Bill Conrad's Blog - Posts Tagged "books"

A few people have asked me what books inspired me to write. I like several different categories and I guess if I were to pick a favorite, it would be non-fiction biographies. I also like science fiction, humor, new fiction and other random works.
To make a list of my favorite books complete, I have to start at the beginning. In Kindergarten, I hated reading and didn’t pick up a book for fun until about the fifth grade. Side note, I don’t expect the readers of this blog to immediately look up these look up these early titles and click “buy it now.” These titles are listed to provide some perspective into my twisted mind.
My first favorite book was The New Adventures of The Mad Scientists Club by Bertrand Brinley. It was about a bunch of kids who had boy-type adventures with loose technology tie-ins. I must have read that book at least 10 times. I still have my beat-up copy and recently, I looked it over. It had a basic writing style with some good story aspects. Perfect for a kid learning how to read.
Later, in junior high, I read the book, Lightning in His Hand, the Life-Story of Nikola Tesla by Inez Hunt. Tesla was an amazing man and I wanted to know everything about my hero. Recently I glanced at a few pages. I was surprised that it did more to glorify the man rather than present the facts. I was also surprised that the copyright date was 1964. The writing was basic, but this story was perfect for a kid who wanted to learn about the world.
There were, of course, the Hardy Boys series as well as a book called, Torpedo Run by Robb White. These were the typical young boy adventure books. I read all the available books of this genre at our local library. I also recall a favorite book that I am struggling to remember the title. It was about 2 boys taking a white-water rafting raft trip down the Grand Canyon. One of the boys was named crowbar. Growing up, I wanted so badly to have an adventure like that. Friends like that as well…
In high school, I enrolled in more advanced English classes and I got into the classics. Jack London! What an author. I loved White Fang and Call of the Wild. Another favorite book was A Bell for Adano by John Hersey. This was the first book that really got me hooked on great writing. A fantastic story with real heart and drama. Then there was Earnest Hemingway, For Whom The Bell Tolls and Old Man And The Sea. What an author! His words had so much depth and perspective.
Notably missing from this new found reading experience was science fiction. At that point in my life, I had no interest. One day, a friend loaned me his copy of Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy. I was hooked. I read everything by Douglas Adams and then began branching out into other science fiction. Also missing from this early list was non-fiction. To me, reading about real events wasn’t interesting. Also, well-written non-fiction books for kids weren’t popular at the time.
Surprisingly, in college, I reverted to reading less. Part of the reason was that I didn’t have the time. It was study or perish. Plus, while I took several English classes, [I have an English minor] the classes didn’t go beyond what I had studied in high school. In fact, I often I re-read the same books. Alright, truth. Sometimes I didn’t re-read them. I still had the same high school write-ups/reports and I tweaked them to fit what my college professors asked for. While writing this blog, I came to an understanding about my college English experience. Based on my fellow students, East Coast schools were much stronger in math, but they were weaker in English. An interesting revelation.
After college, reading held no interest as I had forgotten how much fun it was to just read. I also didn’t like going to libraries because I had to give the books back [my mother was no longer in charge of keeping track of what books were borrowed] and books cost money. I was struggling to pay for the mortgage and buy more junk for my computer. Worse still, after I purchased a book, it could be awful. Bookstores don’t refund your money if you don’t like the book. How rude! Well, this is probably the point in my life where this blog should have ended. Books, yuck!!
Two things happened that changed the course of my reading. Suddenly, there was the internet. Cheap books! Free books!!! Online reviews! Wow! The problem was that reading a long book on a computer screen was difficult. Then came book e-readers. A perfect combination. I began reading A LOT. I was finishing 1-2 books a week. I even set up a stand for my Paperwhite Kindle along with a specially positioned reading lamp so that I could comfortably read in bed. I jumped into every conceivable topic and read for 1-2 hours a night. It was a whole new world of story and knowledge.
The great ones:
One day, I was talking to my friend Dave about books. He was an avid reader and mentioned, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. It blew me away. This is probably the best book I have ever read. I instantly dived into all Neil’s books and read every scrap that I could find. Neverwhere, an astounding work. So over-the-top completely creative. What a fantastic author. Neil, in the unlikely event that you’re reading this blog. Please write a sequel to The Graveyard Book!
I had always known that Tom Clancy wrote great spy stories. However, I was under the impression that his books were too complex and therefore too difficult for me to read. After 2 years of hardcore reading, I felt that I was at the reading level where I could attempt one of his works. I downloaded The Hunt for the Red October. What a great book and to my great surprise, it wasn’t difficult to read. I made me wonder where I got the idea that his books were too hard for me to read. liked the premise behind his stories and the great characters. My only complaint was that Tom Clancy jumped around too much; even within paragraphs. That being said, I was eagerly awaiting his next work and suddenly, Tom Clancy passed away. A sad day. The new guy that “writes in the Tom Clancy universe” doesn’t have the gift. Bummer.
In that same vein, I discovered the John Wells spy novel series by Alex Berenson. What a fantastic series of books. In many ways, I like Alex’s books much more than Tom Clancy’s. His stories are personal, believable and have realistic plots. I cannot wait until his next book. On a side note, his books inspired me to write my third book, Cable Ties which is now in editing.
One day, I randomly read The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. What a fantastic book and all of his other book were simply great. I was hooked and I also cannot wait until his next book.
Another great author, Homer Hickam. I loved the Rocket Boy’s series. What an amazing life he led. A really great storyteller.
The rest of the books I read were kind of one hit wonders. Or at least, I didn’t like the book descriptions of the author’s other works. Here are some highlights in a vaguely alphabetic order:
700 Sundays by Billy Crystal. What an amazing life and such wonderful stories. I truly felt like I was in the same room with Billy as he was personally telling me his life’s story.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. This was a very popular series. I didn’t really like his other books and for me, this was a one hit wonder. A very intense, creative book that gave me a lot to think about.
Guns Up! by Johnnie Clark. A fantastic description of what it was like to be a soldier in Vietnam. Excellent characters and writing. Again, a lot to think about.
One Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. I like good stories about great people. This book was no exception and I enjoyed every word. However, I’m learning that some of the facts were “stretched.” Still a good read.
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. A very honest and personal story. Life was really difficult back then and this book is a stark reminder. This was a popular book and it was a great read.
Escape From Camp 14 by Blaine Harden. This book contained an astounding story of survival in a very dark place. North Korea is a stain on our great world and we need to do more to help those people. A painful, but a good read.
Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale. A great storybook about an audacious conman. Such personality in his words and what an amazing life he led.
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. This book blew me away. It had the most complex amazing elegant story that glued me to every page. Simply astounding. The problem is that Neal took this theme too far in his next books. They were far too complex and I couldn’t untangle the plot enough to enjoy the story. Perhaps if his later works came with a guide I might have gotten into them.
Digital Apollo by D. Mindell. The Apollo program was the genesis of modern embedded computing. This is a fascinating account of this early effort. It touches every aspect of how big projects come together. A really intriguing read that left a big impression on me.
Failure Is Not an Option by Gene Kranz. This is in the same vein as Digital Apollo. The difference is that this book focused on managing the people at NASA.
Mao's Great Famine by Frank Dikotter. This book is a detailed study of the largest failure that has ever occurred. Over 30 million people lost their lives to multiple manmade catastrophes. These people needed a voice and we need to understand the past so that we don’t repeat it. This was a painful, but important read.
The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux. This is a really funny book and it made me ask the question: Is he really that smart or really that crazy? Such a great book. The movie was not that great as it failed to capture the book’s crazy spirit.
Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern. This book made me laugh out loud so many times. What a great account of a person who really doesn’t care about what anybody else thinks.
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty. The neat thing about books is they can transport you anywhere. I had no idea what goes on in a funeral home. This book brings readers to a fascinating place and is a great story about one person finding herself.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Repair by Robert Pirsig. This book is a complete enigma. It was simple, yet astounding. Superb characters that did very little. I think that this book should be required reading for everybody, but in order to understand why, you have to read it for yourself. Best title ever!
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. This book was as inspiring as it was depressing. A fascinating story about a wonderful person. This was the most emotional book I ever read.
A Writer at War by Vasily Grossman (Antony Beevor). I struggled to ask myself if I should include this book. It was an extremely tough read. People can be over the top cruel and the wreckage they leave behind will forever haunt us. There is a paragraph in this book that is a stark reminder of just how much evil can exist on this earth. I think about this paragraph from time to time and I’m choosing not to share this topic now because this blog is supposed to be fun. Books don’t have to be epic to be great. They can be harsh, thought-provoking and interesting. This book gave me a lot to think about in a bad way. I enjoyed it for the same reason I like eating sour candy. Do I recommend you read it? I’m not sure, but it is a story that needed to be told.
And finally, Interviewing Immortality by well… Me. Is this a shameless plug? Perhaps. I have read my story at least 50 times. I wrestled with each word and made many changes. I went to bed thinking of the characters and woke up thinking about the plot. It was a struggle, a joy, a failure, a pain, a success, a chore and an inspiration.
So why am I including my book in this list? After all the blood, sweat and tears that went into creating a book worthy of putting on the market, I still really liked the story. The characters are honest and they go on a true journey. The words have heart and the plot still captures my interest. I really truly want to know what happens next in their lives. Now, here is the real question. Would I like to buy this book at a bookstore? At full price? Without a refund? Is this truly the type of story I would like to read?
I have been thinking of this story for over 20 years and it never got boring. The answer is a definite yes. This is exactly the type of story I would like. I believe the premise is unique and the story stands on its own. I also like the characters. They have their own agenda, flaws, and mysteries. At the same time, they amaze and surprise.
It's funny. Just last night, I was editing the sequel, Finding Immortality and I had to look at Interviewing Immortality to make sure I had a fact correct. I searched for the paragraph and began reading. While I have memorized just about every word, I still wanted to read the next paragraph. The story still intrigues me. No, this isn’t a shameless promotion. I really think that I would enjoy this reading this book if I was somehow transported to a reality where I knew nothing about it. I would be excited to read the sequel and see what other books were in the works. Bill Conrad could be my new favorite author. [Alright truth. Even I have to admit that that last sentence was a shameless plug.] Let’s hope he isn’t a onetime hit author.
There are about 100 other books that I really liked, but didn’t include in this brief blog. So little time. The question is: What does my favorite selection of books say about me? I have a lot of interests. That’s clear. I also have specific tastes when it comes to books. For example, I would not read a book just to read. It needs to be something specific to attract my attention. A lot of my life is like that. No gray areas. I suppose the characters that I write about take on that trait as well. That’s probably why I like reading about them.

When we think of a protagonist, there’s a wide spectrum of examples. The crazy book fan in Stephen King novel Misery, Darth Vader from Star Wars, Joker from Batman, Hans Gruber from Die hard and Agent Smith from the Matrix. In real life, there are plenty of terrible examples. The Axis leaders in WWII, Ivan the Terrible, Saddam Hussain, the North Korean Kim dynasty, Jeffery Dahmer and David Koresh.
As a writer, it’s sometimes necessary to have a protagonist. These characters span the range from slightly annoying to beyond contempt. They are defined by selfish motives, anger, aggression, laziness, a love of inflicting pain and/or a lack of empathy. Often they intentionally don’t think about the consequences of their actions.
To me, that’s not the entire story. A good protagonist must have a clear motive behind their bad intentions. The new character Sam walked over and hit Fred. Why did Sam do this? Should the reader hate Sam? Is Sam actually a hero? Yes, I know that in real life, people are sometimes jerks without any logical reason. However, authors have to think in terms of the reader and readers have a difficult time relating to a blank character. We have to know Sam’s deal; Sam cannot just be evil. Fred’s response to Sam’s actions has to make sense.
In real life, people have minds and very few of us truly embrace evil. We think we’re normal and when we do something bad, we consider our actions to be acceptable behavior. Sometimes we act badly intentionally because it’s exciting or to assure ourselves that we’re in control. During this time, we usually know what we’re doing is wrong, but we overall think of ourselves as being good.
Here’s a lite example. A person on rare occasions drives over the speed limit. They know their driving is dangerous and yet, they still do it. To them, their decision to put others in danger doesn’t feel like a big deal until somebody gets hurt. After the accident, the driver can admit fault or pretend to be innocent. As an outsider judging this driver would consider them to be basically a good person.
Now, let’s take a driver that regularly drives aggressively and is constantly putting others in danger. Over the years of driving, there would be incidents where this bad driver was told by others that they weren’t a good person for driving in this manner. As they continue to drive aggressively, their mind develops a mental defense mechanism. For example, a justification argument, “The rest of my life is great and this is my one escape.” Complete denial, “Everybody drives bad, I’m no exception.” A deflection, “I’m a great driver, its’ everybody else that can’t drive.” An offensive argument, “I’m protecting myself from other drivers.” Or a deferral, “I hate wasting time in traffic.” In all of these arguments, there’s no admittance of responsibility, “I know that I’m a bad driver and someday, somebody is going to get hurt. When this happens it will be my fault.”
Now, let’s take a bad example. A person who physically abuses others to the point where there can be no denial. Their arguments are the same as the bad driver, but the logic is deeply flawed, “The rest of my life is great and this is my one escape.” It would be clear to an outside observer that the person making that statement has mental issues or they are truly evil.
The point is that bad people cannot confront the fact that they themselves are truly bad. This is because evolution has provided humans with a mental defense that allows us to tolerate our choices. Otherwise, people would have guilt trips all day long.
There are many examples of this denial in real life. An interview with a serial killer will be full of logic behind their bad actions. Interviews with the great oppressive leaders are loaded with lofty illogical reasons for their cruelty.
A good protagonist builds upon the foundation of a bad person who has the mindset that they’re just fine. Their abhorrent actions make perfect sense to themselves. From there, the writer applies motivation. A good protagonist has the same motivations as us, but they apply their motivation differently. For example, a good person tries to get ahead with hard work while a bad person gets ahead with shortcuts. A good person uses their mind to solve problems while a bad person steals the teachers answer key. A good person feels good by helping others while a bad person feels superior by hurting others. It should be noted that the protagonist typically doesn’t have low intelligence. It is more likely that a protagonist will have an apparent low intelligence and use their mind in creative ways to compensate which reveals high intelligence. This lazy overcompensation is a core trait.
A protagonist must be relatable to the reader. The reader might have a relative or a coworker that acts just like the protagonist in the story. Well, what about a super-protagonist like Darth Vader or Saddam Hussain? In my humble writings, I try to stay from super/extreme characters because I feel readers are less likely to relate to them in real life.
My closest attempt at an extreme character is in my first book, Interviewing Immortality. My protagonist appears as a dominatrix serial killer. Later, it’s revealed that she is actually not super evil [at least in her mind.] The majority of the book is spent discussing this point. However, she is by definition an extreme character. Her level of violence is far above normal and her attitude contains a thin sliver of compassion. By the end of the book, the reader isn’t fully convinced that she’s a good person. However, the reader clearly understands the motives behind her wickedness.
Does this mean that the reader needs to like the protagonist? Generally, they shouldn’t. The protagonist serves as a foil to the other characters. They give the plot motive and their actions build the other characters.
Can there be a story that focuses on the protagonist? Sure, they can be the main character or whatever the plot requires. The protagonist in my first book was the main character and she was built on a careful foundation. There were very specific reasons for her actions, however, when confronted, she was reluctant to accept responsibility. She would never say, “I did it because I’m mean.” She would say, “The people who I hurt deserved to be hurt.” Why is this motivation angle so important? Why can’t she simply be bad? Simple, readers don’t relate to the logic of a normal bad person. In real life, a criminal commits a robbery. Our only desire is to lock them up. We don’t care about their life’s story and we have no empathy. The only part of the story we enjoy is the chase to locate the criminal.
Well, what about crime dramas? In general, stories of that type focus on the police and not on the criminal. What about Hannibal Lecter? Readers got a front row seat into his insanity. He is clearly a twisted person trying to taunt the police and he is the entire story. To me, that story is an exception. Perhaps I am blinded by the fact that I don’t like those kinds of stories. To me, a great story involves converting the reader to relate to the protagonist. Readers like to be lead down an exciting path. They generally dislike confusion, illogical plots, incomplete characters, bad people [characters we hate so much that we put down the book] and missing information.
Well, what about crazy people or people who are normally mean? My advice is to use characters of this type sparingly. For example, in my fifth book Kim and Gabe Thrive (which is now in the writing phase) my main character is pumping gas when a random protagonist insulted her. She delivers an insult back and drives away without any further interaction.
The protagonist served to show that the main character is strong; specifically as a good example to her daughter as a mother who doesn’t accept insults. If there was a need for further interaction of that protagonist, their background would have been revealed. Otherwise, readers would be confused by the main character. Is she the type of woman who attracts random bad people? Is she living in an area that is full of bad people? It’s best not to leave the reader guessing. Because, in reality, readers go to the gas station all the time without confrontation.
Well, what about a confused protagonist? They are walking along, minding their own business and they do something bad without any apparent motivation. In real life, there are a few people who have this trait. It’s my opinion that readers would have a hard time relating to this kind of character. Well, what about a supernatural story where characters are mean all the time? Say a dystopian reality. For this type of story, the author would have to lay out a different foundation. In crazy world, everybody’s a jerk and now the story makes sense.
What about a super villain like the type that James Bond would encounter? They want to cause an earthquake and are holding the world for ransom. If a reader analyzes a story of this type, there is always a foundation and logic behind the protagonist’s actions. In general, this type of protagonist had a bad childhood and spent their life over compensating. The logic behind their specific motives revolves around a disliked group of people and they use their power to inflict pain on this same group. In this extreme case, the reader doesn’t necessarily relate to the protagonist, but they do respect their logic even if it is vastly flawed.
What about a real life super villain Saddam Hussain or Jeffery Dahmer. Reality is a bit muddy in this area. Are they crazy, power hungry or over compensating? Hard to say, but what is clear is that real life people like that are very different from a James Bond’s protagonist. This difference is in the level of control they have over their lives and the impact of their actions. When James Bond’s protagonist causes an earthquake, the world sends James Bond after him. If Saddam Hussain caused an earthquake, the media would have over the top coverage until the armies of the world put a stop to him.
There are of course protagonist that doesn’t fit the traditional mold. The anti-hero. For example, the character Mad Max is kind of bad and kind of good. Or the super nice person who makes us feel terrible. A dentist who inflicts a lot of pain to make a tooth feel better. Characters like this are kind of in their own class and their motivations are complex and perhaps outside this discussion.
So where does this all lead us? A good protagonist needs to have a clear foundation, a clear motive and should be relatable. The writer needs to have a goal for the protagonist; essentially define what they are going to do for the story. By the end of the story, the reader should have fully understood their motives.
How does that relate to real life? Characters in books are mirrors of our reality. They should stretch the bonds and allow us to reflect. What about me? Am I a protagonist? I know I’ve made mistakes and I like to be in control. If I were to be honest with myself, on the scale of real people, I’m a B+. I have room to grow and I try hard to live a good life that’s not at the expense of others. I also try very hard to treat people with respect and help out where I can. Wait a minute. I do write books that contain stories about bad people. They torture, kill and aren’t productive members of society. Am I in denial of my true self and really a bad person? Denial is the greatest trait of a protagonist. Hmm. Something to think about.

When I start reading a book and it becomes apparent that it is not worth continuing, I put it down. Life is too short to waste time on a bad book. In that same spirit, I don’t give books bad reviews because I never get far enough into them to have enough material to write a proper review.
In high school and college, I read several required books. Most were enjoyable, but I disliked a few. Shakespeare, for example, was terrible. I hated his writing style and I felt the plot was overrated. To me, it seemed to be an antiquated verbal puzzle. Granted, I am fully aware that it’s very challenging to write in prose and Shakespeare is considered to be the best author ever. Still, I have absolutely no interest in any of his works.
I found some books too complex to get into. For example, I was never able to finish any of Stephen Hawking’s works. They were difficult to comprehend and the writing style was arrogant. I was given a set of his books and they remain my bookshelf to this day. I have donated many other books to Goodwill since I got the set.
James Michener is an epic author. Tales of the South Pacific, Space, and Hawaii. These are fantastic books, but they simply did not grab my attention. To me, the plots were too bold, to epic and impossible to relate to. l like plots that are more down to earth and I can connect to the characters.
At present, I am reading the book Column of Fire by Ken Follett. Like all of his books, it has a complex plot with lots of characters. From the start, it was clear that this was not his best work. While the story has a great premise, the execution, setting, pace, and characters let it down. I think Ken put too much effort on the history and not enough into the flow. Overall, there is too much filler and not enough solid story. I am about half way through and while I have decided to finish it, the review is going to be poor.
Despite a lot of effort, I never got into Clive Cussler and Ian Fleming. I started several of their books, but I couldn’t finish a single one. I really wanted to read the James Bond and Sahara books. It was clear they were well written and had a strong plot. They just never held my interest. The characters were too arrogant and the heroes did not act like heroes. I wouldn’t even classify them as anti-heroes.
There are complete genres of book that I avoid. Mysteries, horror, romance, cowboy, comic, poetry and travel. I never walk through those aisles at the bookstore. Fortunately, there are many authors with many books. Next on my reading list is “So, Anyway...” by John Cleese. Will I make it through the first chapter? Stay tuned to find out.

There are many great books available and a precious few are made into movies. When the conversion from book to script is made, the plot has to be trimmed. Sometimes this is a large effort and sometimes, just a few scenes are removed. Even in the best case, a movie will only contain 90% of the book’s plot.
Authors have unlimited freedom in their characters, location, story, and reality. For example, a character can be in New York one day and the next in Antarctica. Having a full movie crew in a big city like New York and an icy place like Antarctica is a huge undertaking.
Movie audiences have a vastly different set of expectations and needs. They require a faster plot, a more universal story that does not offend. Movie studios also have to discreetly advertise products, build actor’s egos, take filmmaking to the next level, please the lawyers and include a music score.
The result can be less than ideal from the perspective of a person who is familiar with the book. However, from the perspective of the person who is unfamiliar with the book, the movie usually is a good experience. With that in mind, let’s look at a few examples of books that I have read and the resulting movie.
Great movies and great books that did not resemble each other: City of Ember, The Shawshank Redemption, The Princess Bride, Ready Player One and A Wrinkle in Time.
All of these books were outstanding with strong plots, good dialog, and terrific characters. The movies had great plots, great actors, superb cinematography and memorable dialog. However, the underlying plots didn’t match.
Why was this done? In my opinion, the parts that made the book great were the attention to detail. The parts that made the movies great were the exciting plot additions, added humor and added character insight. In addition, some of the plot issues were corrected. Was there an improvement over the original work? Is it ethical to drastically change the plot for the sake of making an exciting movie? In my opinion, yes because I like a good movie.
Movies are visual, exciting and they have real people (or animated characters.) A book can say main character Bob had flowing red hair, with his trademark yellow hat, never smiles and is 17 years old. In the movie, the dashing Tom Cruise dramatically portrays the character. Through the film, he wears many different outfits, has many expressions and obviously does not have red hair. But, Tom Cruise sells a lot of tickets.
Bad book, great movie: How to Train Your Dragon and Drive.
These are two of my favorite moves and I immediately got the book. Both books had a slow wishy-washy story, under-developed character, ineffective drama, and ZERO character chemistry. It was clear that the screenwriter did a complete tear down of the entire plot. What was left was some of the basic premise, the title, and the character names.
The movies, of course, were astounding. Both are in my top 10 and I just cannot say enough about them. I really want to meet the screenwriters and directors who made these movies. But what about the book? My only comment was: The authors were really lucky to have their work considered for a film.
Great book, bad movie: Dune and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
I have read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy at least 3 times. Dune was just fantastic; so completely epic; such an original plot.
However, these books came with a catch. Neither one should ever be made into a movie. The only way to capture a story like Dune is in a 10 part mini-series. Any attempt to make a single movie would be doomed to failure. Ha, get the pun.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was the funniest books there have ever been. It is also one of the most creative science fiction books there has ever been. In addition, there is a lot going on with many subtle elements. This story was adapted into a great radio play and the author even wrote the movie screenplay. What made the book great was simply not possible to convey in a single film. The result was a bad compromise that disappointed audiences on many levels.
Great movie that matched the great book: Firefox.
This is the only movie that I have ever found to be exactly like the book. The screenwriter did a great job of capturing the best parts of the book in a fluid way that mirrored every single chapter. Why do so few books match their movies? Hard to say. My only guess is that the author of Firefox had a movie deal in mind when he wrote his book.
What will the future hold for movies that are translated into books? My guess will be more of the same. Talented screenwriters will take books and turn them into gems or flops. Movie audiences will expect more and want to pay less. Directors will continue to push the envelope and continue to dazzle moviegoers.
As for me, I will continue to read and watch a lot of movies. Perhaps someday, one of my books will make it onto the big screen. Will the move be a winner? I hope so.

Wow, what a bad topic to blog about. So far, my marketing effort has stalled. At best, I sell one book a month. The few people who have purchased my book usually know me in person or online. The good news is that most of my readers like what they read. It’s nice that I made a few people smile.
My primary marketing plan is to get a few more reviews, bring out two additional books and then use the Amazon paid promotion services. I know this is an awful plan because the Amazon paid promotion services are ineffective. My secondary plan is to develop a grassroots effort of Facebook promotion and beg for reviews. So far this plan has had limited success.
Well, what did I expect? I expected Amazon, Kubo, Barns and Nobel to do a better job promoting new authors. In my mind, it is in their best interest to help new authors become great sellers. Yeah… Some wishful thinking going on in my head.
What else did I expect? Honestly, I expected to find the magic lamp of marketing. Go to website X, pay $50 and BAM! Instant book sales! Woo-hoo! Money in the bank! You cannot imagine how my surprise in not finding such a site.
Now, more than ever, if you have money, people are willing to take it. Why should book promoting be any different? I located many sites who were willing to take my money. However, the services they offered were laughable. Even worse, they could be detrimental as they blasted people with annoying spam. These sites offered no metric of success and no guarantees. The textbook definition of wasted money.
I sensed an opportunity and considered making a business that would promote self-published authors. However, I could not come up with a viable plan that made any sense. That business is still an option. I really need to put some time into thinking up a good business idea.
Every self-published author faces the same marketing wall. There are millions of old books and thousands of new books. Perhaps a hundred new books come out every day. These books all compete for a reader’s attention. Keep in mind that a reader also likes: eating, sleeping, social media, television, sports, movies, exercise, work, family, travel, and friends. Somehow, a self-published author has to break through that entire spectrum of options and convince a reader to “buy it now.”
For example, a reader could purchase The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy [A well establish book] for $2.99 or the reader could purchase Interviewing Immortality [An astounding book. Trust me, I wrote it.] by an unknown self-published author for $2.99.
If I take an objective approach, this is not a difficult decision. I know millions of people cherish The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy. It is a well-written classic that everybody should read. Why would I spend my hard-earned cash on a self-published nobody? Convincing myself to “go ahead. Take the leap. It’s only $2.99.” That’s all fine until I have to put in my credit card number. Hold on. $2.99 will buy me a six-pack of Diet Coke. Let’s think this through. Better go with the established author where I know I will get my money’s worth. “You have purchased The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy. Thank you for choosing Amazon.” Good choice.
Wow, what a depressing thought. Will I ever get the word out? Will I ever sell over two books a month? I believe in myself and I have gotten good feedback from the people who have read my book. This encourages me and I feel that I have a positive writing future ahead of me. Blah, blah, blah. Answer the question. Alright, alright. I have picked a difficult path to follow. It is very hard to self-promote a self-published book. Marketing is challenging for the experts and it is a skill that I have put little effort into developing.
Financial success in self-publishing is difficult for any author and my prospects are slim. What’s missing is a bubbly personality. I simply don’t have it. I also lack the advertising drive. Take the leap, spend the money and put up a billboard promoting your book. Yeah, I will get right on it…
I have never been one to give up and I still see the possibility of success. What’s needed is more effort in the area of engaging people and telling them about my work. This means broadening my presence. Right now, I’m not on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and all those other sites. If I expect any success, social media needs to be part of my core plan.
Here is an unpleasant thought. Pay a YouTuber to promote my book. Girrrrr. I don’t want to do that. Trust me, it will help. Lots of people promote works through YouTube. It’s fast and easy. Girrrrr. It should be clear to everybody that I am in the way of my own success. Now that is a depressing note to end this blog.

“Shogun” What a bold title. Simple, dramatic and telling. A perfect description that begs a reader to open the book. “Star Wars” Overwhelming, scientific and poignant. Perhaps the best movie title ever. “Thriller” Sexy, scary and smart. Perhaps the best song title of all time. The title is the first line of defense for marketing. It tells the reader, viewer or listener what they are about to encounter.
Great works can be ruined by a bad title just as an awful work can have a great title. In my humble opinion, Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey are astounding titles that hid awful works. The Road, is a great book with a mediocre title. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is an example of the perfect title to the perfect book.
So, how do I come up with a title? Being an engineer, I have engineered a solution. The first step is to define the words that the title should contain. For example, if the book is about a ship, I would list nautical terms and other terms related to water. Next, I open up an excel spreadsheet. Column A is a list of titles, Column B is the sequel title, Column C is the ranking and Column D has notes. It is important to think about the sequel title at this stage (if the book needs to have a sequel.) For example, “The Last Dance” How can you follow that title with a sequel? “The Last Dance 2” “The Last-Last Dance” Lame.
The next step is to use a good title generator. Here is a great site that has a bunch of them:
https://kindlepreneur.com/free-book-t...
I also read other titles on Amazon in the same category as the intended work. The next step is to do an open-ended brainstorm. I list every conceivable title that I can come up with. I keep refreshing the random title generator and adapt these titles to my own particular words and themes. I also use my own created titles and combine them together. I then look at titles on Amazon to get other ideas.
What kinds of titles do I make? That depends on many personal preference factors. Keep in mind that the title is the most important advertising tool. This means it should be bold, exciting, sexy, daunting and most of all intriguing. Should it contain a bit of humor or a pun? Perhaps. Should it be misspelled? “The Wrekked Ship.” Maybe. Keep the readers perspective in mind.
When I get a title that makes sense, I put it in column A. At this point, the validity of the new title isn’t important. There are no rules and I keep inventing. At around 100 titles, I find that I have exhausted all possibilities, and the process has become redundant. This should take about three afternoons of work. I then sort them, remove duplicates and mark obvious duds in the ranking column. It is important not to delete the dud titles as they can still serve as inspiration.
The next step is to fill out the sequel column B. For example if my maritime title is “Into the Storm” the sequel might be “Into the Rain.” Some titles don’t lend themselves to sequels and I leave column B blank.
The next step is to do a search of the titles and the sequels. I want to make sure there are no other works with the same title. If I find do find another work with that title or a title that is very close, I eliminate the title in the ranking column. Then I sort the list to eliminate the undesirable titles.
When I am fully convinced that I have enough titles and sequels, I rank them. My scale is “Low, Med, High” Of course you can use a scale like 1-5, A-F or Yes/No. When I have ranked them, I narrow down the list to about 10 titles. How? I start with ones that “read wrong.” For me, I try not to “warm up to a title” but instead, I try to find one that has the least objections.
Why don’t I try to fall in love with a title? Love is an emotional response. The love for the title will come later. At this point, I treat the title as a business with employees. Either an employee performs or they are fired.
I then show the titles to people and I get a feel for what they like. With a lot of thought and effort, I settle on a title that works and can be made into a sequel. Ideally, this process takes a month or two. This is an important part of the process and should not be approached lightly. A great title will set a work above all others.

In college, I projected 35mm and 70mm movies for our audiovisual club. They called themselves Lens and Lights. An arrogant bunch of kids. Yeah, I loved it. Side note, projectors are loud!
Older projectors held up to 20 minutes of film and our projector had 40-minute reels. Each theater had two projectors and when one ran low on film, the projectionist would execute a “changeover.” In order to do this, they would first hear an automatic bell when the projector had about five minutes of film to project (or they would set an alarm.) They would then start up the arc lamp and get ready to turn on the motor. Seven seconds before the end of the reel, a “start cue” would appear in the upper right-hand part of the screen. This felt like an exciting moment as I turned on the motor. The start cue looks like a scratchy white ring circle, sold black circle or red ring circle. Five seconds would count down and then the “changeover cue” would appear. The operator had two seconds of film to close the damper on one projector, open the other damper and switch the sound over. Later, the “presto-changeover” company developed a button that did all of this.
Now projectors are either digital or they use a platter which uses a massive (six feet wide) reel of film to eliminate changeovers. I have not projected for years but I still see these changeover cues when I watch movies. Of course, I point out the cues to my friends to annoy them.
Book covers are the primary advertising tool to get a reader’s attention. If an author fails to put effort into this critical step, their book does not capture a reader’s attention. When I began writing, my self-publishing helper Bethany helped me to develop a book cover. She encouraged me to study successful book covers. Bethany also pointed out the many flaws that bad book covers had. I looked at hundreds of covers and formed ideas of what my book should look like. We worked on concept art and discussed all the necessary elements to create a solid cover.
Book covers start out with the title. The font and layout of the title should all tie into the graphics and author’s name. There are many pitfalls to the tile like having a “flowery” font on a serious book. The cover graphics must flow into the theme. For example, if the book is about submarines, it needs to have something to do with submarines on the cover. The graphics serve as the primary tool to visually inform the reader about the book.
Books can have flashy graphic designs or they use simple elements on plain backgrounds. Overall, the look should be bold. The author wants readers to buy the book. The cover needs to reach a reader at a primal level and jam open their wallet.
What are all the elements? This is a complex answer that has a zen quality to it. It took me hours of studying good book covers with a detached mindset to see the patterns. I also looked at hundreds of books with 1-star reviews. I began to see the elements come together in successful covers and the many flaws of poorly designed covers.
I recently came across a book where the author described a harrowing tale about surviving a remote plane crash. The cover had a picture of himself on a rock in the wilderness. I instantly noticed he used an out-of-focus picture. Really? I wanted to yell, “Digital cameras have gigabytes of memory! Take 100 pictures and use the one that is in focus! This is important!” I have an adventure novel where the title font is square and the font of the author's name is round. I have another book where the back cover artwork does not have the same theme as the front. My “guide to being a successful marketer” book has a title on the left and not centered with the background. Who is going to buy a book from an author that cannot even center a title? Me of course. Are these minor flaws a big deal? Readers subconsciously dislike covers that do not come together.
What does this have to do with projectors? All of my cover efforts gave me a new problem. Just as I am painfully aware of movie cues, bad books covers now stand out. I see every single mistake and I now hate going to bookstores.
I suppose of all the problems to have; bad book covers are not that big of a deal. Maybe there is a self-help book out there for me? Off to the bookstore to find one? Gahhhh.

I am not an overtly religious person, but I am a strong believer in Karma. If I do something wrong, immoral, inconsiderate or mean she immediately punishes me.
For example, five years ago, my wife and I went out to celebrate my birthday. We made reservations at a nice restaurant and dressed up for the occasion. We were both looking forward to a wonderful evening and talked about how good the food would taste as I merged onto the freeway. I neglected to see the car next to me and he had to slam on the breaks to allow my blissful movement into his lane. When he locked up his tires, it caused a blowout requiring him to pull over. When I noticed what happened, I couldn’t merge into the breakdown lane due to construction. I could only watch in my rearview mirror as his damaged car came to an awkward stop.
Of course, I yelled in frustration and felt terrible about my mistake. This event cast a dark mood over what should have been a pleasant evening. As a man of honor, I should have made every effort to pay for his damaged tire.
The next day, my car ran out of gas but the gas gage indicated quarter full. It took three weeks, and $1,000 to fix my dashboard gas gage. Two weeks later, my car ran out of gas again. This took another three weeks, and $1,500 later to fix my fuel tank sensor/pump/filter. A week later, I found my gas gage stuck at half full. They had installed the incorrect part, and I needed a different sensor/pump/filter. Karma clearly punished me for my mistake.
Taking an impartial viewpoint, one would think these are unrelated events. Not for me. I clearly connected the dots, and the lesson taught me to take driving more seriously. For me, Karma is real, never misses any action, a good memory and any sense of humor or forgiveness. Of course, she can be nice when I do nice things.
I first appreciated Karma while working at Kinkos. In case you are unaware, Kinkos is a chain of copy stores. I made copies and worked the cash register for minimum wage during and after college. As I worked, I began seeing patterns. When a customer acted nice, I acted nice. When they were mean, of course, I still had to act nice. But I did a sloppy job and made sure to charge them the full price (if not more.) While this insight into how life works may seem obvious, it served as an important life lesson for 20-year-old me. While my time at Kinkos proved to be quite negative, I did learn a lot about life.
I have come to understand that Karma is not central to everybody’s lives. Bad people remain terrible for years without consequence. Good people undergo constant pain without a break. Children get cancer and die young. That’s life. Right? Karma chooses what lives she enters using logic is beyond my comprehension. I must silently accept her choices while watching people commit terrible acts without punishment.
Overall, I try to lead a good life. I feel that Karma realizes my efforts to be a good person and generally treats me well. The problem with Karma is that she is difficult to write for. In my life, I constantly see that bad clearly follows bad and good follows good. A realistic plot requires characters without Karma. Readers hate it when the bad person instantly loses and the good person always wins. Plots like this are right out of bad 1950’s westerns.
Well, why don’t I simply ignore Karma when I write? Bad person, do your worst. Hey good person. Here’s a free punch in the face. It took me a long time to appreciate Karma’s role in my life and now I find it difficult to visualize a world without her. To me, writing a story where she is not present reads wrong. I keep thinking, “The world does not work that way.”
I understand that I do have writing limitations and try my best to work around them. For example, I like the band Rush and I think everybody should like this band. Have you not listened to the song Limelight at least a thousand times? I am well aware that not everybody likes Rush. If I wrote a bunch of Rush references into a story, this would lead to issues as 95% of readers would not understand my obscure song references.
The same is true with Karma. Real-life is not like cheesy 1950’s westerns. Bad characters win without consequence and their reprehensible actions force readers to hate them. This allows readers to bond with the hero. That’s the good plot even if Karma would not approve.
I try to push Karma’s envelope and put every effort into making my characters believable. However, I feel compelled to complete Karma’s circle of pain or pleasure. Facing one’s limitations will always be difficult. Perhaps I can change the people who don’t believe in Karma one book at a time.

Governments once routinely banned controversial content in books and other media. They undertook this freedom restricting measure in order to protect people from immoral content. I recall the book Catcher in the Rye being banned from libraries in the 50s. By the time I read the book in the 80s, it had been upgraded to required reading. Big change. In class, we discussed why the book had been banned and the controversy surrounding the story.
Of course, by the 80s, the controversial subjects contained within Catcher in the Rye were considered tame. Now, governments in the free world no longer ban material. There are some exceptions including overtly slanderous material (the courts allow the affected parties to sue,) dangerous material like explosives manuals (this material is still protected under free speech,) and immoral content (which may be legally purchased over the age of 18.)
Authors, screenwriters and online personalities constantly push the controversial envelope. Their efforts allow them to gain attention, money, fame or interest. This drive to open new moral ground forces restrictions to be lifted and opens new story horizons. For example, alternative relationships are now an open topic. However, this revised boundary has resulted in deplorable content freely entering our lives. Is this a livable tradeoff? I suppose. However, I would like there to be some restrictions. For example, the “F word” is routinely used on broadcast television. As a parent, I would prefer this not to be the case.
My works do contain some controversy. This includes torture, murder, pain, revenge, and an underage relationship. In my mind, I proceeded with dignity balanced with a good story. Of course, some people would prefer my content to be restricted. My counter-argument is, “Geeze, my material is so tame compared to what else is out there. Get a life.”
I am about to start writing my next book, Cable Pairs the sequel to Cable Ties (which should be on Amazon in six months.) This book will contain a very controversial topic. It is so controversial that almost every nation including America has taken steps to ban it. Of course, free world governments have not officially banned this topic. However, many groups actively discourage every aspect.
What possible topic could be so horrific? Murdering babies? No, the media and books now routinely obliterate all forms of life in most despicable ways. My story will contain a far worse topic.
My protagonist will be directly controlled by the Chinese government. Umm. Wait a minute. This is America and we have freedom of speech. Not that big of a deal to make China the bad guy. How about the movie The Last Emperor? It took a stab at the early bad acts by the Chinese government. True, this movie did cast a negative tone. Of course, that movie could never be made today and I bet you have not recently seen that movie on television.
Why? It’s a tame historical movie. There must be other new movies that reveal the dark underbelly of the Chinese government. Actually, popular movies, books, and other media don’t often explore that topic. Over the last few years, a quiet change has occurred overall media. The Chinese Communist Party has actively been censoring this topic to promote a positive message.
In America, the two largest movie theaters chains are now owned by Chinese companies. These theaters refuse to show movies that cast a negative light on the Chinese government. For example, before allowing Red Dawn 2, the movie studio had to do several re-shoots, and digital edits to change the attacking nation from China to North Korea. Several newspapers, media outlets, publishing houses, websites, and magazines also are owned by Chinese companies.
Is this fair? After all, we often see movies and books that take a hard poke at our governments. For example, the recent movie W slammed George W Bush. While I did not care for that particular movie, it did successfully explore the topic. Before and after the movie, there were no discussions about banning/censoring/removing content from the movie.
In my opinion, every subject has positives and negatives. It is the job of consumers to probe these subjects. Discussion brings change, enlightenment, and good story. Of course, this can lead to unintended consequences and pain. However, a great man (the Dred Pirate Roberts) once said, “Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something.” A lot of wisdom in those words.
Well then. Why am I taking this drastic step toward non-profit? Am I trying to create controversy to promote my work? Or expose the negative aspects of the Chinese government? While these are worthy goals, my reasons are humbler. I am only trying to create a good story. As a writer, I needed a strong adversary and the Chinese Communist Party has certainly created a great spy network. Since the dawn of storytelling, great plots require the hero to face a strong adversary. Plus, the realm of spy stories is limited.
In the past, many spy novels tapped into this good story vein. For example, Tom Clancy’s book “Bear and the Dragon.” All true. However, Tom wrote that book many years ago and he would have a difficult time publishing that story today. In my case, exploring this topic will be an uphill promotion battle.
Why not make the adversary some other country? Hmm. After writing this blog, I am now reconsidering the book structure. As an author who has yet to break the $100 royalty mark, perhaps it is not a good time to challenge the billion-dollar reach of the Chinese Communist Party. Something to think about.

As part of my marketing efforts, I write many book reviews. However, I do not write uncomplimentary book reviews. Why? The main reason is that I believe in karma. Bad things happen when I send out negative waves. Another reason is that it is not in my nature to publicly criticize somebody. The world is negative enough without my help. And finally, I have certainly felt the sting of a bad review and they are especially painful when the criticism is valid.
If everybody followed my chaotic moral code, would we only have good reviews? There will always be negative people and a bad item can upset a person so much that they need to vent.
There are hundreds of books and movies out there. When I find one that I do not like, I stop reading/watching. Life is too short to slog through boring media. What about a movie theater? I am thinking about the movies Stealth and Thin Red Line. Two hours of my life that I will not get back.
Let’s take a recent example of a book I put down. The Mammoth Book of True War Stories by Jon Lewis. I made it to 20 pages. It had a bland writing style, boring stories, many errors, and I found the format unappealing.
What did I expect? I expected that a book titled “war stories” to have war stories. This particular book contained battle stories. One is a personal account of a specific incident and the other a historical description from a soldier’s perspective.
I expected real war stories like the ones my Uncle Al told me from this time in Vietnam. Here is one that I remember. He had been driving along a dirt road, came across kids making faces, hit a land mine and went flying. Afterward, the kids laughed, which confirmed they knew about the mine. My angry uncle swung his rifle around and pointed it at them. The kids looked scared to death and at the very last moment, he decided not to shoot.
Is this an earth-shattering story? No. Does this story contain a plot? Not really. However, it is a perfect war story. Why? It is personal, interesting and reveals what happened in that conflict. The best part of this story is that Al shared it with me and I now have a connection to that event. That is the kind of personal connection I expected out of the Mammoth Book and it failed at every level.
Should I have blasted the Mammoth Book with a scorching bad review? At least give it one star. If we took young Bill forward in time, he would have written an angry misspelled mess and sent it to every corner of the internet. I feel that life is too short to dwell on the negative. On a side note, for this blog, I looked at a few reviews on this particular book and they confirmed my negative opinion. Perhaps I should have been more careful with my reading choice.
What about giving a bad review to something that upset me? I recall two products on Amazon and two movies on Netflix that I wrote bad reviews for. To date, I have posted over 200 good book reviews. Will I write bad book reviews in the future? If authors keep coming out with Mammoth Books of Worthless Junk, there is hope.