Trey Stone's Blog, page 27

Book Review: The Shining by Stephen King

I doubt this book needs any introduction, but just in case: Family moves into hotel to look after it on the off-season. Hotel is haunted. Family becomes hotel victims.

I really like King’s writing style for this. It’s a much shorter book than IT which I recently read, and feels more akin to The Dark Tower series in the pacing and flow. There’s lots of background story and scene setting, but it’s done with a different kind of grace and speed. I really like it.

I think however, that this book has become a victim of it’s own legacy. I went in as blind as I could be, but I had of course heard of the book. And I’d heard about the book.

I’ve heard it’s the scariest book ever. I’ve heard of people who had to stop reading it. I’ve heard of people who had nightmares for weeks after reading this.

And it left me thinking… did we read the same book??

The Shining didn’t scare me at all, and maybe that’s my fault. I think maybe I had too high expectations going in. It’s an excellent book, don’t get me wrong, it’s creepy, unsettling and unnerving, but I’d say the first 70% are much better than the ending. The buildup is great, but the climax fell flat.

I’m intrigued to read Doctor Sleep however, so that will probably be my next King book. Looking forward to hearing what about to Danny.

Now, like I did with IT, I’m going to go watch the Kubrick (1980) movies adaption (which I’ve seen before but don’t remember if I liked or not), and then go watch the 1997 TV mini-series that apparently King got involved with because he didn’t like Kubrick’s work. Looking forward to it!

How To Keep Writing Novels In a Crisis

At the start of this year, I had a plan.

A really good plan, if I get to say so myself. I made a calendar in Excel, mapped out when  I’d be doing what, which of my manuscripts needed to be revised, edited, read through, and fixed. I had deadlines plotted in, and I even shared it online with my beta readers so that they could log on and check when they were supposed to be doing what, when they needed to have it back to me, and when they were supposed to be receiving new writings from me. It was a really good way of keep ourselves accountable.

And it worked! Really, really well. I’ve never been more productive in my life.

And well, then the pandemic happened.

At first, nothing much changed for me. I got to work from home, and I couldn’t go to the gym, but that was it. If anything, I had more time to work on my writing, not less.

But slowly I started falling out of sync with my plan. Suddenly I was a week behind on something that should be revised, or one of my beta readers needed more time than originally planned (which is completely fine, of course!)

Thing is, I have no idea where the time went. I didn’t have more things to do, or less time to do stuff. It didn’t make any sense.

And that’s okay.

Thing is, you can’t expect to stay productive during a worldwide crisis! Even if you don’t know where the times goes. That’s fine. Do what you can (or what you feel up for), and then just worry about staying safe, staying healthy, and getting through it. You can do everything else later.

These days, I’m not writing anything new, other than some short stories.

I have one book that is super close to being published (any day now), and the next one (the third and last in a series) is already written and being edited. I also have two novellas that are close to being done, and I’m aiming on publishing one of them in time for Halloween.

I feel like I’m doing a little bit of spring cleaning, in a sense. Getting a few of the stories that are sitting on my work bench out of the way, before I start something new.

But boy, do I have great plans for something new.

Stay safe out there, and take care of yourselves!

Book Review: Fate Unknown by Michelle Burden

The premise is simple: psychic woman helps police detective solve crime. It sounds a bit stereotypical when I put it like that, but the way it’s executed is fascinating.

Ann Marcus is our main character. She wasn’t born with that last name, that was one she took as she got older. She took it after the thing that makes her psychic, the entity that lives inside her: Marcus.

Marcus helps Ann see things. Helps her know things. And she uses that knowledge to help the police. This is a fascinating supernatural thriller about some missing teenagers, the bad people who are after them, and the powers Ann has to use to save them.

I really liked this book. I was thinking it was going to be cliché when I started, but it surprised me. It’s really a different take.

The writing is good, never boring, but perhaps a bit over-descriptive occasionally. It has that old-timey, classic literature vibe in certain places, and I just don’t have the attention span for it (though most people seem to love it).

The story is really well done, like I said, it surprised me, and it certainly set up the next book in the series really well.

High recommended if you’re into supernatural thriller about psychic crime-stoppers!

Reading Long Books and a Book Review of Stephen King’s ‘IT’

I finally did it! Took me two months, but I finally read ‘IT’.

It’s weird, because I feel like I’ve known this story all my life. Or been aware of it at least. Even though I only started reading Stephen King a few years ago, it’s somehow ingrained itself as the ultimate horror story in the back of my mind. I doubt it needs much introduction, but in case you’re unaware, it’s about a bunch of kids who’re terrorized by an evil that usually takes on the appearance of a clown called Pennywise.

But it’s so much more.

Before I read it, all I knew of it was from second-hand sources. I thought I knew what it was about, because I have vague memories of watching the 1990 Stephen King’s IT TV special, but I really need to watch it again, because this book isn’t what I thought it was at all. I found the 1990 version on Google Play, so I’ll be watching that soon, just to see how it holds up.

I picked up this book not long after watching the 2017 movie. I’ll watch that again as well, then I’ll see if I can find the Part II that came out last year. It’s strange to think you have knowledge of a story and then you read the book and you realize it wasn’t what you thought at all.

I’ll cut to the chase: Did I like the book? Yes. Very much so. Actually, I can’t wait to read it again, in a far of future when I’m older and I’ve forgotten much of it and I get to relive it all. It’s going to be great.

But I also found the book to be far too long.

My version stands at 1376 pages. You could easily have a 5-books series of the same length, and definitely at least a quadrilogy. At the same time, this book has turned me on to reading longer books.

I very often don’t like long books (although I will never not finish a book simply for being too long). It’s just that – and this is perhaps particular for new authors – long books are almost always too long. There are unnecessary parts. They’re slow. They contain things that don’t need to be there.

Because a story will always just be a part of a longer story. A story is just a section of something else; it’s the middle part of what came before and after. There has to be stuff you leave out. As authors, we’re always told to hook the readers and to reel them in, make sure they’re interested and want to carry on reading.

Let me be clear: I wanted to read this book because I wanted to read ‘IT’. I had already decided that I wanted to read it, regardless of what I thought of it. If I were to stop reading it every time I felt it lagged or didn’t catch my interest, I would have stopped reading it 10 times over.

Do books like this have to be this long? Absolutely not. Stephen King could easily have cut hundreds of pages out of this and told exactly the same story. Hell, I think even I could have highlighted parts that could have been removed.

Should they though? Probably not. One of the reasons this story is so great, is because it’s long. By the time I finished – after two months of reading – I felt like I’d read a whole series (maybe a 5-books long series, even). I felt like I knew the characters inside out, had grown with them, lived with them, and it was almost a bit sad that the story was over. It reminded me of when the Harry Potter series was finally finished, after book 7, and you suddenly realized that the adventure was over.

I will still prefer shorter books, and I unfortunately I think I will still find long books too long. But after reading IT, I won’t be that scared of them to begin with. There’s something special about a book that never ends.

But since we’re talking about scared…

I love horror. I seek out horror, in all shapes and forms. Since I was very young, and watched some scary movies I wasn’t supposed (allowed) to watch, I’ve been chasing that thrill, that high of being properly scared. There’s something exhilarating about wanting to look away but still wanting to see what happens next.

Horror in books is exciting, but it rarely scares me. Sure it can build up tension and try to terrify me, but I can’t say I actually feel scared anymore. Maybe that’s my own fault, maybe that’s my lacking imagination, yet, I still seek it out.

I’ve got to say, I thought this book was going to do a whole lot more to try and scare me. There are a few moments here and there, where I can understand that the children are frightened and that there is terror happening, especially towards the end, but at the same time it just didn’t work for me. Often, I feel King drowns it in far too many words, or that it is overshadowed by absurdity (people exploding on toilets or being decapitated by manhole covers spring to mind). Also, between the 1400 pages of children coming-of-age, there just isn’t much horror to go around.

And that’s what I meant at the beginning of this post, when I said I thought I knew what this story was about. Because it’s not about Pennywise the Clown. It’s hardly about children being killed, eaten or scared at all. It’s about everything else.

It’s a long book, but it’s worth it. Can’t wait to forget about it (pun intended for those of you who’ve read it) and read it again.

Book Review: War Crimes by Christie Golden

I finally got around to reading this, and I just have to get it out of the way and say: it’s amazing!

Whenever someone asks me for fantasy recommendations, I try to remember to recommend the Warcraft series. I suppose it helps that I’ve played the games, all the way back since the beginning of the real-time strategy games, because it means that I know a lot of the lore and history of the universe, and recognize the characters. But even without that, I think any fantasy lover would enjoy Warcraft.

It’s just so vast. There’s more than two decades of world building here, with plots, subplots and histories running deeper than you can imagine. Nearly all of it focuses on the conflict between the races of the Horde (orcs, trolls, and tauren among others), and the Alliance (humans, dwarves and elves, to name a few). It’s amazing.

This book reads like a fantasy version of 12 Angry Men, when the orc and former warchief Garrosh Hellscream is put on trial for multiple counts of various crimes. Both the Horde and Alliance gather to take part in the trial which is led by the Pandaren, both to accuse him, and to defend him (which might turn out to be the more difficult task).

I’ve sinced stopped playing Warcraft (for now) but the events in this book were some of the last I enjoyed (which happen between the end of the Pandaria expansion and the beginning of the Warlords of Draenor) and it’s amazing to read this as a sort of ‘behind the scenes’ kind of thing.

As per usual, Golden Christie’s writing is amazing. By far my favorite Warcraft author, not doubt. You’ll want to keep reading both for the fascinating trial, but also for all the intricate character development you experience along the way. I think this might be my favorite book after Arthas.

Highly recommened for any Warcraft or fantasy fan.

Covid-19 Update

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything on this blog, and while I have plans for some future posts and reviews, nothing is going as planned because of the Covid-19 outbreak.

So I figured I’d write a bit about that first, and then about how my writing is going.

If you’ve paid attention, you might have noticed I’m in Norway. If you’ve also read the news, you might have noticed that Norway went on lockdown (almost completely) March 13 (which happened to be a Friday, no kidding).

Every school at every level closed down. Every sporting event, concert, and big gathering was canceled. Gyms are closed. Pubs and bars are closed. Restaurants that serve food are allowed to stay open, but they have to be able to seat people 1 meter apart, and buffets are banned.

At the time it sounded like an extreme measure. At the same time, everything got very serious, very fast.

Many other things have closed down in the aftermath, not because they had to, but because of the economy. The customers are gone.

I live in a pretty small town. There’s one grocery store, and it’s the only thing that’s still open. I’m not quarantined, I still go to work, but I’m urged to stay away from people. Also, it’s winter and way below freezing, so going outside isn’t that appealing. Next week I’ve even been ordered to work from home (to keep the office less cramped), so by then I’m not doing anything.

I shop occasionally. I sit on my work computer. I workout in a spare room. Then I sit on my other computer.

All in all, things aren’t that bad. I’m a pretty solitary guy, and I’m actually enjoying the peace and quiet, and every excuse to not go out and meet people is a good one.

Oh, and also, my wife and I usually live apart but she’s stranded here with me now and I LOVE IT!

Let’s talk about the writing then. You’d think this situation would be ideal for catching up on writing, editing, and reading? Right?

I usually follow a pretty rigid schedule that says what I’m supposed to do when. I like order. I like strict rules. I need strong habits. So far, it’s been working great. Now? I’m nearly three weeks behind schedule…

Some of that I can blame on others. Blame might be the wrong word, but I’m waiting for some feedback. Until I get that, I’ve filled the time with working on short stories and I can’t really get to working on my main project. Also, it’s quite understandable that things might be delayed and take longer than planned considering the circumstances.

At the same time, I don’t understand where the time goes. I sit at home, almost all the time. There are a lot fewer time thieves, because I have nothing to do. Can’t go anywhere but the grocery store, like I mentioned, I can hardly go outside. No rushing back and forth between the gym.

Yet, I find myself out of time. Suddenly it’s late, and I haven’t managed to do what I planned.

It’s weird.

But it’s okay. I’ll let it slide, for now. Let’s just worry about getting through this crisis together. Everything else can come later.

Stay safe out there.

 

Book Review: Fairy Tale Ending by William F. Aicher

All your favorite fairy tales from when you were little, rewritten for adults in a brilliant and grotesque display.

I love this. I’m on a horror binge at the moment, but I’m busy wading my way through Stephen King’s IT, so it was great to interrupt that with a short story like this. A palette cleanser, if you will.

Aicher is an indie author to keep an eye out for. I’ve read him before and I love his style. Precise, yet detailed, with an ability to put a spin on words that will leave you wanting to read more. He’s grim and dark, doing plenty to paint a picture, but at the same time keeping the pace up.

I went in completely blind, thinking maybe I knew where it was going but I was constantly surprised and it kept me turning page after page.

I actually read the whole thing at work, while I should have been doing other things, so I’m thinking that should be proof enough that I was hooked.

It’s a short read, somewhere between 30-45 minutes (I think, I kept having to do work), and I loved it all.

Recommended if you like retellings and horror, and need a little bit of reading in your day.

Book Review: Finding Pandora by E. Rachael Hardcastle

A beautiful fantasy book about a girl (Ariette) who suddenly learns she’s special, when a group of people with magical powers come across her and deem her ‘the savior’. The Chosen One.

Ariette doesn’t doubt such people exists, after all she’s been attacked by Vampyrs before and she’s seen the Supes. But what can she do?

I really liked this book! The world building is extraordinary, and really took me by surprise. There’s a great mix of learning things through dialogue (things the characters take for granted because they live in this world), and following along as characters learn surprising revelations. It felt really unique to me.

That, coupled with how easy-going and fast-paced this book is made it really enjoyable. You’re quickly thrust into the heart of the matter, and it builds fast.

I toward the end, or right before the end, I felt like I fell off a bit. Perhaps it was me not paying attention, but there were a few chapters where I struggled to grasp what was going on, and why it was happening. I had to backtrack a bit to see what I missed.

The end makes it clear this is a series, and I can only expect the same beautiful world building from the next book. If Hardcastle keeps it up, I’m sure this is going to be something great.

A fun, fast-paced, beautifully crafted fantasy!

The Importance of Alpha Reading

When I write things, I’ll write a first draft and then hide it away.

It’s something I think I’ve learned from Stephen King, from his book ‘On Writing’ (though I’m pretty sure I used to do this before I read that book).

I do this for two simple reasons:

Firstly, I like to work on multiple things. So, rather than drafting a piece and then going straight back to the beginning and revising/editing, I can jump onto another project.

Secondly, (and more importantly), I like to let my project sit for a while. To let them simmer. To forget about them.

It might have to do with me being a pantser. That means I don’t have much of an outline when I start a book. I’ll have a general idea, and I’ll just go for it. Which means that when I’m done with that first draft, there’s usually things I want to change. (I’d like to think I’d work this way even if I was a plotter, but what do I know, I’ve never tried).

This is where leaving the draft for a while comes in handy. If I were to go straight back to revising right after writing the damn thing, I’d be too caught up in it. I’d remember everything I’d just written, and be too close to the story. The way I work, where I sometimes let things rest for as long as six months, means I sometimes will have forgotten THE WHOLE story, by the time I get back to it. And I’m talking about not even remembering how it ends.

These last few weeks, I’ve been doing some alpha reading. That’s what I call the stage right after the first draft. Often, I’ll have other people alpha read my stuff (just to give me some overall pointers about plot and story), but I’ll also do it myself. Which means I’ll pick up that horrible, sickly-looking first draft, and read through it. Cover to cover. While not editing a single sentence.

In November 2019 I wrote a novella for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month. It’s a thing, look it up if you haven’t heard of it.) It was only 27.000 words, and I like doing novellas during NaNo because it gives me some time off my main projects, and works as a sort of palette cleanser.

Thing was, I felt very uncertain about that novella. Not in a Oh my God, this first draft is shit! kind of way, more of a This book is just plain boring, kind of way.

I didn’t feel like there was a plot. No story. Nothing driving it forward. It was super boring, and by the time I was finished, I felt like I hadn’t written about anything at all.

Sure, I might be able to salvage it, but most likely, the story wasn’t going to be worth anything at all.

Again, let me emphasize: I didn’t hate the story. I didn’t think my writing was bad, or anything like that. I just didn’t think it was very interesting.

Fast forward to the alpha reading I started last Monday. I picked it back up. Dusted it off. Suddenly reminding myself of that thing I did last November. Figured, Hey, I’ll see if this is as bad as I thought.

I just finished reading it this morning.

It’s some of the best writing I’ve done.

I made myself laugh. Made myself cry. It’s happy, sad, fun, engaging, and super interesting.

At first, I didn’t understand. How the hell had this become so good? It wasn’t that it was exceptional writing, or that it was something new or revolutionary, it was just that the story… the story was good! Really good.

I’m still kind of confused. I vividly remember thinking it was so incredibly boring and plotless. I even asked my wife to read it at the same time I did, asking her to look for how I could make the story interesting and engaging, because I knew it was a drag. (Thing is, she said the exact same thing as me when she was done. It’s not a drag!)

This isn’t about me loving my story. It’s about why I think it’s important to let your stories simmer. Hide them away. Forget about them.

Pick them back up later, when you haven’t just written them.

They might surprise you.

Book Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

I finally got around to reading this, after having it sitting on my shelf for far too long, and I have to say I’m happy I’ve read it.

It’s only the third ‘classic’ I’ve read, after 1984 and Lord of The Flies (according to a list I found online) and though I like this book, it’s probably at the bottom of the list out of those three.

I want to say I went in pretty much blind, other than knowing Dorian Gray has a magic picture of himself that grows old instead of him. That’s all I knew and that’s what intrigued me about the book; the story sounds really, really interesting.

Wilde’s writing on the other hand, is a struggle for me. Sure, it’s lavish and beautiful, and I’ll admit he has a way with words and a way of turning a phrase that is quite admirable. He is very quotable, and I especially found a lot of the comparisons he makes about men and women and relationships to be quite entertaining. But more of than not, it’s also very boring. He tends to wring the absolute life out of every sentence, to go on and on and on, as if he was paid per letter he managed to force onto these pages. Of course, you have to see Wilde and his book as a product of its time, but still, it takes away from the very fascinating story that’s hiding behind there somewhere.

(Also, chapter 11 is just a long list of items, who the hell allowed him to write that?)

I realized halfway through that it’s not the painting that is the interesting part of this story. It’s Dorian Gray himself. Actually, more often than not it reads as if Wilde wrote two different stories and just mashed them together, and suddenly he will remember that he was to write some stuff about the painting. It’s a bit against my nature to say it, but I think the book might have been just as good, if not better, if the painting hadn’t existed at all, and the focus had just been on Dorian’s twisted mind.

To sum up: good book, good story, definitely a product of its time (so beware of over the top language) but a fascinating tale nonetheless.

Glad I read it, probably won’t read it again.