Bart "J.B." Hopkins's Blog, page 20

Are you a Grammar Nerd?

Who are the Grammar Nerds out there?

Grammarly.com now boasts more than 7,000,000 followers in the world, and I’m proud to count myself one of them. If you’re curious about these Lovers of Language and Pronunciation Police, these Superheroes of Spelling and Simile Samurais, then look no further.

Picking out clothes

The other day my youngest daughter was in a grumpy mood.

She complained to my wife that she needed help picking out clothes, so my wife went and helped her.  Then, she complained about the clothes my wife picked out for her.

Rocky overheard the commotion and went to give Jackie some big sister advice after mom was out of the room.

“See, Jackie, this is why I started picking out my own clothes in the third grade.  I got tired of wearing Hannah Montana and High School Musical every day.”

I laughed and Rocky insisted, “It’s true!”

I do recall seeing a lot of High School Musical shirts.  They were cute at the time.  But, I’m not sure Jackie cares enough to push back.  After all, mom basically functions as her adoring servant, and I don’t think that she’s ready to give that up.

I think she’s in for another year of High School Musical shirts.

Lulu

I only recently discovered that our dog, Lulu, secretes pure, liquid evil from her tongue.

She routinely licks toes, the window, faces (if you aren’t careful), and her own backside.  I’ve seen her lovingly lick a sock.

I can’t pretend to know what drives this behavior.  But, as I mentioned, I think that it’s a thin coat of evil she is applying to all surfaces.  Maybe, after a few coats, the item licked becomes evil.  Rigorous investigation brings me to this conclusion.

Look at this picture and tell me if you disagree.  Be careful what you say … Lulu might come get you.

Dystopian Discussion

An accomplished author recently spoke to my writing group and told us that she had written and published a dystopian novel in 2008, prior to their rise in popularity.  She said she was “too early” for the main wave of readers, and that these days, we could forget about selling something dystopian.

Not to be taken out of context, it was part of a discussion on why we shouldn’t chase current trends in our writing.

Generally, I agree with her advice.  Chasing what’s popular because it’s popular seems to lack soul or fire, and it doesn’t feel like art.  Right?

But some topics or genres are bigger than us.

Even if something isn’t currently selling, or the market is flooded, it doesn’t mean a good book won’t find readers, or that there won’t be another opportunity for that genre or topic in the future.  It could lead to those things, but then again, nothing in this world is guaranteed.

Dystopian novels have been around a long time, and there are plenty of them:  Brave New World (1932), 1984 (1949), A Clockwork Orange (1962), The Long Walk (1979), and The Giver (1993) are just a few of my favorites.  Check out this Wikipedia list of 100s of dystopian novels, which start as early as 1726 (Gulliver’s Travels).

Dystopia isn’t going anywhere.  Neither are the detective books.  Or romance.

I say write what you want, when you want.  Fill it with passion and tell it with an original voice.  If the market isn’t ready for it, let it marinate, and cook it later!

BookGorilla Page

Hello world,

I’ve got another little home on the W-W-W, aka the intrawebs.

One of my favorite sites for ebooks on sale, BookGorilla, decided to create pages for the authors featured on their site.  You can take a look at mine here: BART’S BOOKGORILLA PAGE!

While you’re there, sign up for an account and receive daily emails that let you know about book bargains.  They are my favorite in the business.

Also, and perhaps most importantly, click the “FOLLOW” button below my bio to show me a little reader love.

Ha Ha!  Catch you on the flip side.

Bart

Interview Time

Here it is, what the world has been waiting for … everything you never wanted to know about me.

And then some!

On the WRITERS INTERVIEWS site!

Underrated

We watched two movies this week:  Begin Again and Foxcatcher.

Twenty minutes into Foxcatcher, I grew curious about John du Pont and his immense wealth, so I glanced at his Wikipedia site on my iPod while watching the movie.

The very first sentence ruined the movie, so yeah … don’t do that.

All three actors worked outside of their normal lanes in Foxcatcher.  The movie is just okay, but it isn’t because these guys can’t act.  I think it’s that there just isn’t much of a movie to be had from the plot elements.  You can only do so much with something based on true events.  I think of it as, perhaps, 3.5 of 5 stars.

But, that’s a tangent.  Rambling.

It was only a coincidence that we watched two Mark Ruffalo movies in a week, but starting with Begin Again, and then Foxcatcher, it struck me just how diverse an actor he is.  He’s not an in-your-face star and blockbuster action and suspense is not his calling card.  Ruffalo plays emotional roles, where character is critical, and he does a fantastic job of it.  He’s the ultimate supporting actor and the subtle lead.

Okay, I guess he is Dr. Bruce Banner in the Avengers movies, but even then he is the mild-mannered superhero, right?

Ruffalo is from Wisconsin, but hey, nobody’s perfect.  Okay, that’s a bad joke, I’ve never been to Wisconsin.  Next time you’re wondering what movie you should watch, you’d probably do well to check out any of .  He might be underrated, but maybe that’s why he’s so fantastic.

 

San Francisco Book Review: LIKE

The San Francisco Book Review, God Bless ’em, had wonderful things to say about Like…

“Like is a sharply observant and exceedingly well-written novel about the ocean of social media in which we swim about like schools of curious fish using cell phones instead of sonar.”

“Amidst all of its geniality – and that is Like‘s genius – there is a delightful creepiness at the core of Bart Hopkins’ novel.”

“The man can write…”

Read the full review HERE.  Grab a copy of Like HERE.

 

Another LIKE Excerpt…

Greg and Candy had been messaging each other back and forth the past couple of days since she first contacted him. Through some sort of unspoken understanding, neither of them friend-requested the other, or moved beyond the bounds of Facebook.

I’m married. What good can come of this? he wondered, with no small measure of guilt. He wasn’t sure what he was doing, or what this was all about. Messaging my high school sweetheart? I must be out of my mind. This just can’t end well.

An eclectic mix of thoughts bounced around his mind, some conflicting, some irrational, rebounding from the inner surfaces of his cranium like little rubber balls in a competitive racquetball match. You could almost hear the thwock! as they ricocheted around in there, the mental tug-of-war that transpired. Yet somehow he justified all of his actions, though he simultaneously wondered if they were wrong.

 

It’s not like I’m cheating on Claire—it’s just a few messages, he thought.

Then why don’t you tell her? he replied to himself.

I knew Candy before I ever knew Claire—it was just a high school thing—she wouldn’t understand, he responded, avoiding his own question.

She wouldn’t understand because it’s wrong!

 

The arguments continued without answers or resolution. He honestly believed that, while the situation would appear strange, he wasn’t cheating, and that his wife just wouldn’t understand if he told her.

Heck, he didn’t know if he completely understood it himself, but the communication with his ex seemed driven by three different things.

For one, part of him was just curious.

Another part of him wanted to show her how well he had done, sans Candice Graves, with his life. He was a success, and he wanted her to know that. He couldn’t identify why that mattered to him, but it did.

The final part, well, it was a mystery he couldn’t explain even to himself. An enigma. It was without explanation, or maybe the explanation was one that he dare not voice or even think.

He rationalized the situation with an imperfect analogy: if my dog ran away years ago, and went to live with another family, I’d want to know the dog was okay, even if I never petted the dog again.

He shook his head, snapping back to the here and now of his kitchen.

Grab your copy now!

Italia!

Having a great time in Monterroso, Italy. Some tight turns, both uphill and downhill, to get to the beach, but worth it when you get there…



Don’t forget to eat at least 3 scoops of gelato each day.

Ciao