Donald Capone's Blog, page 3

GUTGAA Week 2: Pitch Polish!

Week 2 of GUTGAA (Gearing Up To Get An Agent) focuses on "the pitch" for the novel, the query letter you have to write to contact an agent, and entice him or her to rep your book. This round is a "polish" round, to help each author revise and improve their query as much as possible. It's anonymous, but my pitch is one of the 100 queries included. See if you can figure out which pitch is mine!

Deana Barnhart: Pitch Polish Week!

Week 1 of GUTGAA

Welcome to Week 1 of GUTGAA! Monday, Sept 3rd-Friday, Sept 7th is Meet and Greet time, a chance to visit other writers' blogs and get to know them. Check out Deana's blog to see a list of all participating authors. Here are my answers to the questions:

Questions for the Meet and Greet

Where do you write?
At my computer at my desk in my bedroom, my cat (Rockford) sitting on the windowsill next to me.

Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?
iPod dock speaker/charger thing made by Philips. I love it.

Favorite time to write?
Morning.

Drink of choice while writing?
Coffee, fresh ground and perked with half & half and Sweet n’ Low.

When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?
Music, always. Preferably loud rock n’ roll.

What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?
A very old furnace in the basement of my old house. (It’ll make sense when you hear the plot of my novel, I promise.)

What's your most valuable writing tip?
Write like no one’s ever going to read it. Don’t hold back.

GUTGAA 2012

I'll be participating in this years GUTGAA (Gearing Up To Get An Agent) Blogfest/Pitch Contest hosted by Deana Barnhart. Her definition of GUTGAA:

What is GUTGAA?
GUTGAA stands for Gearing Up to Get an Agent. It is a blogfest I started last year in the hopes that those of us striving to reach "agented" status could come together, polish those pitches and have fun at the same time. It ended with agent Kathleen Rushall judging a pitch contest. Quite a few of us who joined in the fun did get an agent (including me) and as I've said over the last few weeks I want to take my victory and pay it forward.

The Templeton Twins Have an Idea by Ellis Weiner

Book 1 of an intended middle grade series stars a set of 12-year old twins, Abigail and John Templeton, and their inventor/scientist father. And, of course, their ridiculous dog, Cassie. Then there is the narrator who tells the story in a funny, though somewhat reluctant manner, as he speaks directly to the reader:

“I am being forced to tell the story of the Templeton Twins. Why am I being forced, and who is forcing me? Well, perhaps I will tell you later. Or I may decide not to tell you at all.”

Having the narrator be a character himself is a good device to impart information to the young reader in a funny way. Sometimes he even gets annoyed at the imagined too-many-questions from the reader and just brusquely states, “Let’s move on.” Weiner can have a lot of fun with the narrator in future books, and I can see him maybe becoming more important or even part of the plot! Good stuff.

I won’t recap the entire plot in this review (you can get that in the product description), so I’ll just sum it up by saying the story revolves around a disgruntled former student (Dean D. Dean) of Mr. Templeton’s who shows up and causes trouble for the Templeton family when he claims he was the true inventor of one of the father’s best inventions. Abigail and John have to use their brains and ingenuity to save themselves, their father, and the invention.

The novel is thoroughly enjoyable, the characters are wacky and the writing is silly. I like silly! I read an advance copy, so the illustrations (by Jeremy Holmes) were still only in sketch form, but they look good and fit the style of writing well and add to the overall fun of the book.

I enjoyed the “voice” of the narrator so much that I went out and got an earlier (adult) novel written by Ellis Weiner (Drop Dead, My Lovely). The Templeton Twins looks like it will be a successful, fun series of books for both boys and girls (not to mention their parents).

Whiplash River, by Lou Berney, reviewed

I really enjoyed this novel. This is the second book to feature Shake Bouchon and Gina Clement, two con artists with a history. (I hadn’t read the first book of the series, Gutshot Straight, but didn’t need to. Author Lou Berney does a good job filling in first-time readers nicely, while also giving gentle reminders to fans of the first novel.) Shake is now trying to live a clean life running a restaurant in Belize. But the need for cash and the appearance of a man named Quinn (not to mention the hitman sent to kill him) soon upsets Shake’s calm existence.

If you’re a fan of Elmore Leonard, you’ll like this book. The caper story, the strong female character (and love interest) that is the equal to the male lead, plus a second female character (FBI agent Evelyn Holly) who also catches the eye of Shake are all very Leonard-esque. In addition, the character Harrigan Quinn is a hoot, and almost steals the show (I hope we see him again in future novels). He’s a grifter who ropes Shake and Gina into participating in his con, which brings them all the way from Belize to Egypt.

Good dialogue, short chapters (with alternating POVs), and lots of humor keep the story moving and the pages turning. There are many side characters that really add fun to the story; Berney has created a good cast that he can draw from in future books. I’m specifically thinking of Meg, the novice criminal who right now has more spunk than experience; Sticky Jimmy, a politician who needs to clean up some loose ends from his past; and Baby Jesus, the hefty drug lord of Belize.

Soon after I finished this novel I was already missing it. Then I remembered, I still have the first one to read!

4 Stars

The Wishing Cake, by Ellen Meister, reviewed

Ellen Meister has given us this tasty e-book novelette to hold us over until her fourth novel is published. Rhea Samuels is a cake designer for a bakery in Brooklyn. She’s excellent at her job, but feels her male boss’s preference for the other cake designer, a young and not very likable guy, is holding back her career advancement. When an elderly couple orders an anniversary cake from her, they provide her with some magical “wishing dust” to sprinkle on top. A bit accidentally makes it home with Rhea, and she soon learns the true meaning of the old saying “Be careful what you wish for.” A fun, quick read that would be approximately 50 pages in print form. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

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Two Good Baseball Books

If you're looking for good baseball novels to read pool-side this summer, check out James Bailey's The Greatest Show On Dirt, and Frank Nappi's The Legend of Mickey Tussler. Follow the links to read my Amazon review of each book.

Echolocation, by Myfanwy Collins, reviewed

I didn’t know much about the plot when I began reading this novel, but immediately got sucked into the story. Geneva and Cheri were raised as sisters by their Aunt Marie after Cheri’s mother, Renee, ran off years before. Now, suddenly, Renee returns home with an infant in tow. (Cheri also had just recently returned home after the death of Marie.) Now the three surviving women must deal with their estrangements and personal issues head on—and hands on.

This is literary fiction with plot, action, and tension. Collins’ prose is elegant, but also lean and mean; as beautiful as the writing is, she doesn’t shy away from the dark, the gritty, and the cold part of life. Her use of short sections from the different characters’ POV (including some secondary characters) show their thoughts and motivations, of course, but also drive the story forward efficiently and quickly. Collins continued to surprise me throughout the book, as the story went places I hadn’t expected.

This is also a very visual novel. I was right there with the characters, stomping through the snowy woods to the old quarry; waiting out the ice storm in the safety of the family’s store/home as ice pellets hit the windows; having a drink in a seedy bar. And, of course, in the climactic scene. Though the three lead women were flawed, I cared about them, and couldn’t put the book down until I saw how it all turned out.

5 stars

Imperfect: An Improbable Life, reviewed

With Imperfect: An Improbable Life, Jim Abbott (along with Tim Brown) has written an honest, revealing memoir about his life and career. Born without a right hand, Abbott used that as his drive to prove himself on the baseball diamond (and therefore in life). He didn’t want pity; if he could win at baseball, it proved that he was as good as everyone else. He just wanted to be known as a baseball player and pitcher, not a “one-handed pitcher.” Abbott writes, “Baseball—and success in it—was so important it brought upon me a distorted view of winning and losing…The games’ outcomes became personal.”

The book’s structure is well done. In between the chronological chapters of Abbott’s life from childhood to teen to college student to Olympic gold medalist and beyond are short chapters showing the innings of the no hitter he pitched in 1993, the pinnacle of his major league career. In addition to building suspense (even though you know the result), it also puts the no hitter in perspective as far as the battles Abbott fought just to be on that mound in Yankee Stadium that day, the long journey of his life and each step along the way. You get the sense of his satisfaction, which is so much more than just not allowing a hit or winning an important game.

Of course, the theme of this book is inspiration—what and who inspired Abbott along his journey. But the book also shows Abbott’s inspiration to the disabled children who would invariably show up at his games. Just the fact that Abbott made it to the majors is inspiration enough; but he went out of his way to spend time with and encourage these kids (and their parents) who sought him out. Jim Abbott is a true hero and inspiration, an athlete who understood the power of his celebrity, and how a little encouragement and acceptance can go a long way, and change someone’s life.

4 Stars