Josh Karaczewski's Blog, page 5
September 18, 2011
Social Mediating
September 16, 2011
Publishing Addendum
"Alexander Murphy's Home for Wayward Celebrities" is now available for your Nook E-Reader at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/josh-karaczewski, and for your iPad through iTunes (just do a lil' searchy for josh karaczewski). Remember to write a review!
September 10, 2011
Published Ho!
Ahoy readers! I finally published my first novel, "Alexander Murphy's Home for Wayward Celebrities"! It is in port now as an e-book in a variety of e-reader formats at http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/joshkaraczewski
and, tide willing, will be landing soon at many other fine e-book harbors.
To foster trade relations, you can enter the coupon code CQ98C through October 1st to get 50% off of the already reasonable price of $4.99.
If you enjoy the read, please help me hoist my pendant by purchasing copies for your friends and family, writing a review (on the Smashwords site for example), "liking" the book on your preferred social media outlet, or simply drop me a line letting me know that I'm not floating alone in the doldrums.
if you do not enjoy the read, please avoid firing off your broadsides. Send a dispatch on the next packet with constructive criticism.
Hark the Blue Peter, I must ship anchor and away!
and, tide willing, will be landing soon at many other fine e-book harbors.
To foster trade relations, you can enter the coupon code CQ98C through October 1st to get 50% off of the already reasonable price of $4.99.
If you enjoy the read, please help me hoist my pendant by purchasing copies for your friends and family, writing a review (on the Smashwords site for example), "liking" the book on your preferred social media outlet, or simply drop me a line letting me know that I'm not floating alone in the doldrums.
if you do not enjoy the read, please avoid firing off your broadsides. Send a dispatch on the next packet with constructive criticism.
Hark the Blue Peter, I must ship anchor and away!
February 9, 2009
Season's Readings, Summer 08-Fall 08
It is astounding to me how much I haven't read in the past seasons. By a combination of not having the time (the brewing and birth of our third child; a teaching career, which is inherently parasitic to one's time in the early years of its practice) and not taking the time (the pervasiveness of other interests: video games, film, worthwhile television (Lost, Mad Men, Heroes, The Wire, The Office), I have only managed to finish the following works.
Summer
"Pincher Martin" by William Golding. This was better in retrospect that during its reading. While I was engaged in it I was confused most of the time. The inner workings of the character were hard to follow comprehensively, and it wasn't until the final "twist" of the story at its end, that I appreciated the story as a whole.
"Roughing It" I started this in the Summer of 07, and didn't finish it until Summer 08 - as I took the myriad anecdotes a piece at a time. It was excellent, as Mark Twain is always excellent. The story of the old dog at Mono Lake had me howling with laughter. Though his mining camp chapters were given a darker hue than he infused them with from my experiences watching "Deadwood".
"Born Standing Up" by Steve Martin. Despite my never having been too great a fan of Steve Martin's stand up, I enjoyed this book's chronicling of Martin's career from inception to over-ripening. I loved everything about his chapter at Disneyland - sharing in his perception of beauty and attention to detail in the park; the story of his simply riding up on his bike at getting a job there. Fantastic.
Fall
While I was waiting for the audiobook of the next Aubrey-Maturin book to come in from the library, I browsed through and picked up "The Mistress of Magic" by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I enjoyed this lush retelling of the Arthur legend from a woman's perspective - but not enough that I postpone my progress through O'Brian's naval adventures to continue Bradley's series. Perhaps later in 2009...
Patrick O'Brian's book, "The Letter of Marque" came in, and was just as good as his other tales. It only suffered from that fact that the library didn't have the audiobook version recorded by Patrick Tull.
Then, again waiting for the next book in the series to come in - and as it had become football season - I picked up John Grisham's "Playing for Pizza" which was an entertaining departure from his law thrillers.
I then finished my Fall reading with David Sedaris' "When You are Engulfed in Flames". While I missed hearing about his family more in these new essays, he was at his usual hilarious/insightful best; and the titular essay was exquisite.
Summer
"Pincher Martin" by William Golding. This was better in retrospect that during its reading. While I was engaged in it I was confused most of the time. The inner workings of the character were hard to follow comprehensively, and it wasn't until the final "twist" of the story at its end, that I appreciated the story as a whole.
"Roughing It" I started this in the Summer of 07, and didn't finish it until Summer 08 - as I took the myriad anecdotes a piece at a time. It was excellent, as Mark Twain is always excellent. The story of the old dog at Mono Lake had me howling with laughter. Though his mining camp chapters were given a darker hue than he infused them with from my experiences watching "Deadwood".
"Born Standing Up" by Steve Martin. Despite my never having been too great a fan of Steve Martin's stand up, I enjoyed this book's chronicling of Martin's career from inception to over-ripening. I loved everything about his chapter at Disneyland - sharing in his perception of beauty and attention to detail in the park; the story of his simply riding up on his bike at getting a job there. Fantastic.
Fall
While I was waiting for the audiobook of the next Aubrey-Maturin book to come in from the library, I browsed through and picked up "The Mistress of Magic" by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I enjoyed this lush retelling of the Arthur legend from a woman's perspective - but not enough that I postpone my progress through O'Brian's naval adventures to continue Bradley's series. Perhaps later in 2009...
Patrick O'Brian's book, "The Letter of Marque" came in, and was just as good as his other tales. It only suffered from that fact that the library didn't have the audiobook version recorded by Patrick Tull.
Then, again waiting for the next book in the series to come in - and as it had become football season - I picked up John Grisham's "Playing for Pizza" which was an entertaining departure from his law thrillers.
I then finished my Fall reading with David Sedaris' "When You are Engulfed in Flames". While I missed hearing about his family more in these new essays, he was at his usual hilarious/insightful best; and the titular essay was exquisite.
August 21, 2008
Audio-file Accessibility
The good folks at The First Line have put the WKCR (Columbia University) Art Waves performance of my story From Mamma to Mother and Back as Episode 22 of their TFL on Tape Series.
Go check it out here:
http://thefirstline.com/tfltape.htm
Go check it out here:
http://thefirstline.com/tfltape.htm
June 23, 2008
Season's Readings Winter 2007-Spring 2008
Ah, summer vacation. At last I find the energy and motivation to blog again.
No forthcoming publications to speak of, and so I will continue my correspondence with the web-ether by relaying the poor history of my reading over the course of the year so far.
I closed 2007 by reading...
"The Prosperous Peasant" by Tim Clark and M. Alan Cunningham. I enjoyed this curious work immensely - though it's hard to define: not quite self-help, but a sort of quasi-fictional anecdotal wisdom of Japanese folklore to be applied to our culture. Anyone with an interest in feudal Japan would enjoy it for its stories alone, but those who choose to look beyond entertainment will find fuel for evaluation and application.
and continuing my progress through the Aubrey-Maturin series of Naval fiction with "The Ionian Mission" which trickled into 2008, where followed "Treason's Harbour", "The Far Side of the World" and "The Reverse of the Medal". All continue Patrick O'Brian's fine briny storytelling, and fantastic characters. I have had the added pleasure of having these stories narrated to me on audiobook by the brilliant Patrick Tull, and I am heartbroken that the next book in the series is not available at my library in audio with him as narrator.
and slowly continuing my progress through Mark Twain's "Roughing It", which I did enjoy, but suffered most cruelly from my other interests, requirements of time, and energy. In the end, finishing it became a labor that few authors other than Mark Twain could have maintained some semblance of enjoyment.
Also in the realm of audiobook, I adored Neil Gaiman's "Coraline" and "Stardust". both performed by the author. I have thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Gaiman's graphic novel work on "Sandman", but these two books finally gave me the opportunity to illustrate his rich works in my own mind. Gaiman is a master of darkness with beauty, and I will devour any other audiobook I can find read by him.
Thus ends my collection of first readings. During these season's I also reread "The Hobbit", on audiobook. See a pattern here? Unless it was in audio or I was teaching it, or it was consumed on a school vacation, I did little reading. As I have previously suggested, much of this was due to a lack of proper reading time. But then, as I finished my teaching credential concurrent with my first year of teaching, time I could have devoted to reading I spent on other interests - particularly video games. I have speculated on the reasons for this, and come to believe that it was a mixture of intellectual fatigue - with such a high percentage of my mental resources devoted to my teaching and credential coursework - and wanting to entertain myself with a medium that afforded me more control of the experience than literature. As the director of the film of my reading I have some say in the casting, art direction, and cinematography; but I don't control where the story is going. Video games gave me the control I craved in my escapism during this period. Now that I am truly free from lesson plans and credential requirements for a spell I am quivering with reading possibility and enthusiasm, and look to have a more substantial account for my next installment of Season's Readings.
Until then...
No forthcoming publications to speak of, and so I will continue my correspondence with the web-ether by relaying the poor history of my reading over the course of the year so far.
I closed 2007 by reading...
"The Prosperous Peasant" by Tim Clark and M. Alan Cunningham. I enjoyed this curious work immensely - though it's hard to define: not quite self-help, but a sort of quasi-fictional anecdotal wisdom of Japanese folklore to be applied to our culture. Anyone with an interest in feudal Japan would enjoy it for its stories alone, but those who choose to look beyond entertainment will find fuel for evaluation and application.
and continuing my progress through the Aubrey-Maturin series of Naval fiction with "The Ionian Mission" which trickled into 2008, where followed "Treason's Harbour", "The Far Side of the World" and "The Reverse of the Medal". All continue Patrick O'Brian's fine briny storytelling, and fantastic characters. I have had the added pleasure of having these stories narrated to me on audiobook by the brilliant Patrick Tull, and I am heartbroken that the next book in the series is not available at my library in audio with him as narrator.
and slowly continuing my progress through Mark Twain's "Roughing It", which I did enjoy, but suffered most cruelly from my other interests, requirements of time, and energy. In the end, finishing it became a labor that few authors other than Mark Twain could have maintained some semblance of enjoyment.
Also in the realm of audiobook, I adored Neil Gaiman's "Coraline" and "Stardust". both performed by the author. I have thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Gaiman's graphic novel work on "Sandman", but these two books finally gave me the opportunity to illustrate his rich works in my own mind. Gaiman is a master of darkness with beauty, and I will devour any other audiobook I can find read by him.
Thus ends my collection of first readings. During these season's I also reread "The Hobbit", on audiobook. See a pattern here? Unless it was in audio or I was teaching it, or it was consumed on a school vacation, I did little reading. As I have previously suggested, much of this was due to a lack of proper reading time. But then, as I finished my teaching credential concurrent with my first year of teaching, time I could have devoted to reading I spent on other interests - particularly video games. I have speculated on the reasons for this, and come to believe that it was a mixture of intellectual fatigue - with such a high percentage of my mental resources devoted to my teaching and credential coursework - and wanting to entertain myself with a medium that afforded me more control of the experience than literature. As the director of the film of my reading I have some say in the casting, art direction, and cinematography; but I don't control where the story is going. Video games gave me the control I craved in my escapism during this period. Now that I am truly free from lesson plans and credential requirements for a spell I am quivering with reading possibility and enthusiasm, and look to have a more substantial account for my next installment of Season's Readings.
Until then...
