Michael E. Henderson's Blog: Henderson's The Literary Man, page 8

Book Review: The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt

The Goldfinch is a perfect novel from the standpoint of structure, description, and character development. If you want to study a novel to see how it’s done, this is the one. Great characters, interesting locations, and brilliant writing. For example:

“And I had let rip such an eyewatering torrent of filth that even Hobie–not understanding a word–had leaned back laughing with his hands over his ears.”

“…her little paper-skinned hand glittering with rose-cut diamonds.”

“…her perfume–unmistak...

Book review: American Gods, by Neil Gaiman (Tenth Anniversary Edition; Author’s Preferred Text)

There are a lot of good things about this book, but I didn’t like it. It has a fascinating premise, but I didn’t like the way it was pulled off.

Every god ever invented has come to America, and are residing there in obscurity, often in menial jobs. They have lost their power because people have stopped sacrificing to them, and are ignoring them. Also, they’ve been replaced by the gods of technology and mass consumption.

The Norse god Odin has decided that there should be a war between the o...

Book Review: The Great Gatsby

This book is on every list of favorite books, and every list of the 100 books you must read before you die. Every high school student or first-year college student has read it. So, when I say I didn’t think much of it, I’m treading on tenuous frozen water.

First I’ll say what I did like about the book. The prose is excellent. Lots of wonderful descriptions. But that’s it. For example:

He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grot...

Book Review: Avenue of the Giants, by Stewart Kirby

Avenue of the Giants

The term “Avenue of the Giants” refers to Highway 254 in northern California that runs through Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which is where most of this story takes place.

The protagonist, Beau Black, takes us on an out of control freight train ride down the side of a mountain, crashing to an unexpected end.

Visiting his home town, Beau, now middle aged (or so) and his buddy, visit the “rec room” of a hotel where, as younger men, they used to play pool. In comes an old...

Blackbirds, by Chuck Wendig: A Review

Chuck Wendig’s
novel Blackbirds is something I’ve been looking for for a long
time: a new and creative story written in prose that is vibrant and
stimulating, but not opaque.

Miriam is a
young woman who, when her skin touches yours, sees when and how you
die:

“...
in his fifties now, fatter than ever, his nose one big gin blossom,
and he's yelling at some woman in a yellow dress, and sweat is
beading on his brow, and flecks of spit are flying out of his mouth,
and suddenly he plants his fat hand on...

How to Connect your Google+ Account with Twitter and Facebook

Every author, whether self-published or published through a big house, has to have an author platform. That means you have to get people to follow you on your website and blog, and through social media.

The problem is that social media has grown to be a monster. We have to engage people through Twitter, Facebook, and Google+, just to name a few. There are literally dozens of them. I focus on the three that I mentioned, and it’s still a job keeping up with them all. So, what is the most efficie...

Book Cover Options

Below are the proposed cover designs for my novel. If you were a fan of Stephen King, which one would you choose? Please tell me in the comment section

Number 1

Number 2

Number 3

Number 4

Backup, Version Control, and Comparing Your Work

Ever get a few hundred pages into a novel and have the hard drive crash, and you never made a backup? Ever wish you could take a look at the previous version? A writer must (I said must, not should) continually make backup copies of their work, and save versions of it as they make changes, so they can go back to an older version. The backups should be made not only to an external drive, but to the cloud, as well. Writers also need to be able to compare one version to another to see what has c...

Advice to Young Writers

I’ve seen recently both on Critique Circle and on Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing, i.e., self published) works by teenagers who want to be writers. Even some novella-length stuff. Admirable as their ambition is, their writing is horrible. And there’s a good reason: you, young writer, are still a kid. Even if you’re eighteen or nineteen, you’re a semi-educated kid, trying to do something that requires an education. (High school is not an education, at best it gives you the foundation and...

Book Review: 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke

I’ve seen the movie many times, including when it first came out, but I never got around to reading the book. The movie had a big influence on me, particularly the use of music. Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra) by Richard Strauss, came to be known as the theme from 2001. And watching the space ships floating around to the tune of the Blue Danube Waltz was amazing.The introduction by the author tells us that the book was written as a prelude to writing the screenplay. It wa...