Ilsa J. Bick's Blog, page 33

To Blurb, or Not to Blurb…

Today, on ADR3NALIN3, my take on blurbs as a reader; as someone who's had a book blurbed; and as someone who's been asked to provide blurbs.

My Sunday cake: I was doing taxes and so down in the mouth, I decided to do something bright and beautiful.  The result?  This amazingly moist and flavorful lemon-blueberry cake made in my bran'-spanking new bundt pan.

February 2012 Recommended Reads, Listens and Looks

Boy, February always seems to go by quickly, even in a leap year.  Surprisingly, I found few books this time around but several decent films, and my picks follow below.

READS

Schmidt, Gary; Okay for Now (Clarion Books; 2011). This is the first book by Schmidt I've had the pleasure of reading, but it will not be the last.  I'm not sure what made me pick this up since this is marketed as more a middle grade book, but I found the voice fresh, witty, and likable.  Doug Swieteck is an eighth-grader readers savvier than I may be familiar with from Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars (next up on my list of must-reads).  Here, Doug's family has moved to "stupid Marysville" in upstate New York; his father is a bully; his mother a saint; his older brother, Lucas, is away in Vietnam; and Doug finds himself without friends, in a new town, and with a big secret.  Along the way, Doug is befriended by a kindly librarian who introduces him to Audubon and with whose paintings in Birds of America, Doug becomes enraptured.  Doug's growth as an artist and person is nicely done here, although I also think that older kids would probably like this better than middle-grade readers simply because of all the symbolism.  In addition, I found that many of the novel's events  stretched credulity, and Doug's ability to teach the adults how to be better people a little too pat.  That didn't stop me from enjoying this lovely book, though.  I'm sure you will, too.

 

LISTENS

Schmidt, Gary; Okay for Now (narrated by Lincoln Hoppe; Audible Audio Edition, 2011).  Yes, it's true; as I've said before, when I really start enjoying a book, I'll frequently look for it in audio.  Hoppe's narration is first-rate, but I'll be honest: I got this out through my local library as a download and didn't know who the narrator was.  In fact, I could have sworn it was Steven Weber (who did such a great job with IT).  In any event, I liked Hoppe so much that I tracked down a few more recordings by him which I hope to listen to this month.  Stay tuned.

 

LOOKS

Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, director; 2011). I wasn't expecting much when I decided to see this film, so my surprise over how much I did enjoy it was a little . . . well, surprising.  This is your basic you-gotcha-bad-viral-pandemic-and-everyone's-gonna-die movie, but what I liked was how many of the very beautiful people bit the dust (and some, quite early).  The movie takes its cue from the 2002 SARS epidemic, which made everyone freak out because China wasn't very forthcoming (the virus got its start in Foshan Municipality in Guangdong Province and was traced back to a coronavirus originating in civet cats).  Here, it's the same: everyone suspects that the virus (a bat-porcine hybrid) came from China, and half the work of the field epidemiologists both from the CDC and WHO is to figure out the where and the who: the location of the index patient.  Along the way, we get to see people act in predictable and not-so-predictable ways; there is a certain degree of societal breakdown; the Chinese aren't forthcoming; etc., etc.  What I liked most about this movie was that the scientists get to be the heroes; it really is a case of Back off, man: I'm a  scientist.

 

Now, if only Matt Damon would lose a couple pounds…

 

 

The Grey (Joe Carnahan, director; 2012).   You've probably heard about this movie by now, largely because so many conservation groups got pretty upset with the movie's portrayal of wolves.  As an environmentally minded person, I have to agree.  On the other hand, this film is, primarily, an adrenalin-rush.  It's fun; it's actually pretty realistic, aside from the animatronic wolves (which are honking HUGE).  The basic story is very simple.  A bunch of Alaska oil workers become stranded after their plane goes down: a story of life and death, and survival against the odds.  Mostly, people get picked off in various ways; some of them you really hate to see go (and go, they do, rather horribly).  If you don't know, I'll also tell you that there is a tiny ten-second bit right after the credits which, I guess, provides some resolution.  From where I sat, you don't need it–and it's not worth sitting through ten tedious MINUTES to see.  Oh, and there's some predictable moralizing/philosophizing along the way about man, the nature of life, God, and all that.    Anyway, I liked it.  The film's based on the short story, "The Ghost Walker" by Ian Mackenzie Jeffers, which the author expanded into a novel, available an ebook.

 

The Ides of March (George Clooney, director; 2011).  Another somewhat predictable film, this story follows the career of an idealistic staff (played by Ryan Gosling) as he gets a crash-course in dirty politics and the lengths people are willing to go to achieve their goals.  Is this loosely based on the John Edwards debacle?  Uh-huh.  Do you see what's coming a mile down the road?  You bet.  Do you really care?  Well, I didn't, and that's principally because of Gosling's performance which is so good.  The supporting cast is also first-rate, particularly Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti.  It was nice watching Clooney be a bit smarmy, too.

 

On a lighter note, here's this Sunday's cake: sweet orange bittersweet chocolate (Happy Hubby's finger, not included):

 

Carolrhoda Week on Bites Blog

Also, drop on by Donna's Bites Blog for a peek at the inner workings of Carolrhoda Lab. 

 

Today's feature: the madness of my wonderfully talented editor, Andrew Karre.

The Better to Hear You

Zip on over to ADR3NALIN3 today for a post about writers, readers, and the art of reading aloud (and whether writers should).  Don't forget: only 4 days left in the DROWNING INSTINCTGiveaway!

30 Country DROWNING INSTINCT Goodreads Giveaway!

You asked for it, you got it.  I received so many emails from overseas fans who wanted a crack at DROWNING INSTINCT that I've opened up another giveaway.  I've got three copies to give and you have from now until March 2 to try your luck!  Enter either here (see the nice little widget on the right?) or on Goodreads:http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/20929-drowning-instinct

Good luck!

Cover Love … and DROWNING INSTINCT Winner!

What makes for a good cover?  Trot on over to ADR3NALIN3 for a peek at various ASHES  covers (US and overseas) and let me know what you think.  Also, congrats to our DROWNING INSTINCT winner, Melanie Goodman, who also wrote a lovely review.  Thanks to all who entered, and for you guys here and overseas, stay tuned: I feel a Goodreads giveaway coming on

January 2012 Recommended Reads, Listens and Looks

Sometimes I think I should stop reading. When I'm in the throes of outlining and beginning a new novel–or deep INTO a novel–I can be the most unforgiving of readers because I'm so darned critical of my own stuff. Finding joy in someone else's work is guaranteed to both delight and piss me off: like, shoot, what's wrong with me?

This past month, I managed to stave off my inner snark for the most part. I was in grazing mode, looking for stuff to really engage my fancy. So, a lot of books passed before my eyes. Some were forgettable; a couple I never made it past the first chapter, despite all the rapturous reviews. Others had gotten tons of press, and one was especially well-written–really, really good–but I found the story almost too preciously unbelievable AND predictable. So, despite all that gorgeous writing–and I read that baby through to the end–I just couldn't bring myself to recommend it. What I found most interesting was my return to a couple things–a listen, a movie–which I'd enjoyed before and thoroughly enjoyed upon my return visit. Maybe I thought of them as the mental equivalent of comfort food or something.

READS

Asher, Jay and Mackler, Carolyn; The Future of Us (Razorbill, 2011). I'm sure everyone wondered how Asher was going to follow up the success of Th1rteen R3asons Why, me included, and now we've got our answer. Is this story of two teens, circa 1996, who glimpse their futures on Facebook and then have to deal with all the ramifications of this as fantastic a book? No, but then I don't think that either Asher or Mackler were after a wash-rinse-repeat. The premise is pretty interesting: if you had a chance to glimpse your future, do you embrace or change it? Do you even believe you will ever become the people you'll morph into? (If you told me I'd be a writer by now, I'd have asked what illegal vegetable matter you were smoking.) So I liked this book because it was an interesting concept; the voices feel authentic and the writing is very good. After reading this, I think this is really a book geared for much younger teens (twelve, thirteen sounds about right). For kids in that age range, this is a very good relationship story without too much over-the-top drama.

Blake, Kendare; Anna, Dressed in Blood (Tor Teen, 2011). Let me say right off the bat that this isn't my typical read. I picked this up only because I read the first chapter, enjoyed the style and voice and figured, you know, why not? Well, what an enjoyable ride. This is a classic boy-meet-girl, star-crossed lovers story, with a novel twist. Cassius Lowood is a ghost-killer with vengeance on his mind; Anna is the ghost he's determined to put to rest. That they turn out to become unlikely allies and then, well, a kind of couple is something you see coming, know can't work out, but you root for the crazy kids anyway. If there is any complaints I have with this book at all, they are few. The setting is almost incidental; this could take place in California just as easily as Thunder Bay. Likewise, it's a little tough to believe that the disappearance of a teen would produce only a kind of collective shrug, especially in a day and age where kids' faces are splashed over continuous news cycles. Cops just don't give up that easily. But if you're into witchcraft, ghosts, and some nice splashes of gore–as I clearly was the day I picked this up–you'll glide right past that and find yourself wondering where Blake takes her characters next.

Omololu, C.J.; Dirty Little Secrets (Walker Childrens, 2011). Lucy's got a secret, a big one. Her mom's a hoarder and no one knows. Her mother's disorder imprisons them both and Lucy's just biding her time until she can get out of the pig sty she's forced to call home. But when her mother unexpectedly dies, Lucy's got a dilemma: immediately call the police and see her life splashed all over the evening news, or try to clean up the mess and then call. She picks the latter and that fuels the rest of the plot which is essentially an excavation of the past. As she digs deeper into the rubbish, she rediscovers essential truths about herself and her mom (and one very upsetting moment with a beloved pet). The book ends as it has to–although a little too tidily–and the premise reminds me a lot of Buried, Robin Marrow MacCready's spectacular 2006 Edgar Award winner. Nevertheless, this is a very intense, close psychological study of a kid trying to cope with the mess parents have made of her life, and well worth the time.

LISTENS

Anderson, Laurie Halse; Speak (Mandy Siegfried, narrator; Listening Library, 2006). This was my comfort food listen. Does anyone on the planet not know this 1999 gem of a novel? If you've been in hibernation the last decade+, let's just say that this is the story of Melinda, a ninth-grader with an unbearable secret who eventually finds her way to speak the truth. Mandy Siegfried is pitch-perfect as the narrator, and I have to admit that I prefer the audio version to the actual novel which I found a bit too episodic (and those double spaces between paragraphs drive me nuts). Of Anderson's many novels, this remains my favorite and, despite being somewhat stylized, feels the truest.

LOOKS

American Meltdown (Jeremiah S. Chelchik, director; Morningstar: 2004). You won't find this little gem of a movie (and a TV movie, at that) on Netflix. If you're as intrigued as I was about this very intense, highly believable movie about terrorists seizing a California nuclear plant–and the actual mechanics of how unprepared we might be, the choices government officials might be forced to make, and the blurring of good guys vs. bad–then you'll spring for the DVD. I did, and was glad of it. Bruce Greenwood, one of my favorite actors, is fabulous in the lead role of an FBI agent stymied in his attempts to find a way out of a potential disaster. An altogether too-believable what-if story.

Sense and Sensibility, (Ang Lee, director; Sony Pictures, 1995). This is a movie I hadn't seen for quite awhile but revisited on a whim. I'd forgotten just how good this story of a widowed mom and her three daughters really is. Austen was a master of revealing the foibles and failings of her society; women were subject to the whims of men, but they were also then–and now–victims of the heart. For a woman who never married, Austen seems to have seen marriage for what it was and could be: a prison, perhaps, but also an enlightened partnership. Or maybe she was just a romantic in tune with her times. All the principals are very good, and Emma Thompson, a fabulous actress, wrote the screenplay.  But my hands down favorite is Alan Rickman in a spectacularly romantic turn as the stalwart and loyal Colonel Brandon.

DROWNING INSTINCT Book Birthday Giveaway!

Feb. 1 is my new baby book's birthday!

Yay!  Pom-poms!  Candles!  CAKE!

AND to help celebrate and ease DROWNING INSTINCT's way into the world , one lucky winner will get an autographed, personalized copy (hardcover, no less). The only rules are these:

a) You may enter from  midnight (EST) Wednesday, 2/01/12 until Wednesday night, 2/08/12, at 11:59 p.m., EST.

b) That's so important, I'm gonna repeat that you must enter no later than Wednesday night, 2/08/12, at 11:59 p.m., EST.

c) Giveaway is open only to residents of the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Ireland. Oh, all right: Australia, too.

d) You must use the Rafflecopter form. NOTE: Follow directions. If you don't fill in your full mailing address at that time, your entry can't be counted. Sorry! It's just the way this format works.

e) Note that you will improve your odds of winning if you follow me on Twitter, like my Facebook page, tweet about the giveaway, and/or follow the good folks–and my fellow authors–on ADR3NALIN3.

And that's it! So be sure to come back often beginning midnight, EST, 2/01/12, for your chance to win, and good luck! Me, I'm gonna go bake me a birthday cake.

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We Creatures of Habit on ADR3NALIN3

Bop on over to ADR3NALIN3 today for a post on my latest nightmare

and musings about why we writers have our quirks, habits, rituals and other, ah, interesting superstitions.

My Monster & Me

Today, on ADR3NALIN3, a post on the proper care and feeding of my little monster, as well as some words of advice on criticism: