Matt Roberts's Blog, page 7
November 13, 2012
Book Review: Desperation
This is a repost of my Good Reads review of Desperation by Stephen King, which I rated 4 of 5 stars.
I had heard many good things about this book from quite a few different people, so I started it with the highest of expectations.
The book started off fantastically. To meet such a bad guy in the very beginning was a treat. The wicked things he did were impressive, and I hope to one day be able to write a bad guy so efficiently and astounding in his actions.
I flew through the first three quarters of the book and got stuck. A part of the story happened that just didn’t seem to flow as the rest had and I stopped reading it, with my interest almost completely gone. The book sat on my shelf at home for months, begging to be finished, and I tried numerous times, picking it up where I left off and just couldn’t. That particular part of the book just wasn’t speaking to me.
Finally I decided to power through it, because I don’t like leaving books unfinished. That’s not fair to the time I spent reading up to that point, and it’s not fair to the book, the story. So I sat down and forced myself through that part.
What I found was, that part wasn’t very long and I got through it easily, and then the rest of the book flowed once again just as the beginning had. The story was great as were the characters and the setting. Stephen King has done it again (well, back in 1995 he did) and now I can’t wait to read The Regulators to see what the other side is all about.
November 5, 2012
Birthday Giveaway
Readers, my birthday is coming up at the end of next week and to celebrate the occasion, I'm giving away free e-copies of both Skinner and Hand One Is Dealt! All you have to do is have a Kindle (or a free Kindle app for your smart phone, tablet, PC) and you can read my books for free!
Starting Monday, November 12th running until my birthday, Friday, November 16th you will be able to get a free e-copy of both Skinner and Hand One Is Dealt! This would be a great opportunity to fulfill some of your Christmas shopping early!
Mark those calendars!
Skinner
Hand One Is Dealt
Starting Monday, November 12th running until my birthday, Friday, November 16th you will be able to get a free e-copy of both Skinner and Hand One Is Dealt! This would be a great opportunity to fulfill some of your Christmas shopping early!
Mark those calendars!
Skinner
Hand One Is Dealt
June 28, 2012
Research For Your Book
Being that I'm a new author, I don't know how much from what I have to say you'll want to take away from this blog, but I just read a book that made me feel the need to write it.
The book I read, Bestial: Werewolf Apocalypse and reviewed here was full of errors that I just couldn't get past.
In this modern day and age we have something on our sides that helps tremendously when it comes to writing, and that thing is called Google. Had William D. Carl spent more time on Google than he did on a Thesaurus, he would have had a much better book.
First let me explain. This book takes place in Cincinnati, where I am from and where I currently live. That was one reason I purchased the book. I wanted to see what kind of chaos Carl was going to bring to my city.
He brought a lot to it, and I was thankful for that. Overall, it was a great story, and for anybody who has never been to Cincinnati, I'm sure it would be the perfect read.
But for me, the errors of the facts of the city in the book were a little too much to ignore, and it made me wonder why he would write a book without doing research, or adequate research.
He did enough to know some of our landmarks, like the Aronoff Center (which he spelled Aranoff), the Brent Spense Bridge (which he called one of the largest suspension bridges in the world and it is neither one of the largest nor a suspension bridge) and State Route 71 (it's actually Interstate 71, Carl).
This got me to thinking about the hours of research I did for my book, Hand One Is Dealt. I spent countless hours on Google and Google Maps, finding locations, double checking to make sure they were still there, checking street view to make sure I was talking about a park bench that actually existed on a street corner that actually existed, and emailing businesses in cities I had never been to just to make sure I had the street name correct that they sat on. I did my time for my book, because I wanted it to be all it could be. I could make a joke here (and really want to) about how if I wanted it to be all it could be I should have had someone else write it, but I won't, even though I just did.
What really gets to me about it all is, I spent the time doing research and for the month that my book has been out in e-book format and the hundreds of people who have downloaded it (and possibly read it) I have yet to hear one review of it, aside from my dad who said it legitimately gave him nightmares and my mom who said I should try writing something nicer and not so scary. Their reviews don't count, they're my parents.
On the flip side, and while trying not to sound bitter at all, Carl has rave reviews about his non-researched book, such as "the kind of debut novel authors dream of writing" and "Carl is an accomplished writer, and this is an excellent first novel". If this is an excellent first novel, which as I said the story is awesome but the facts of the city are horrible, then where does my book rate?
My point here, fellow readers and writers, is that research should be tied with your story in importance. You have a good story to write, and you want to tell it the best you can, make sure you do your research. If you're writing a fantasy novel, don't worry about it so much, because chances are you're going to be writing about stuff that you had to create from the ground up. But if you're writing about a city, especially one that you've never been to, don't say the Greater Cincinnati Airport is right across the street in downtown Cincinnati when it's actually 20 minutes away in Northern Kentucky and can't be seen from Cincinnati, especially if that info can easily be found on Google.
Do your research friends, and all will be well. It can take a decent book and make it worthwhile, and it can take a great book and make it less than decent. It all depends on if you do the research or not.
The book I read, Bestial: Werewolf Apocalypse and reviewed here was full of errors that I just couldn't get past.
In this modern day and age we have something on our sides that helps tremendously when it comes to writing, and that thing is called Google. Had William D. Carl spent more time on Google than he did on a Thesaurus, he would have had a much better book.
First let me explain. This book takes place in Cincinnati, where I am from and where I currently live. That was one reason I purchased the book. I wanted to see what kind of chaos Carl was going to bring to my city.
He brought a lot to it, and I was thankful for that. Overall, it was a great story, and for anybody who has never been to Cincinnati, I'm sure it would be the perfect read.
But for me, the errors of the facts of the city in the book were a little too much to ignore, and it made me wonder why he would write a book without doing research, or adequate research.
He did enough to know some of our landmarks, like the Aronoff Center (which he spelled Aranoff), the Brent Spense Bridge (which he called one of the largest suspension bridges in the world and it is neither one of the largest nor a suspension bridge) and State Route 71 (it's actually Interstate 71, Carl).
This got me to thinking about the hours of research I did for my book, Hand One Is Dealt. I spent countless hours on Google and Google Maps, finding locations, double checking to make sure they were still there, checking street view to make sure I was talking about a park bench that actually existed on a street corner that actually existed, and emailing businesses in cities I had never been to just to make sure I had the street name correct that they sat on. I did my time for my book, because I wanted it to be all it could be. I could make a joke here (and really want to) about how if I wanted it to be all it could be I should have had someone else write it, but I won't, even though I just did.
What really gets to me about it all is, I spent the time doing research and for the month that my book has been out in e-book format and the hundreds of people who have downloaded it (and possibly read it) I have yet to hear one review of it, aside from my dad who said it legitimately gave him nightmares and my mom who said I should try writing something nicer and not so scary. Their reviews don't count, they're my parents.
On the flip side, and while trying not to sound bitter at all, Carl has rave reviews about his non-researched book, such as "the kind of debut novel authors dream of writing" and "Carl is an accomplished writer, and this is an excellent first novel". If this is an excellent first novel, which as I said the story is awesome but the facts of the city are horrible, then where does my book rate?
My point here, fellow readers and writers, is that research should be tied with your story in importance. You have a good story to write, and you want to tell it the best you can, make sure you do your research. If you're writing a fantasy novel, don't worry about it so much, because chances are you're going to be writing about stuff that you had to create from the ground up. But if you're writing about a city, especially one that you've never been to, don't say the Greater Cincinnati Airport is right across the street in downtown Cincinnati when it's actually 20 minutes away in Northern Kentucky and can't be seen from Cincinnati, especially if that info can easily be found on Google.
Do your research friends, and all will be well. It can take a decent book and make it worthwhile, and it can take a great book and make it less than decent. It all depends on if you do the research or not.
June 16, 2012
To Short Story, Or Not To Short Story
After a recent conversation with Alexandra Sokoloff about short stories, I've decided that my next book may very well be a collection of shorts.
I've just published my first book, Hand One Is Dealt (coming out very soon in paperback, already an ebook) and I've been wondering what I'm going to follow it up with. I've been writing on quite a few different stories for the last few years and while most of them are close to being finished, none of them are novel-length.
Some authors are better at writing short stories than others, and some authors write short stories more than novels. I guess I'm one of the latter.
I'd like to write novels, but for some reason the stories wind up getting told before there's enough content to make it to a novel's length, or even a novella. Even Hand One... is a short novel, right on the border of that and a novella.
So should I stick with writing short stories and occasionally put out a novel if one strikes me? Should I make my second published work a collection of shorts? Is there a time when it's appropriate to publish a collection of shorts or not?
I'm really not sure. I don't think there are laws governing this sort of thing, unwritten or otherwise, but regardless, I just want to get my stories out to the public. That's why I became a writer.
No, it wasn't for the money, obviously, but to share the stories that haunt my head with the masses... or those few who decide to read what I've written. Either way, just so long as I get my stories out there and available, I'm happy.
So folks, it looks as if my next publication, hopeful for the end of this year but more than likely sometime next year (assuming we don't all die when the world ends, HA!) will be a collection of shorts. Now the hard part... figuring out a decent name for it. Stephen King has those all wrapped up, it seems.
I've just published my first book, Hand One Is Dealt (coming out very soon in paperback, already an ebook) and I've been wondering what I'm going to follow it up with. I've been writing on quite a few different stories for the last few years and while most of them are close to being finished, none of them are novel-length.
Some authors are better at writing short stories than others, and some authors write short stories more than novels. I guess I'm one of the latter.
I'd like to write novels, but for some reason the stories wind up getting told before there's enough content to make it to a novel's length, or even a novella. Even Hand One... is a short novel, right on the border of that and a novella.
So should I stick with writing short stories and occasionally put out a novel if one strikes me? Should I make my second published work a collection of shorts? Is there a time when it's appropriate to publish a collection of shorts or not?
I'm really not sure. I don't think there are laws governing this sort of thing, unwritten or otherwise, but regardless, I just want to get my stories out to the public. That's why I became a writer.
No, it wasn't for the money, obviously, but to share the stories that haunt my head with the masses... or those few who decide to read what I've written. Either way, just so long as I get my stories out there and available, I'm happy.
So folks, it looks as if my next publication, hopeful for the end of this year but more than likely sometime next year (assuming we don't all die when the world ends, HA!) will be a collection of shorts. Now the hard part... figuring out a decent name for it. Stephen King has those all wrapped up, it seems.
