H.S. Stone's Blog, page 23
September 13, 2014
What I like about my favorite characters
I'm the type of reader whose enjoyment of a story is greatly influenced by my feelings toward the main characters. All things being equal, I'm more likely to enjoy books where I like the protagonists.
What makes me like a character? I've been trying to figure that out because I also want to write characters that readers feel an affinity toward. Here's my list of what attracts me to my favorite characters.
They exhibit redeeming qualities that would make me like them in real life. I like people...
What makes me like a character? I've been trying to figure that out because I also want to write characters that readers feel an affinity toward. Here's my list of what attracts me to my favorite characters.
They exhibit redeeming qualities that would make me like them in real life. I like people...
September 6, 2014
Book review: The Mirror Stage by J.J. Stone
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Description:
Ada Brandt wants everyone to think she’s normal. A writing professor at a local Seattle college, she personifies the saying “those who can’t, teach” after a few failed attempts at becoming an author led her to the classroom. She owns a chic little house, drives a sporty car, and comes home to her dog after a long day at work. You’d never know she’s the daughter of one of Seattle’s most infamous serial killers — a fact Ada has labored her whole life t...
September 3, 2014
Book review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
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Description:
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Review:
When I saw the "Loved By Others" square in the Reading Outside the Box challenge, one book imm...
August 30, 2014
Amazon, where do my sales come from?
This post was inspired by Hugh Howey's recent blog post titled, "Stuff I Want to Know." (This isn't the first time that Mr. Howey has inspired me, by the way.) In the post, he lists 12 things that he would love to know from Amazon. Given his clout, I'm hoping that most of his questions will be answered.
One question that wasn't on his list, and that I asked in the comments (the only time my name will appear on a page written by Hugh Howey, I'm sure), was where my sales come from. I would love...
One question that wasn't on his list, and that I asked in the comments (the only time my name will appear on a page written by Hugh Howey, I'm sure), was where my sales come from. I would love...
August 23, 2014
Book review: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
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Description:
Battle Royale, a high-octane thriller about senseless youth violence, is one of Japan's best-selling and most controversial novels. As part of a ruthless program by the totalitarian government, ninth-grade students are taken to a small isolated island with a map, food, and various weapons. Forced to wear special collars that explode when they break a rule, they must fight each other for three days until only one "winner" remains. The elimination cont...
August 15, 2014
Every story has already been told
Last time, I talked about how worthless a story idea is if you don't do anything with it. What if you have the opposite problem? Instead of thinking that your idea is great, what if you don't like it because you think it's a rip-off of someone else's idea? Well, to tell you the truth, it probably is. That's because, at some level, every story idea has already been taken.
I just read Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. It's about a government that forces a group of teens to kill each other until t...
I just read Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. It's about a government that forces a group of teens to kill each other until t...
August 9, 2014
Book review: The Caged Graves by Dianne K. Salerni
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Description:
The year is 1867, and seventeen-year-old Verity Boone is excited to return to Catawissa, Pennsylvania, the hometown she left when she was just a baby. Now she will finally meet the fiancé she knows only through letters! Soon, however, she discovers two strangely caged graves . . . and learns that one of them is her own mother’s. Verity swears she’ll get to the bottom of why her mother was buried in “unhallowed ground” in this suspenseful teen mystery...
August 2, 2014
Story ideas are worthless
You know that great story idea you have in your head? The one that you think is so awesome and so original that it's sure to be a bestseller? Do you know how much it's worth? Absolutely nothing... if it remains just an idea.
For those who don't know, I'm not a full-time writer. I have a day job as an engineer in the Bay Area, home to Silicon Valley. I've worked at my share of tech startups and have even once started my own company (which was obviously a failure or I'd be writing full-time from...
For those who don't know, I'm not a full-time writer. I have a day job as an engineer in the Bay Area, home to Silicon Valley. I've worked at my share of tech startups and have even once started my own company (which was obviously a failure or I'd be writing full-time from...
July 27, 2014
Book review: Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
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Description:
Everything is in ruins.
A devastating plague has decimated the population, and those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles around them.
So what does Araby Worth have to live for?
Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery makeup . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.
But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome pro...
July 23, 2014
The Sixth Sense ruined another book for me
Contains spoilers for The Sixth Sense! If you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to be spoiled, stop reading now!
I doubt it was the first story to employ the device, but The Sixth Sense is the first movie I recall watching where we're led to believe that a major character is alive when he is in fact dead. It's gotta rank up there with the biggest reveals in movie history alongside Citizen Kane, The Empire Strikes Back, and Psycho. The idea that a character may be dead is now something...
I doubt it was the first story to employ the device, but The Sixth Sense is the first movie I recall watching where we're led to believe that a major character is alive when he is in fact dead. It's gotta rank up there with the biggest reveals in movie history alongside Citizen Kane, The Empire Strikes Back, and Psycho. The idea that a character may be dead is now something...
