Richard Seltzer's Blog: Richard Seltzer, page 3

Another book accepted today

"Laugh and Let Laugh," a collection of over 2500 of my jokes, many of which I've posted on Twitter, was just accepted by Woodhall Press with a June publication date of June 1 :-)

All Things That Matter Press published three of my books in 2020
Nevermind http://amazon.com/dp/1734685581
Parallel Lives https:http://amazon.com/dp/1734685506
Beyond the 4th Door http://amazon.com/dp/1734685557
And that same publisher has three more of my novels under contract for publication in 2021.

And Red Sea Press will be publishing my translation from the Russian -- Third Journey to Ethiopia 1899-1900, sequel to Ethiopia Through Russian Eyes.

Emeralds Included by Betsy Woodman

Emeralds Included by Betsy Woodman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Regretfully, there are only three novels in this series. And this is the last. I was teary-eyed at the end. I'll miss the people and the parrot and the town in northern India. Goodbye. I will you well in the alternate reality where you will live forever, though I'll never again have a peek at your frustrations and triumphs, your hopes and your loves, and your growing understanding of and compassion for one another.



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Love Potion Number 10 by Betsy Woodman

Love Potion Number 10 by Betsy Woodman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Like meeting an old friend and starting a conversation that feels like a continuation of the last one, no matter how long ago that was.

This is part two of a trilogy. I look forward to reading the third, "Emeralds Included."

p. 116
"It combines the exotic, the familiar, and the comfortable."

p. 78
"Jana opened her eyes and waved across the street to Royal Tailors, where Feroze Ali Khan's cousins were busily stitching away inside, listening to the radio as they worked.

"She loved this street, this bazaar, this mountainside, this part of the world. Certainly, there were other places with mountain views. There were other places with friendly neighbors and peaceful little marketplaces. But somehow, fate had drawn her here and it felt right, and even if it seemed a bit daft, as her son sometimes said, it was daft in the right way. It was her sort of daftness."



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The Real Thing by Stoppard

The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I read this play for the second time because a friend said she loved it when she saw it on Broadway and that it was truly great. I had read it 18 years before and couldn't remember it at all, so I wanted to give it a another look.

If I ever saw it performed, I could probably enjoy reading it yet again. But reading it without having seen it, simply doesn't work.

The dialogue is witty, but sometimes the characters are playing other characters in other plays, and sometimes they are playing the actors in everyday life. And without the visual clues of a production, it's sometimes difficult to tell which is which and who is who and who is sleeping with who. I got lost repeatedly. When I was able to figure out who was who the irony worked and it was fun. But most of the time I was simply lost.



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To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Paolini

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


An unexpected delight Back in 2004 I read and loved Eragon, his first novel, a fantasy about dragons and such. The other two novels of that trilogy were disappointments. Now he has a massive and totally engrossing scifi, convincingly set 300 years in the future -- world building on a galactic scale. Lots of battle scenes among humans and two separate highly advanced and bizarre alien species ("jellyfish" and "nightmares"). And a heroine who goes through an evolution from ordinary human to a massively powerful amalgam of all three species.

Along the way, he comes up with unique and memorable expressions, that make the strange universe of the book feel tactile and credible enough for the reader to suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride:
"sure as entropy" p. 759
"a potential surrounded by actuality P. 771
"was WHERE something real or something she had imagined" p. 785
"The fabric of reality seemed to grow thinner, more malleable around her." p. 823





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Suggested steps for writing a novel

Suggestion -- formulate the steps involved in writing your type of novel and gage your progress by those steps, not by word count or chapters.

You can always compile notes, juggle the outline, write scenes as they pop up vivid in your mind. But focus on following your steps.

Steps for writing a novel in which the main challenge derives from a cosmic anomaly, a divergence from everyday expectations. (My flavor of magic realism).

1) Identify the anomaly to be shown and explained. Express that simply in the form of a placeholder book titl.
2) Choose a place and time.
3) Imagine main characters, including physical descriptions and backstories.
4) First draft of chapter 1
5) Imagine the series of challenges that should flow from that beginning and from the characters interacting with one another.
6) Listen to the characters. Try to capture the rhythm of their thoughts and words. (This may first come to you while walking/exercising/mediating or in our sleep).
7) Watch and listen to your characters as they come to life and the ation unfolds.
8) Tweak and nudge to help the pieces of the story fall together, as you discover the true nature and motivations of your characters and the likely consequences of their actions.
9) If there is a second related story, handle it similarly
10) Figure out how the second part of the story may link to the first, including by way of one part being a frame ofthe other or both being subsumed by the same frame.
11) Pray that it all works and turn to beta readers to find out if it does.

Shakespeare's Twin Sister under contract

All Things That Matter Press just accepted Shakespeare's Twin Sister, which I finished writing last month. They published 3 of my novels in 2020 and now have 3 more.
Parallel Lives https:http://amazon.com/dp/1734685506
Beyond the 4th Door http://amazon.com/dp/1734685557
Nevermind

That's a great way to start the year :-)

Jana Bibi's Excellent Fortunes

Jana Bibi's Excellent Fortunes by Betsy Woodman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Great fun. I laughed. I got teary eyed. I laughed again and again.
The setting -- a town in northern India near the Himalayas -- is vividly portrayed. The characters are memorable and engaging. More than the plot, which kept me guessing, I was charmed by the way of life, the attitude toward life. Think The Exotic Marigold Hotel. Think the First Ladies Detective Series.
This is book one of a three book series. I just ordered the other two.



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Mindscapes by Lee Woodman

Mindscapes by Lee Woodman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


My favorites are poems based on painting by Delacroix and Chagall.
I particularly like the Delacroix because the poet imagines herself in the scene, at a dramatic moment, rather than simply admiring the work from afar.
I look forward to reading this again.




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Priestesses by Porretto

Priestesses by Francis Porretto

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This fun read recounts episodes of creative sex therapy, both physical and emotional, delivered by a pair of priestesses of "fleshly love" who are proprietors of sex shops. This erotica in the tradition of Shades of Grey, with much of the eroticism deriving from control. Lots of implication and very little graphic description. The clients are married, in love with their spouses, and sexually frustrated. They need help to save their marriages and to fully enjoy life. The priestesses help them overcome their inhibitions and as well as their physical problems, teaching them how to use erotic clothing, sex toys, and self-restraint to heighten their own pleasure and that of their partners.



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