Alex C. Telander's Blog, page 71
October 26, 2012
“Red Rain” by R. L. Stine (Touchstone, 2012)
Bestselling author R. L. Stine has terrified children for decades with his Goosebumps and Fear Street series, and now for the first time (and long overdue, in my opinion) he seeks to create fear in the minds of grownups with his first adult horror novel, Red Rain. But fans of Stine need not worry that the book will feature too many “old people,” for the devils at the heart of this story are identical twin boys.
Lea Sutter is a travel writer looking to write about the beauty and uniqueness of a small island off the coast of South Carolina. It is there that she observes and documents a seemingly unbelievable ritual where the dead are brought back to life. But then the weather turns bad and a hurricane strikes the island, destroying many buildings and leaving many of the inhabitants dead. Lea wakes to find herself one of the few survivors. There are also two young, identical twin boys, Samuel and Daniel, who have lost their home, their parents, everything. Lea decides to adopt the twins and bring them back to her home on Long Island.
Mark, Lea’s husband, is a child psychologist who has written a controversial book about parenting, and is less than thrilled when Lea returns home with these unusual twins. Mark and Lea’s own children, Ira and Elena, don’t take well to the twins either, as they become weirder and weirder each day. Before they know it, something very strange is going on, and Mark finds himself the number one suspect of two gruesome murders, and it all seems to be pointing to these two boys. But they’re so angelic, how could they ever cause harm?
Stine creates an enjoyable horror novel with Red Rain, which gets a little ham-handed at times with Mark’s career and his parenting duties with the twins, as well as excelling in his career with just a bachelor’s degree, and the very unlikely occurrence of a hurricane in April; but it is nevertheless a gripping story with some great gruesome horror elements that will keep readers hooked to the end.
Originally written on September 25, 2012 ©Alex C. Telander.
To purchase a copy of Red Rain from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.
October 24, 2012
Book Report: Book News for the Week of October 21st
Where to Buy the Cheapest Ebooks
For those who have fully converted over to reading ebooks, the question of price must often arise. Thankfully Huffington Post has an article on where and how to get the cheapest ebooks.
Amazon Refunds on the Way . . . Maybe
With the issue of ebook pricing collusion now mostly resolved by the Department of Justice, Amazon has announced it may be giving customers refunds.
Map of the Publishing World
Wondering where the most books are published in the world. Here’s a map to answer your questions.
Writers Hanging out Together
From Flavorwire comes a collection of photos of famous authors hanging out together.
October 22, 2012
Halloween Recommended Reads
We’re coming up on Halloween once again when everything goes spooky and dark, and we like to get scared by things.. Well, here’s a Halloween story I wrote and a list of recommended reads for kids and adults of books that will really give you some shivers . . .
Click on the image below to read the free Halloween Story
And now some recommended Halloween reads to chill your bones and make your blood freeze . . .
FOR KIDS (OR ADULTS) –
FOR ADULTS –
October 19, 2012
“A Princess of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs (The Library of America, 2012)
For the hundredth anniversary of the original release of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs in the pages of The All-Story magazine, the Library of America has released a beautiful centennial small hardcover edition of the book. It features a strong and powerful introduction from bestselling author Junot Diaz, as he discusses the merits as well as the failings and strong racist overtones of the book.
John Carter is a man who has served his time and is looking for gold in the Arizona hills. In a specific cave he is miraculously transported to the distant planet of Mars where he doesn’t find a barren world, but one that is alive and diverse and complex. He soon discovers that with the lesser gravity on the planet he possess a sort of super-power in being able to make great leaps and strides in a single bound. He becomes involved in the political machinations of the planet, and finds himself fighting in a war he is all too familiar with. Then there is the beautiful Dejah Thoris, the red-skinned Princess of Helium, who he helps in any way he can for he is quite taken with her.
The story very much feels one that was written a hundred years ago with skin color being so important and how women serve simple roles in these societies, but if one is able to ignore this and get past it, there is a great adventure story at the heart in the style of Indiana Jones and Errol Flynn.
Originally written on July 17, 2012 ©Alex C. Telander.
To purchase a copy of A Princess of Mars from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.
October 17, 2012
BOOK REPORT: Book News for the Week of October 14
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Neil Gaiman has released details about his forthcoming novel, called The Ocean at the End of the Lane, with an expected release date of June 18, 2013.
Phaidon Press Sold to American Billionaire
The well known art book publisher, Phaidon Press, has been sold to billionaire Leon Black, CEO of Apollo Global Management, who is referred to as a “well-known art collector.”
National Book Award Finalists
The National Book Award Finalists have been announced. Winners will be announced on November 14.
10 Tips for Generating Killer Science Fiction Story Ideas
Charlie Jane Anders has another great article with IO9 on some great tips for coming up with that truly great science fiction story idea.
October 15, 2012
Bookbanter Column: Get Lost in a Good Fantasy Series, Part 8: The Sarantine Mosaic
The Sarantine Mosaic
But with the release of Tigana in 1991, he began a journey through many worlds and stories with many more books, which are all kind of linked. Tigana is a quasi-medieval Italy, but with alternate, with numerous fantasy elements.
A Song for Arbonne is alternate-medieval France. The Lions of Al-Rassan is sort of medieval Spain. And The Last Light of the Sun is from the time of the Vikings, in a story you likely haven’t read about before.
And then there’s The Sarantine Mosaic, a duology written about the time of the great city of Byzantium with its powerful king and queen, and the chariot races, and the magic that existed there.Bestselling author Guy Gavriel Kay got his start in writing in an unusual way, working more as an editor with Christopher Tolkien on the numerous volumes of Lord of the Rings and Middle Earth material J R. R. Tolkien wrote during his lifetime.
His first published series was the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, which falls into a lot of the pitfalls of a stereotypical fantasy series with some weak characters.
October 13, 2012
“Kyra” Now Available in the Ebook Format of Your Choosing
Kyra: The First Book of Enchantus is now available in the ebook format of your choosing for the low price of $4.99. It is now available through Smashwords in the following ebook formats: Epub, PDF, Mobi (Kindle), RTF, LRF, Palm Doc, and Plain Text. The link to the book and the various formats it can be downloaded in, as well as a brief description and a long description can be found by clicking the cover above, or clicking here.
If you would prefer a print edition for $9.99 or would like to get the Kindle version through Amazon click here.
October 12, 2012
Book Report: Book News for the Week of October 7th
B&N, Microsoft Seal Deal
More on the Nook deal between Microsoft and Barnes & Noble.
Best Books of Fall 2012
Publishers Weekly has all the latest books from fiction to nonfiction to your science fiction and fantasy for the fall 2012 season that you should be keeping your eye out for.
A Casual Vacancy
The first report back on how well J. K. Rowling’s new book A Casual Vacancy is selling.
All the Science Fiction and Fantasy You Can’t Miss in October
Charlie Jane Anders has a great article for IO9 with all the great science fiction and fantasy reads you won’t want to miss in October.
October 9, 2012
New “Kyra” Ebook Edition Coming Soon!
Working on the final stages of layout and setting for the Smashwords ebook edition, so that way “Kyra” will be available on every e-reading device! Should be submitting it for publication tomorrow and will let you know when it’s available. For now, remember that “Kyra” is available in print and on Kindle through Amazon:
October 8, 2012
Faces of Publishing: An Interview with Jaime Levine, Editor for Grand Central Publishing
Jaime Levine has been an editor with Grand Central PPublishing for 15 years, current author highlights: #1 NY Times bestselling duo Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child and the estate of Robert Ludlum. With three concurrent Ludlum series, she works with many talented writers, including Jamie Freveletti, Kyle Mills, Justin Scott, and Eric Van Lustbader. Her most recent launch: Pure—a post-apocalyptic, dystopian novel by Julianna Baggott.
Alex C. Telander: When did you know you wanted to become an editor?
Jaime Levine: It wasn’t something that I knew, though I was curious about publishing at the end of college. I feel like I decided to be an editor after I got to NYC and got my first editorial assistant job and loved it. But, here’s an odd addendum to that story: when I went to my ten year high school reunion, my ceramics teacher pulled out this notebook a bunch of us had written in when we were seniors. They were predictions of where we’d be at the age of 28. I’d apparently written, “if I haven’t made a million on my first novel, I’ll be a book editor.” I was a wise-ass, as you can see, but weirdly prescient. I have zero memory of writing that too. I wasn’t aware that I knew at 17 years old that book editors existed.
Alex: How did you get started in publishing?
Jaime: Oh, a common story. I was an English major, worked on a literary magazine that a friend started. She went off to get an MFA and left a job at a small press in Chicago. I debated between teaching high school English and publishing. I decided getting a job in publishing didn’t require more education, so I opted to take over her position at the small press. After almost a year, I knew that I needed to actually come to NYC and experience working in editorial before I could conclude one way or the other. I got a job at what was then Warner Books and have been here ever since. Within the first year I knew I was hooked by editorial.
Alex: What does an ordinary day look like for you?
This is the last Faces of Publishing interview, and the last planned interview for Bookbanter for the near future.
