B.E. Scully's Blog, page 3
September 9, 2012
Why I (Mostly) Don’t Care about R.J. Ellory’s Fake Amazon Reviews
Literary history—like all history, for that matter—is rife with frauds, forgeries, flim-flams, and fakes...
Read more at my blog: http://www.bescully.com/2012/09/why-i...
Read more at my blog: http://www.bescully.com/2012/09/why-i...
July 23, 2012
You Say Genre, I Say Literature (But Let’s Not Call the Whole Thing Off)
Somewhere along the line, many of the same genre writers who rightfully chafed against the literary world’s inability to see a great book as a great book, regardless of genre, became guilty of wearing the same blinders...
Read more at my blog:
http://www.bescully.com/2012/07/you-s...
Read more at my blog:
http://www.bescully.com/2012/07/you-s...
June 10, 2012
Who Shot J.F.K. and Then Gave Me a Bad Review?
Is it just me being suspicious and paranoid, or is the Internet filled with increasingly suspicious and paranoid behavior these days? Visionary as he was, even George Orwell couldn’t have foreseen how willingly we’d become our own self-created Big Brothers, secreted away behind little screens with no ominous Party intervention required....
Read more here: http://www.bescully.com/2012/06/who-s...
Read more here: http://www.bescully.com/2012/06/who-s...
May 16, 2012
Need Some FREE Summer Reading?
Grab a handful of my short stories free on my blog--just scroll down for the freebie links in red and enjoy!
http://www.bescully.com/p/short-stori...
http://www.bescully.com/p/short-stori...
April 6, 2012
Why I Stopped Reading Amazon Reviews (and Returned to Reading Books…)
This post from my blog site comes with a disclaimer: I enjoy writing reviews on sites like Goodreads because I can add more personal perspectives versus, say, more academic or professional writing...but I do think we need to consider the ways in which these kinds of reader responses are changing our concept of reviews, and the impact this has on us as readers and writers...
http://www.bescully.com/2012/04/why-i...
http://www.bescully.com/2012/04/why-i...
September 4, 2011
Be Careful...You’re Probably Already in my Novel!
There’s a clever little slogan that goes something like this: “Be careful or you’ll end up in my next novel.” This saying reflects every writer’s revenge fantasy of creating characters that look, act, and talk a bit too much like a cheating ex-spouse or dreaded relative, and who, accordingly, suffer some hideous and much-deserved fate. Well, the bad news for friends and family of writers is that yes, you actually do end up in our novels, along with famous people, our third-grade teacher, and the plumber whose really silly-looking haircut we just couldn’t resist. The good news, however, is that for every person who shows up in our stories for the wrong reason, another ends up there for being inspiring, interesting, or just plain loveable.
My recent novel, Verland: The Transformation, is a good case in point. When I began developing the story, I needed a powerful character who would stop at nothing to get what he wants, and it struck me that in Hollywood, people like James Cameron are given this god-like status that can be very distorting and dangerous. Around the same time, the Phil Spector murder trial was all over the news, and his case also exemplified the bizarre lifestyles and isolation that can result from that kind of power and fame, and out of all of this, the character Eliot Kingman was born.
On the other hand, real-life people also inspired some of the most profoundly moving characters in the book. I’m a fan of the musician Dave Navarro, and I’ve read interviews in which he discusses how his mother’s murder, which happened when he was fifteen years old, deeply impacted him as a person and an artist. I thought about how people who have experienced that kind of loss have to struggle hard against the undertow, and the character Elle developed out of that. In addition, the character Joel, who plays a small, but pivotal, role in the book, is based upon a real-life person who faced the disease ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, with incredible strength and dignity.
Many other characters in the book also have a lot in common with the people who have impacted my life in ways both large and small, and in this way, a part of them lives on in the stories they helped inspire. The poet Tennyson gave voice to a profound idea when he said “I am a part of all that I have met,” and for writers, this idea comes full circle: “I am a part of all that I have met, and all that I have met is a part of my book!”
My recent novel, Verland: The Transformation, is a good case in point. When I began developing the story, I needed a powerful character who would stop at nothing to get what he wants, and it struck me that in Hollywood, people like James Cameron are given this god-like status that can be very distorting and dangerous. Around the same time, the Phil Spector murder trial was all over the news, and his case also exemplified the bizarre lifestyles and isolation that can result from that kind of power and fame, and out of all of this, the character Eliot Kingman was born.
On the other hand, real-life people also inspired some of the most profoundly moving characters in the book. I’m a fan of the musician Dave Navarro, and I’ve read interviews in which he discusses how his mother’s murder, which happened when he was fifteen years old, deeply impacted him as a person and an artist. I thought about how people who have experienced that kind of loss have to struggle hard against the undertow, and the character Elle developed out of that. In addition, the character Joel, who plays a small, but pivotal, role in the book, is based upon a real-life person who faced the disease ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, with incredible strength and dignity.
Many other characters in the book also have a lot in common with the people who have impacted my life in ways both large and small, and in this way, a part of them lives on in the stories they helped inspire. The poet Tennyson gave voice to a profound idea when he said “I am a part of all that I have met,” and for writers, this idea comes full circle: “I am a part of all that I have met, and all that I have met is a part of my book!”
August 17, 2011
Believe in One, Believe in None?
Here's a fascinating passage from the always thought-provoking Salman Rushdie (from the short story "The Shelter of the World"):
"If you were an atheist, Birbal," the Emperor challenged his first minister, "what would you say to the true believers of all the great religions of the world?" Birbal was a devout Brahmin from Trivikrampur, but he answered unhesitatingly, "I would say to them that in my opinion they were all atheists as well; I merely believe in one god less than each of them."
"How so?" the Emperor asked.
"All true believers have good reasons for disbelieving in every god except their own," said Birbal. "And so it is they who, between them, give me all the reasons for believing in none."
"If you were an atheist, Birbal," the Emperor challenged his first minister, "what would you say to the true believers of all the great religions of the world?" Birbal was a devout Brahmin from Trivikrampur, but he answered unhesitatingly, "I would say to them that in my opinion they were all atheists as well; I merely believe in one god less than each of them."
"How so?" the Emperor asked.
"All true believers have good reasons for disbelieving in every god except their own," said Birbal. "And so it is they who, between them, give me all the reasons for believing in none."
July 24, 2011
A Beauty from Mr. Greene!
I was looking through one of my many little "take note of this" notebooks, and came across this wonderful passage from Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair:
"A week ago I had only to say to her “Do you remember that first time together and how I hadn’t got a shilling for the meter?” and the scene would be there for both of us. Now it was there for me only. She had lost all our memories forever, and it was as though by dying she had robbed me of part of myself. I was losing my individuality. It was the first stage of my own death, the memories dropping off like gangrened limbs."
This is the character Maurice Bendrix reflecting on the loss of his lover Sarah, and I think it really captures how when we lose someone we love, we don't just lose him or her, but also who we ourselves were when we were with them...
"A week ago I had only to say to her “Do you remember that first time together and how I hadn’t got a shilling for the meter?” and the scene would be there for both of us. Now it was there for me only. She had lost all our memories forever, and it was as though by dying she had robbed me of part of myself. I was losing my individuality. It was the first stage of my own death, the memories dropping off like gangrened limbs."
This is the character Maurice Bendrix reflecting on the loss of his lover Sarah, and I think it really captures how when we lose someone we love, we don't just lose him or her, but also who we ourselves were when we were with them...
July 7, 2011
ForeWord Clarion Review Five Stars (out of Five)
Following the death of her beloved mother, true-crime author Elle Bramasol struggles to make meaning of her life. Instead, she gets pulled into a deep and deadly web when domineering Hollywood producer Eliot Kingman calls upon her from prison to pen a manuscript about his murder conviction. She soon discovers that the story Kingman wants her to write intertwines with the diary of an ancient vampire named Verland. Upon reading Verland’s diary, she goes from skeptic to believer. She’ll be lucky if she manages to uncover the truth and stay alive at the same time. First-time author B.E. Scully deftly mixes philosophy, suspense, and humor to create a juicy new twist on the vampire legend with Verland: The Transformation.
Scully skillfully pulls off a story-within-a-story, drawing readers into the protagonist’s narrative, but also into the vampire’s diary. Although Verland does not appear outside the diary until the end of the book, the anticipation of Verland’s appearance in the story and the desire to learn the connections between Elle, Kingman, and Verland propel readers onward. Every character, even the minor ones, possess complex backstories and motivations, which means that nothing is as it first appears. In a masterstroke, Scully gives her characters aptly symbolic names, but she doesn’t clobber readers with symbolism.
Verland’s diary entries let the reader into the evolving soul of a brooding bloodsucker. The author departs from the current trend of sexy vampires, instead using old lore to create a unique brand of monster all her own. Best of all, immortality is not a sought-after prize, but a source of never-ending consternation and ennui. More interesting still, the vampires in the novel (of which Verland is only one) are not trapped in indestructible bodies but in rotting corpses that must be replenished with human blood to keep from decomposing. Scully asks readers to ponder if vampires are indeed villains, and why humans are both fascinated by and fearful of death.
Verland: The Transformation is a meditation upon mortality: a thinking reader’s vampire novel. Even so, there exists enough creepiness to satisfy people who just love a good scare. As Kingman’s Machiavellian nature is revealed by degrees, the reader grows more and more afraid, especially because manipulators like Kingman exist in the real world. Although the actions of Verland and Kingman may be despicable, the author constructs her characters so adeptly that readers see their nuances.
Additionally, the author excels at describing settings, and the vivid details about the otherworldly locations add to the overall spookiness of the book. Indeed, the settings themselves
become characters, as Scully breathes life into places as diverse as bloody battlefields of Prussia, Mayan villages in the 1930s, and present-day Los Angeles. Each place exudes its own mystical eeriness, which adds to the satisfyingly chilling nature of the novel.
As a warning to the reader this book contains graphic descriptions of rotting corpses. Reading Verland: The Transformation will forever transform your view of vampires.
Jill Allen
Scully skillfully pulls off a story-within-a-story, drawing readers into the protagonist’s narrative, but also into the vampire’s diary. Although Verland does not appear outside the diary until the end of the book, the anticipation of Verland’s appearance in the story and the desire to learn the connections between Elle, Kingman, and Verland propel readers onward. Every character, even the minor ones, possess complex backstories and motivations, which means that nothing is as it first appears. In a masterstroke, Scully gives her characters aptly symbolic names, but she doesn’t clobber readers with symbolism.
Verland’s diary entries let the reader into the evolving soul of a brooding bloodsucker. The author departs from the current trend of sexy vampires, instead using old lore to create a unique brand of monster all her own. Best of all, immortality is not a sought-after prize, but a source of never-ending consternation and ennui. More interesting still, the vampires in the novel (of which Verland is only one) are not trapped in indestructible bodies but in rotting corpses that must be replenished with human blood to keep from decomposing. Scully asks readers to ponder if vampires are indeed villains, and why humans are both fascinated by and fearful of death.
Verland: The Transformation is a meditation upon mortality: a thinking reader’s vampire novel. Even so, there exists enough creepiness to satisfy people who just love a good scare. As Kingman’s Machiavellian nature is revealed by degrees, the reader grows more and more afraid, especially because manipulators like Kingman exist in the real world. Although the actions of Verland and Kingman may be despicable, the author constructs her characters so adeptly that readers see their nuances.
Additionally, the author excels at describing settings, and the vivid details about the otherworldly locations add to the overall spookiness of the book. Indeed, the settings themselves
become characters, as Scully breathes life into places as diverse as bloody battlefields of Prussia, Mayan villages in the 1930s, and present-day Los Angeles. Each place exudes its own mystical eeriness, which adds to the satisfyingly chilling nature of the novel.
As a warning to the reader this book contains graphic descriptions of rotting corpses. Reading Verland: The Transformation will forever transform your view of vampires.
Jill Allen
July 3, 2011
Top 100 on Amazon!
A huge thank you to everyone who has helped push Verland: The Transformation into Amazon's Top 100 Kindle books!!
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