Emme Cross's Blog, page 3

Crazy Rich Asians

I've just started this novel and I am in love. This is so, so, so good. We've been to Hong Kong and Singapore and the author captures everything from the food snobbery to the culture to the history to the petty politics to the language. Wow! Wow! Wow!

Game of Thrones-Get over it!

I love George RR Martin. I love that he takes his time with his books and won't be rushed. I love that he is true to the story, even sacrificing beloved characters. First Ned Stark and now the Red Wedding. He says that when he plots a novel he figures out the right thing to do, and does the opposite. Keep 'em guessing. Judging by the outrage over the Red Wedding scene, he did a good job. I can't believe people were shocked at that. The book was a best seller what? a decade ago? and yet viewers were shocked. I was more shocked when Jamie lost his hand. (Spoiler alert?)
The best writers do this. They keep us engaged. They remain true to themselves. They don't pander; they never pander. I want to be George RR Martin when I grow up.

Dan Brown needs an editor!

As a writer, I keep hearing the importance of a good editor. Not just someone who can add a personalized touch to the typical Autocorrect, but somebody who can take a dispassionate look at the book as a whole--point out problems with the timeline, characterization and plot. And then, tell you very gently so your fragile ego doesn't shatter. Too bad Dan Brown doesn't have an editor. I have just finished Inferno. I listened to it as an audiobook, perfect while driving or walking the dog. First off, he made me want to visit Florence, so that's good. I've been to Venice and he captured the main bits there well. The plot isn't horrible...but could somebody send him a box of red pencils for Christmas? Do we really have to hear five times what's on the darned videotape? The repetition drives me crazy! It's as if he thinks the reader is really, really stupid so he has to point out stuff to us a number of times before we get it through our thick skulls. In fact, the entire book feels like a Harvard Prof is slumming and teaching the special ed class. He is condescending to the point of rudeness. I also get the feeling he's paid by the word. And the data dumps! That's what my editor says it's called when a writer stops a story in mid-flight to pass on facts and history. The entire novel is a data dump with the plot of a bad action/Logan's Run rip off mixed in. (In fact, the original Star Trek series handled the whole bit about population growth better on one of their episodes.) Don't get me started on the dialogue. And why, oh why, does he refer to the hero by his last name? More distance between the reader and author? And please don't allow him to write any more female characters ever again. Or humans. Or people who live in the modern world.

Bridget Jones is back!

Bridget Jones is back. The third novel "Mad About the Boy" will be published this October. I greet the news with trepidation. Mostly because the first novel was so utterly of its time and the sophomoric sequel was disappointing. Second, because in order to write a trilogy or a series, you have to lay the groundwork early. In the first book. If you don't, it just feels like you are cashing in. That's why the Hunger Games and even Twilight work--the authors did the tough stuff in book one with the end in mind. I wrote the end of my series The St. Bart's novels after book two. I knew where I was going and that helped me plot how to get there. I can't imagine finishing book one and fourteen years later having to pick up the thread again. It's not just the characters and the times that have changed, it's the writer. Sure, Helen Fielding is more proficient than before, but she's also older. Yes, so's her heroine you may argue, but it was Bridget's wide-eyed enthusiasm that made her so engaging.I don't want her saddled with kids. Nor do I want her, a decade and a half later, trying to decide between Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver. The first scenario would be boring; the second would be pitiful. No, I want her madly in love, kissing her Mr. Darcy in a snowstorm in her underwear. I don't need the wedding. I need the promise.