Jerome Parisse's Blog, page 24

iPad anyone?

I read an interesting article about using the iPad as ebook reader by Dominic Knight in the "Australian Author" magazine today. Knight seems to think the iPad is far superior to the Kindle for reading books, although it is much more pricey. I wonder if anyone reading this post has had any experience with reading books on the iPad and what they think. From what I've seen, it looks pretty cool. My biggest worry with my Kindle is that I might end up with a Kindle library that I won't be able to ...

Online book promotion: The French strike again!

While in Paris earlier this month I met with the publisher who is going to publish my latest novel, "Metaphore du rapide". I've written it in French, so it was only natural that I'd be using a French publisher (There are excellent publishers in Canada, Belgium and Switzerland, but I don't know them well.). We discussed the story, the writing and other aspects of the manuscript, but of course, the conversation quickly moved on to more prosaic aspects of the publishing process, distribution...

Blood Canticle

In my post about Blackwood Farm a little while ago, I received a comment from Donna saying that she found the books in the Vampire Chronicles series by Anne Rice somewhat hit and miss. I loved Blackwood Farm, but having now read the sequel, Blood Canticle, I can only agree with Donna. Blood Canticle is disappointing. The story is loose, slow, unfocused. It feels like Rice has tried to tie up loose ends without being able to create a coherent story. At times, she seems to please herself with r...

More vampires! Breaking Dawn and The Passage

 I'm back to the land of the living! In my last post early August I said that I would be on and off email for the next four weeks. Well, it was definitely more off than on. It did feel weird to be totally disconnected from the electronic world, but I have come back more refreshed than ever. I spent a few days in London, followed by a few weeks in Eastern France, in a one-hundred-people village lost in a hilly area covered with green meadows and deep forests. Quite idyllic. I spent lots of...

Blackwood Farm

I have just finished reading Blackwood Farm, by Anne Rice (http://www.annerice.com/). Has any of you ever read her vampire books? I hadn't until now. Funnily enough, I didn't start with the first one in the series ("Interview with the Vampire"), but with the last-but-one (Blackwood Farm). The reason is that I wanted to read it in e-book format (on Amazon's Kindle) and Blackwood Farm was available but not the first one in the series. Rice's vampire novels are epics which take us into a world o...

Animal Kingdom

Another long flight, this time from Hong Kong to London (nearly thirteen hours), and the opportunity to read and read, and watch more movies. I saw Animal Kingdom, the debut feature from writer/director David Michod. I enjoyed the film and highly recommend it. "Welcome to the Melbourne underworld," says the film's website (http://www.animalkingdomthefilm.com.au/). Joshua Cody sees his mother OD and finds himself alone in the world. He calls upon his grandmother Janine (long estranged from...

Breath

Breath, by Australian writer Tim Winton, won the 2009 Miles Franklin Award, and as usual, I found myself reading it a little later than most. It's as if I was saving it for later, like a last piece of chocolate. That's how I feel with Winton's writing, beautiful, evocative, alive, never overdone. Breath tells the story of two thrill-seeking boys, Bruce and Loonie, in the early 1970s, whose attraction to water leads them astray. They meet a mysterious man named Sando, who will teach them to...

The Ghost Writer – Date Night – Dragons et al

I have moved to Hong Kong. How exciting! I will be living here until October next year, at least. Hong Kong is a vibrant place, full of culture, good restaurants and very international crowds. It's also centrally located in Asia, and I am planning to explore the region as much as possible. I will let you know how it all goes, of course. The flight from Sydney yesterday took about nine hours, which gave me plenty of time to catch up with movies I hadn't had time to see in the mad rush prior...

Talc

Sam and Kate have just moved in together. Sam is over the moon but Kate seems a little unnerved… Her new diamond ring, given to her by Sam to celebrate their recent engagement, is causing her grief, but not the kind of grief you would expect from a piece of jewelry. Kate very quickly enters a downward spiral of guilt, which will end in the unspeakable.

I won't spoil the play, in case you want to go and see it. Talc is a powerful piece, which focuses on the demons buried deep inside us; it...

According to Kit

Kit loves to dance. But she lives on a farm in Vermont with her mom and dad and it is winter – cold, snowy, and sad like the heart of Kit's mother. Kit's life is simple, almost boring and revolves around farming and homeschooling, a decision from her mom. Kit escapes her world through dancing. The arrival of Luis and Clara, professional dancers who will serve as substitutes for a sick teacher at the studio, transforms her life, fills her with hope, and lets her see what her future could look ...