm. I am very interested where he will be taking this character.
So why did I only give this book a 4 out of 5? There wasn't a sympathetic character in the novel. There were a few characters on the up and up, but those were sidekicks that did not change much during the story. There is a hint that Conway is really trying to turn a new leaf, except he still doesn't see anything wrong with breaking someone's nose if he feels one of his friends has been wronged.
I recommend this book for anyone looking for a good mystery, especially if they like gritty characters.
Rating: 4/5
Title: Purgatory Chasm
Author: Steve Ulfelder
Genre: Mystery
Publication Date: May 31, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-312-67292-8
This is another Goodreads.com's First Reads book. This is a great service in which you can sign up to receive books either before or just after they are released.
The Contest:
To win this copy of this book leave a comment on this post.
Rules:
Only comments left at http://christineamsden.com will be entered in the contest
You will receive the exact same Advanced Review Copy I received from the publisher
You must live in the US to win
Contest ends on Sunday June 19, 2011 at 11:59 PM CT
The winner will be contacted via e-mail, the winner has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.
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June 9, 2011
T Minus Six Days
I'm in full countdown mode, now that my book release is less than a week away! I know many of you have gone out and purchased the eBook version that is already available (and I thank you), but there is still something magical about the day you can hold the final copy in your hands.
Tomorrow evening, I'll be doing a live, online radio chat at Elemental Musings. It will be at 5:30 central time.
Barnes and Noble still has the best price for the book (that I'm aware of), currently $12.14 if you pre-order it. I have a horrible suspicion that the price will increase after the fifteenth (I have no idea why or how this works — they don't tell us authors anything — but I know the price of Touch of Fate went up after the release date).
For my husband's friends and family: If you want a signed copy, you can support your local Hastings in Russellville, AR. I'll be there on July 2 signing books.
And now…back to your regularly scheduled reviews and writing tips!
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June 8, 2011
Action for the Minimalist Writer (2)
Action sequences can sometimes feel overwhelming, especially for the minimalist writer, who is probably much more interested in how things turn out than how each punch lands. I myself spent years skimming through fight scenes and battle scenes, seeking out highlights that would tell me how my favorite characters fared in the conflict. When I watch movies, my eyes tend to glaze over when they start hitting one another, especially if it goes on for too long.
And yet I wrote a novel that people are calling exciting and action-packed. Want to know how?
First, I started listening to audio books. This may seem counter-intuitive, but here's the thing: You can't skim an audio book. Oh, don't get me wrong…I've tried. There are some books I have found so boring that I hit the fast forward button and aimlessly searched for a place where things got exciting. Those aren't good books, so I don't tend to learn from them anyway.
So as I began listening to every word in a book, unable to skim those action sequences, I realized they weren't all boring. Some of them, in fact, were very exciting. Which ones? The ones with a great deal of conflict.
Wait, it's an action sequence? Doesn't it, by definition, contain a lot of conflict?
No. Action and conflict are not the same thing, as I'm sure I discussed in at least one of my topics on beginnings. Action is about movement, and is entirely visual, impersonal. It's a camera's eye view. Conflict, on the other hand, is personal, emotional, and an aspect of character that brings stories to life. Conflict isn't the movement, it's the stakes. Conflict is why I care.
Consider this short sequence:
Matt doubled over as Paul kicked him in the stomach, letting out a loud "Oomph!" of pain. Even so, he managed to dodge sideways, avoiding Paul's fist as it aimed for his nose.
So what? Who are Matt and Paul? What are they fighting about? What will happen if Matt wins? If Paul wins? Does anything here matter at all?
Now, don't get me wrong — there are some people out there who do enjoy fighting for the sake of fighting. Some of them may even be minimalist writers, rushing through dialog and description to get to the action sequences. But right now, I'm specifically talking to the minimalist writer who skims through action scenes in order to read the dramatic conclusion.
If that's you, then here's what I propose: The important elements of an action sequence are not so much the precise footwork as the impact it has on the protagonist. So, let's try that sequence again:
The look in Paul's eyes as he approached told Matt, quite clearly, that he knew. He knew about Matt and his sister, and what's more, he wasn't happy about it.
"Filthy nigger! You stay away from my sister."
Matt baked away, wondering if any words would help his case. Somehow he doubted, "I love her" would do it. It might even enrage him more.
Paul caught up to Matt, backing him against the brick facade of a storefront. He looked mad enough to kill.
Matt doubled over as Paul kicked him in the stomach, letting out a loud "Oomph!" of pain. Even so, he managed to dodge sideways, avoiding Paul's fist as it aimed for his nose.
This time, we have an actual conflict. We also have something more — impressions from the point of view character. Specifically, would any words help his case? Would admitting he loved her? With these lines, we're getting a small but important glimpse into Matt and who he is. He doesn't want to fight this man, he only wants to be free to love a woman. Later, Matt reflects that Paul looks mad enough to kill — hinting at a degree of fear. This could end up very badly for Matt.
There are any number of ways to describe a specific action sequence, but the most important thing is setup. Who is involved? What is at stake? Where are they?
After that, the trick is to find your main character's point of view and stick to it like glue. It's not about fists flying — it's about the main character's experience of fists flying. Written well, the reader can do more than visualize, he can identify. What is he thinking? What is he feeling?
As the action scene progresses, you do what you do with plotting: What can go wrong? How will the hero overcome it? What happens then? Same questions, smaller scale.
The scenes are built in the reader's mind a piece at a time, and it takes time to unfold. As long as you've set the stage, as long as you've established the stakes, the reader will be on the edge of their seats while you put it together. Here are the sorts of questions your character can answer:
1. What do you see?
2. What are you thinking?
3. What are you feeling?
4. What do you hear?
5. What do you smell?
6. If any other senses apply (ie magic), what are they telling you?
So, here's my second bit of general advice:
An action scene is not about the action, but about the person experiencing it.
Here's an exercise for you: Describe a fight you've had, in detail. Don't forget to talk about why you were fighting, how it made you feel at the time, and then what, precisely, happened.
Next week: Dialog
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June 6, 2011
And the winner is…
Last night was the last chance to enter The Calling giveaway. According to aggregation from 19 random number generators Kelly is our lucky winner. For all you poor souls I will be posting a review and giving away a copy of Purgatory Chasm this Friday.
Some fun trivia about The Calling, the author includes a list of songs she feels would make a good soundtrack for the book. I have to agree with her selections.
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Book Review: Bitten
Easily the best werewolf story I've ever read…not that I've gone out of my way to read a ton of them, but still. I consistently say that good stories come down to characters, and I really sympathized with Elana. I almost said that I really liked her, but that's not entirely true. She's rough, hard, prone to temper-tantrums, and full of anger. The thing is, I got it. She should have been all of those things, given what she'd been through in her life. It made sense, and so while we would never be friends, I enjoyed reading her story.
Great world building — especially the wolves themselves. Straight-forward, wolf to man, silver bullets and the like are a semi-useful myth. They were wild, reclusive, and pack-oriented, all of which made sense. Elana is the only female werewolf in existence, because most wolves are born to it, a gene passed from father to son, never to a daughter. Werewolves could also be bitten, but most of those tended not to survive.
I did expect the fact that Elana was the only female werewolf to be more central to the plot when I started reading, but it was really a peripheral detail, part of the world and character, but not nearly as important as the rest of who she was — a wounded girl whose parents died when she was 5, raised by a string of foster parents, some of whom abused her…when she met Clayton, bitten in early childhood, struggling to grow up in a hostile world, he saw a reflection of himself in her.
I only had two small problems with the book
1. I didn't care for the prologue, and after reading it, I put it down for a couple of days, before friend's recommendations made me pick it up again. After that, and maybe because of that, it took me a couple of chapters to get into things at the beginning. Not too long, but I wouldn't say it got off to a quick start. If you pick it up, give it a few chapters.
2. Guns. Seriously. What is so wrong with guns? Seems like guns would solve a lot of supernatural problems. Just saying…
I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys urban fantasy splashed with romance.
Rating: 4.5/5
Title: Bitten
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 0452286034
Published: September 7, 2004
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June 2, 2011
Follow Friday, Zombie Apocalypse Edition
Q. What are you doing to prepare for an upcoming zombie apocalypse and/or the return of Mel Gibson to the silver screen? (Both of which could be terrifying.)
A. Well, I just listened to "re: Your Brains" by Jonathan Coulton, so I have it on good authority that the zombies just want my brains, not my eyes or anything. They seemed very reasonable, and willing to compromise. So I'm thinking negotiation is the best strategy…that, and flame throwers.
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Book Review: Nightspell
In a land where assassinations were commonplace, and rival political factions fought for power, came a simple, magical solution: Ghosts, bent on vengeance for the ones who murdered them. But what if those ghosts would rather live an eternal half-life?
In Ghostland, there are almost as many dead as living, and out of respect for the dead, who cannot walk in the sunlight, days and nights are reversed. Warriors from the plains would love to conquer this land, but they fear facing an army of ghosts.
Four years ago, the leader of the plains warriors sent his youngest daughter, Callie, to marry the Ghostland prince. Now, her brother, Varis, and sister, Darri, arrive with a change of plans. Darri wants to take Callie home. Varis still wants a marriage alliance, but thinks it will need to be between Darri and the prince, instead of Callie.
Except, the prince is already dead.
What follows is a story full of political intrigue, temporary alliances, backstabbing, and murder. Darri and Varis soon realize their lives are in danger, but they can't leave until they uncover the truth.
All the while, the book challenges the reader to reexamine the nature of death and existence.
I enjoyed the theme of this book very much, although there may have been some personal bias, because I saw some parallells with the theme of my upcoming novel — The Immortality Virus. Especially: Who has the right to make weighty decisions over the nature of life and death?
I did find this book to be a little slow in parts, particularly as the foundation formed, but the conclusion was dramatic and exciting — something you don't want to miss! I recommend to lovers of political intrigue and fantasy. Don't let the YA label scare you — the ages of the characters may officially place this in the "young adult" category, but I found it to be pretty adult.
Rating: 4.5/5
Title: Nightspell
Author: Leah Cypess
Genre: Fantasy
Publication Date: May 31, 2011
ISBN: 0061957038
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