Adam Oster's Blog, page 42

Book Review: Hunter, Part 2 of Guy Erma and the Son of Empire by Sally Ann Melia

Not too long ago I reviewed the first part of this series, and not too long before that I reviewed the original book as an entire piece.  Today, thanks to the lovely folks at iRead Book Tours, I get to review the second book in the serialized version.

Honestly, this section of the book, known here as Hunter, contains some of my favorite parts of the whole story, specifically how this book ends, where you finally see all the appropriate pieces finally falling together, as they well should by this point in a story, and showing that there might be some hope, albeit small, for the titular duo, as well as those who are working in their interests.

In book 2, Melia brings this story into its element.  Action really takes a forefront, making the more political aspects of the tale take something of a backseat.  We get to learn more about Guy and how he just so happens to be as awesome as he is, while also learning a lot more about the mysterious Valvanchi family, a group that even after reading the whole tale, I can’t help but want to know more about.

All in all, book 2 is really the meat of this story, the selection where I really believe the Empire series takes off and shows it’s power.  And of course, if you’re going to make it through book two, you’re going to need to read book three….

Book One is available now, and book two is up for pre-order!

Fat Mogul vs. This American Life

I recently went on a bit of a road trip…and by, a bit, I mean, I drove a total of 42 hours over the course of 87 hours…solo.

To while away the hours on the road, I set myself up with as many episodes of the NPR series, This American Life.

This was a rather dangerous thing to do, as, although I absolutely adore Ira Glass, his voice is more than fully capable of putting even the most awake person into a comatose state.  Something about his psychiatrist-level of calmed tones can just get into ones’ head and lull them into a catatonic state.

Luckily for me, this didn’t occur, and I happened to stay awake for the entire driving time sequence, with nary a falling asleep on the road to occur…although I did have to take myself off the road a number of times just to look at something other than dotted lines.

But while listening to this show where they take little glances into the lives of people who make up this grand country of ours, I couldn’t help but think about their storytelling process.  There isn’t really a set roadmap they put in place as far as how they tel a story, and ultimately, it’s a rather journalistic style of story they tell, yet, somehow, these stories all seem to come out feeling as though they belong as part of this show…and are all surprising dramatic.

Tales of inept ATF agents setting up stings so terribly that the bad guys actually use a UHAUL to drag stuff out of their retail establishment seem to fit just perfectly next to stories about transgender folks taking their first rounds of testosterone treatments.

In a lot of ways, it reminds me of the little bits I remember from my parents listening to Paul Harvey as I was a kid.  Sure, the overall experience might be greatly different, but it’s all part of this same world of journalistic storytelling that you don’t really see in many places.  These fluff pieces that really attempt to tell a much larger story, to show a much greater idea…to highlight the true culture of America.

So, what’s the point here?  Well, mostly that in the past week, most of what I experienced in real life was exactly what I was experiencing on the radio…the culture of America.  As I drove along the highways of this country of ours, I couldn’t help but see a parallel between the radio and the outside world, as well as a need to find the exact people I was hearing about, while I drove by their home states.

In the end…you should listen to This American Life.  You’ll learn something, as well as getting a better idea of what really makes people tick.  I think you’ll be more than amused.

Have fun out there!

Fat Mogul vs. The Roadtrip

Sure, it’s been about a month since I went off on a big ol’ roadtrip down to the south lands, but to me, it feels like it was just a week ago…probably because, of course, I’m writing this well before it gets published.

The decision to hop in a car and drive 2400 miles over the course of a weekend was one I had been considering for a while by the moment I actually made the decision, but the consideration was more of a fleeting thought from time to time, not an actual consideration.  In fact, I frequently forgot that I was thinking about it.

So, when the time for this family reunion (the catalyst for this whole thought process) had come, the decision really felt like it was being made quickly.

In case you didn’t figure it out from my little piece of flash fiction a few weeks back, there was a lot involved in the decision to pretend I still had the stamina of a much younger Adam.  Most importantly, however, was just to get some time alone to think…something you might be surprised to learn isn’t in high supply in a house filled with kids and animals and televisions and…well, you get the point.

What I found, instead, was stories.

Sure, there was a bit of that self reflection that I was looking for, but ultimately, I found myself thinking of all sorts of stories I wanted to tell…which is difficult to deal with, considering the fact that I don’t have the time to write any longer and was looking for ways to ignore my writing needs and just focus on the whole adulthood bs.

So…here’s the thing.  I came off this trip with another 3 books I want to write…much more thoughtful slice of life pieces, things that I can’t get out of my head…knowing that I still need to come up with some way to actually get paid in general.

Which caused me to realize something I realize all too often: I have to be a writer.

I was wanting this trip to signal the end of this whole silly foray into creativity…but instead it served as a sort of muse.

I’m still working out the specifics of this whole game, but needless to say, I still haven’t kicked the habit…no matter how much i try.

Have fun out there!

Flash Fiction Friday: I’ve Been Meaning to Read…

“Jaclyn!” I screamed at the sight of her.  I hadn’t seen Jaclyn for three years and couldn’t believe she had finally made it back to town.

“Carla?” she said as she turned slowly to look at me.  A smile of recognition crossed her face as her eyes met mine.  I rushed to her side.

“What are you doing here? I haven’t seen you in forever!”

“My cousin’s getting married tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah, Rebecca.  I forgot you two were related.  It’s so great to see you.  How have you been?”

“Been great.  You know, doing the whole family thing and stuff.  Nothing too crazy.  You?”

“I don’t know.  Nothing to spectacular or anything.  I mean, I guess i wrote a couple books.”

“That’s right!  I heard about them.”

“Yeah?  Didn’t really realize the news had gotten out.  I haven’t really told anyone about them or anything.”

“Your mom told my mom all about it.  My mom couldn’t wait to tell me.”

“Guess that makes sense.”

“Yeah.  But that’s pretty cool, right?  I mean, two books?  Not everyone can claim that.”

“I guess.”

“No, it’s a big deal.  I mean, I haven’t had the chance to read them or anything, but I’ve been meaning to.”

“It’s really okay.  I mean, I think they’re good and all, but I totally understand–”

“No, I’m serious, I’ve been meaning to read them for a while now, just haven’t gotten around to it.”

“Okay.”  I really find myself at a loss of words here.  Jaclyn’s not the first to use these words against me.  I mean, I get it.  What do you say to someone who’s done something like this.  I have tons of musician friends whom I keep meaning to get to see play live, but it’s just so late at night, and there’s the whole loud music scene with all the crowded people…and a cover charge?

Like I’m saying, I get it.  You want to let your friends know that you’re interested, even though being involved in what they’re doing is really far from what you’re actually interested in.  It’s like a needle-phobe wanting to watch their tattoo artist friend at work.  Well…that might be a bit unfair.

“Carla?”

“Sorry,” I say, realizing that I’ve been staring.  “You just had me thinking about something.”

“Oh yeah, that reminds me.  I came up with the greatest story for you the other day!”

 

Little tongue in cheek this week

Fat Mogul vs. Unforeseen Circumstances

When reading through posts like these where folks try to convince you of all the things necessary in order to actually succeed as an author, it becomes quite easy to feel as though you are completely overwhelmed easily, just trying to do the bare minimums, while also attempting to write or edit quite regularly.

But, what’s an even bigger issue are the times in which you get caught up in your regular life and are unable to do even the smallest amount of activity in your author-life…you know, like when your days get filled with babies and poop and energizer-bunny-like three year olds.

Simply put, there are a ton of things that can make it almost impossible to fit some writing in.  And, if you’re someone who is trying to do all the things you’re “supposed to do” in order to succeed as an author, well, it can get mighty discouraging to feel as though you’re failing just at the actual writing part of writing.

Speaking as someone who is not only currently suffering from the bouts of no-time-itis, I can say that it’s sometimes difficult to even get past the point where you’re not writing.  I mean, once you stop writing regularly, it’s really difficult to get that routine back into your day…and routine is one of the most important things about being an author (as well as every other thing that everyone says is the most important thing…)

But you want to know what the most important thing about being an author is (insert tongue-in-cheek smile here)?  Keeping your chin up.  There are so many things that will get you down about being an author, things that will cause it to be almost impossible to keep moving forward, things as simple as just not being able to fit writing into a given day, or getting a bad review, or not having everyone you know immediately jump on reading your work, or…you get the idea…

You can’t expect writing to be a perfect pasttime.  I mean, take a look at the folks you know for the art.  Many of them are/were drunks, druggies, harboring severe suicidal tendencies.  These weren’t people leading happy lives due to their successes in the art…these were people who constantly struggled with rejection, personal and from others, as well as countless other demons, before bleeding their emotions out onto the page.

Art hurts.  And very few artists gain the recognition of the Rowlings or Collins’ or Martins.  Most are just happy to know someone is aware of their work.

So…if you’re down because you didn’t get to write today, realize that’s the least of your worries…more than likely you’ll get to hear tomorrow about how someone absolutely hates your work.

That’s a silver lining, right?

Okay, so, let’s be fair here…there’s plenty of good that can come from any art.  But..you have to be wanting to do it for many more reasons that just to get worldwide acceptance.  You have to do it because it’s in your blood…and you have to bleed it all over the page.

Writing sucks.  Almost every single thing about it sucks.  It’s not easy to put words to the page in a way that even you will like, much less how your readers will appreciate.

So, just be happy that you’re writing…even if you didn’t get to it at all today.

And have fun out there!

Fat Mogul vs. The DC Cinematic Universe

I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time now, allowing the ideas to percolate and simmer as I consider the acts of a large business and how they are planning on moving forward, although it would appear that things are not going in quite the best methods.

And…since it would be quite amazing if I were somehow correct in what I believe they are actually planning, I figured I should probably document things here so I can show how brilliant I am at figuring out what other folks are up to…or at least what they should be up to.

DC Comics, you know, the folks who own characters like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the rest of the Superfriends, have been rather quiet about what’s actually going on within their world of filmed entertainment.  Yes, we have some movie titles and we have some ideas about things that were going on in the midst of Man of Steel (a movie that I still can’t figure out why people are still so heavily against).

The thing is…they’re doing some rather odd things.

In a world where Marvel is rocking the entertainment industry with their hyper-connected worlds of TV, Film, and now with the amazing Daredevil series, streaming video…DC seems to be going about things in a very opposite manner.

But the thing is, it’s pretty darn obvious that a lot of what they are doing is copying Marvel’s style of production.  They’ve got these single character movies working up to crossover events, and films planned out for years to come, obviously to tell a greater story, all the while increasing drastically the amount of television entertainment they are producing in order to really saturate the market completely with their brand.

And what do they keep saying about their stuff?  That they operate in different continuities.  What this means is that although they are working hard to push all their characters out into the world’s faces, they’re also not doing anything to keep from these pieces getting conflicted.  So, you know, if you watch a movie where Supergirl dies, she’s still going to be alive for the Supergirl TV series…

Actually, this entire conversation gets quite good when you realize that they’ve got a very popular new TV series called The Flash, which is starring a man as The Flash who is not the man who will be playing that exact same character in the upcoming movies.

Now, I get it.  How do you convince an actor who has a big movie contract to also spend his days peddling his wares for television?

But what I don’t get is why they would want to allow their storylines to get all muddled.  The Flash TV series is flying through Flash rogues at top speed…there’s going to be some crossover in storytelling.  It’s going to get confusing.

But then, of course, if you’re a person who has been following DC comics since the mid-80’s…you’ll realize that confusing is precisely DC’s game.

Here’s where I posit my theory.  What if the entire DC cinematic universe is really working up toward telling one of DC comics’ best selling crossover events of all time, Crisis on Infinite Earths?

For the uninitiated, Crisis was DC’s attempt to rectify the fact that they had a lot of conflicting storylines over the years.  For a very simple example…Superman came about in 1938.  That means that by the time Crisis came about, he had fought Nazis in World War II as well as Koreans and Vietnamese (and a whole host of other folks), but was still approximately 30-something years old…as was Lois and co.

DC’s answer…all these stories actually happened, but in parallel universes.

Flash famously dealt with this concept early on in the run of the second character to take the name, during the 1961 comic book called Flash of Two Worlds, where he met the other character to have used the name…whom he had previously thought to have only been a character in a comic book.

As you can see…things can get quite confusing quickly.

Just like DC’s current plans for their cinematic universe…

But here’s where things start to get even further interesting.  There’s the Henry Cavill Superman from Man of Steel, who will continue to be Superman for all movies at the moment…then there’s a Superman being cast for the upcoming Supergirl TV series (although, officially, I believe the casting call was just looking for someone with the profile of Supes), which is said to possibly be in the same universe as the new Flash TV series, which just started getting rumors that Smallville’s Tom Welling could be making an appearance next season as the big boy scout himself…

Three Supermen existing at the same time?

Also…Brandon Routh…the Superman from Superman Returns is playing The Atom in Arrow…which also lends its own interesting ideas…

Yeah, the excuse is that these DC folks don’t want to limit the storytellers’ ability to tell their own tales…and maybe that really is the truth…But let me put it this way: If DC is not at the very least considering the concept of putting Crisis into play on the screen, they are missing a big opportunity for themselves…and being completely stupid, seeing as they now have come about the habit of doing this exact same storyline every few years in the comic books.

There’s the scoop.

Have fun out there!

Book Review: The Flood by David Sachs

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, you know, just to be upfront about that sort of thing.

The Flood by David Sachs is difficult to describe.  At it’s most obvious, it’s a disaster tale, quickly followed by a post-apocalyptic story of people surviving against incredible odds, you know, like Survivor, if there were no cameras, no support system, and if people were actually afraid for their lives.  Okay, well, yeah, so not really at all like Survivor.

At the start of the book, one could easily be forgiven for expecting this story to read out like a novelization of any generic disaster film, where we see the entire world on the brink of extinction.  But this story is not about the destruction of the world.  In fact, it’s about humanity, about survival, and ultimately about how the world itself works, although on a much smaller scale.  If you can call a cruise ship small.

Speaking of the cruise ship.  Something about the setting Sachs has chosen for this novel, specifically, a cruise ship (if you didn’t figure it out), seems so incredibly perfect for the story he’s telling.  Not only do we get a sense of space, while also getting a complete sense of claustrophobia, but you also get the brilliant juxtaposition of ideas, between the cruise ship, which should be about relaxation and freedom from stress, and the reality of an outside world that may no longer exist, which causes everything opposite to occur within the bows of the ship.

But honestly, even if you don’t go for clever idea concepts and the absolute antithesis to tropes (meaning that Sachs does everything completely opposite of what the cliches of such stories would have you do), you’re still going to get a heckuva thrill ride that will leave you clamoring for more.

Definitely check this one out!

Flash Fiction Friday: Baby Life

“Yaaawwwwn!” Man.  I don’t want to open my eyes.  Not one single bit.

Oh jeez, but my tummy is growling.  I’m starving.  I haven’t eaten in, like, thirty minutes.  Where the hell is my food?

“Aaaaaah!” I will scream until someone brings me some damned food already.  For serious!  “Waaaaah!”

Will someone bring me some food already?

“Unngh!” Wait.  Something else.  I mean, I’m hungry, but there’s something el–

Preeeeeft!

What the hell was that?  I mean, it felt amazing, but holy crap.  Yeah, that was awesome!

Oh crap, but I’m still hungry.  Where is that food already?

Get that thing away from my face?  What do you think you’re doing?  Get it–

Ohhh, food.  Yeah.  Mmmmm…

“Zzzzzz…”

Fat Mogul vs. Reviews

Looks like it’s been over a year since I wrote a post with this exact same title… It seems like it’s come up since, but I also recognize that it’s one of my least favorite topics to discuss.

I know it’s come up in some form or another over the past year, especially considering how many reviews I’ve written in the days since I’ve last used this precise battle title…yet I feel as though I haven’t really even thought much about reviews in a very long time…so…why not talk about it?  Right?

Nothing’s really changed, at least as far as the basics.  Everyone believes that reviews are important to sell books.  Obviously, it’s true…well…sorta.  I mean, reviews don’t sell books, they complete the sale.  When doing free book promotions for all my books at the same time, Buddy Hero still takes the cake for books moved, simply because it has the higher number of reviews attached.

But reviews do not sell books.  Well, not unless those reviews are personal recommendations.

One of the larger issues with being an author is recognizing all the pieces that actually go into selling a book.  Reviews are really such a small part of things.

Yet, authors (including yours truly) are so very good at focusing solely on one single thing.  So, you know, you write a good book…once you’re done focusing with that, you beg and plead for everyone to read your books, and then you beg and plead for everyone to review them, and the you beg and plead for everyone to talk about them, and then…

You get the idea.

Reviews, however, have an extra sort of charm to them…they’re something we can obsess over long after we’ve finished asking for them; poring over every word for some sort of validation that those who think we’re terrible are somehow idiots, and that those who think we’re awesome aren’t just blowing smoke up our youknowwhats.

And I think that’s precisely where I find myself personally struggling with the concept of asking for reviews.  There’s something about the whole process that seems so incredibly selfish.  No matter how much you (or I) may ask for honest reviews, there’s always this sense that I will absolutely hate you for forever if you should give such a review.

But here’s the reality…yes, it will hurt, but it will hurt so much more for authors if they don’t recognize the truth early on…the truth, of course being, that not everyone will love them…if anyone.

Here’s an example of a very very odd review-type situation that I’ve come across in my own personal history.  A little over a year ago, someone let me know that they had finished The Agora Files and were absolutely in love with it and anxiously awaiting the second book, forcefully telling me that I needed to release the second book now.  A few weeks ago, the most vocal of those folks put up a rating for the book on Goodreads and gave it a two.

I talked to her personally and she told me how much she loved the book, yet, those two stars come about and…well, how should one take that?

Luckily for me, I’m a pretty large cynic when it comes to anyone telling me they love my books, so I wasn’t really all that badly hit by such a change in message…but it’s still an odd concept.

Reviews are a double-edged sword in so many ways for authors, but as above, they can be even more so when they are focused on the personal friend and family reviews.

But more importantly…they also are absolutely worthless unless you are able to get people to really truly care about your books.

As always…first step is to write a great book.  Second one…find your actual audience.  Your old English teacher is probably not all that interested in your hard dark fantasy novel and wouldn’t even begin to know who to tell to read it, should she decide to recommend it to anyone.

Reviews will come…

Of course…that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to find some people you aren’t connected to who will hook you up with some non-biased reviews to help your potential sellers.

Have fun out there!

Fat Mogul vs. Getting Sidetracked

I recently became aware of a business opportunity which seemed to be quite the plausible option for me to partake in as a new career path.  Something that appeals to many parts of my own psyche.  You know, things like being creative, organizing stuff, and…well…drinking.

As such, this past week has had me spending a lot of time considering, yet again, alternative options for my personal future.  This wouldn’t be something which would do all that much for keeping me from writing (it would, actually, probably allow for a lot more writing than my current schedule), but would cause me to do some official redesigning on how I define myself, career-wise (something that has been officially needed for a while…even if it’s only been 2 years since I started calling myself an author).

Like mentioned previously on here…this isn’t really anything all that new.  I often like to consider new options…this one just was almost real…as in, making a big leap, putting down money where mouth may or may not be, and really diving in headfirst…something I have yet to do with much that I’ve gotten involved in.

The official plan, well, maybe I should call it the original one anyways, didn’t end up panning out, mostly because of the price tag on that version of the idea…but it’s morphed…into something quite different from the original, but interestingly enough, much more similar to an idea I had been working on for years which I could never quite figure out how to make work…I did.

And I thought I was quite brilliant…that I had come up with something original and unique and awesome and would change the Midwestern world for forever.

Until I did a google search and found that it was actually already a thing…a new thing, but not something I had invented…but also a new trendy thing that was slowly starting to pop up in very trendy areas.  Something that in, say, five years, would be a much more regular thing all over the east and west coasts.

In other words…I actually came up with something cool all on my own and not too far after the actual trendsetters.

No, I’m not going to reveal that thing to you…not yet.  I haven’t decided if I’m going to do it yet, and I don’t want you stealing it from me.

But here’s the important part of this message.

You see…I’ve been mighty sidetracked for the past week thinking about business options.

And I’ve kinda liked it.

Suddenly the future’s looked a little bit brighter than it has, simply because I’ve opened up my perspective for what I could actually be doing.

And I might be able to do it really really well.

Now, this particular idea might not come to fruition.  I did just come up with it this morning, after all.  And it still would actually really allow me to keep doing all the author-y type things I enjoy doing…in fact, might allow me to increase from where I had been.  But it’s where my mind has been.  For the first time in a long time, I’ve been working through some different iterations of my own personal future and actually finding some stuff that I think could work.

And I really like that.

Of course…if you wanted to help me become one of those authors who can make a living off their books, I wouldn’t be opposed to that either…but this might just be an alright secondary option.

So…yeah…I had probably get back to work on those ideas then, huh?

Have fun out there!