Jacke Wilson's Blog, page 71
October 10, 2014
It’s the Jacke Wilson Show! Episode 1.1 – The Halloween Episode
Here we go! Episode 1 of THE JACKE WILSON SHOW, an effort that has been seriously hindered by my complete lack of any knowledge about how any of this works. I had a lot of fun! And it’s yet another disaster! Ah well. Someone needs to take these tools away from me. (Or not! Who am I, Laura Miller, angry at the barbarians at the gate? Even the plebes deserve a few toys, don’t they? And a voice? They get to have their say, don’t they? Don’t they?)
Ahem.
Readers, I could use your help! Like I said, I have no idea how any of this works. Take a listen, and let me know what you think! Does it sound okay on your player? In your headphones? Honestly, I did my best. I hope you enjoy it!
http://traffic.libsyn.com/jackewilsonshow/The_Jacke_Wilson_Show_1.1.mp3
Download the mp3 file: The Jacke Wilson Show 1.1 – The Halloween Episode.
Show Notes:
It’s the JACKE WILSON SHOW!
On this week’s show: lusty lizards in space, Leo Tolstoy, a lost scene from Macbeth, a new play for Bryan Cranston and Kate Winslett, Homer Simpson sings a Christmas Carol, a revised Edgar Allan Poe (with even MORE spookiness), and A History of Jacke Wilson in 100 Objects #13 – The Monster. Enjoy!
JACKE WILSON is the pen name of a writer whose books have been described as being “full of intrigue and expertly rendered deadpan comedy.” Born in Wisconsin, Jacke has since lived in Chicago, Bologna, Taiwan, Ann Arbor, Seattle, Mountain View, and New York City. Jacke now lives and works in the Washington D.C. area. Like his writings, the JACKE WILSON SHOW takes an affectionate look at the absurdities in literature, art, philosophy, great books, poetry, current events, hard news, politics, whatever passes for civilization these days, and the human condition (that dying animal). For more about Jacke and his books, visit Jacke at jackewilson.com.
Credits:
Danse Macabre Hook, Greta Sting, Fanfare for Space, Return of Lazarus by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, adapted by Marjorie P. Katz, read by Jacke Wilson Jr.
The Lost Scene of Macbeth, Lusty Lizards (excerpts), and A History of Jacke in 100 Objects #13 – The Monster by Jacke Wilson
Update: Giveaway Over!
Five lucky winners will get their copies shipped today. Congratulations!
October 9, 2014
One Day Left! Free Books Almost Gone!
Quick note to remind you that the Goodreads Giveaway is almost finished.
Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Race
by Jacke Wilson
Giveaway ends October 10, 2014.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
And when it’s finished? What then? Well, I suppose it’s back to you and me, reader. Amazon does have a discount on the books. The blog is always free. And review copies are still available. We’ll manage!
October 7, 2014
Goodreads Giveaway: Politicians Are Human Beings. Maybe.
Hello everyone! Some of you may recall the last time I did a Goodreads Giveaway, where I shipped off five free copies of The Promotion. I think it’s fairly common to recap these things, with a mathematical analysis of how many people requested the book, how many reviews it led to, what the impact was on sales, and finally some conclusions about lessons learned. Far be it from me to prevent information from reaching you, my loyal readers! So with apologies for the delay, here’s the list of conclusions I reached from the first Goodreads Giveaway:
It is really, really fun to give away copies of your own book.
That’s it! That’s all I learned! Oh sure, selling the book is fun too. That’s hard to beat. But giving copies away is a very close second.
So here we go! Another Goodreads Giveaway! This time it’s for The Race. Five lucky winners will get a free signed copy of the paperback version. Just in time for the campaign season! At least if you’re here in the States, that is…
And if you are, or if you live in any kind of electoral democracy, or I guess even if you don’t and are just wondering what it’s like, what it does to the people running for office and those who surround them, this book is for you.
Have you ever watched a debate or a campaign ad on your television and wondered that? What makes these guys so weird? Why are they all like this? This book is for you!
Or: Why is it that everyone around me is so normal? And the people who run everything are so freaking bizarre? This book is for you!
Or: Can’t we come up with a better system than this? We don’t elect the best among us. We elect zombie robots with odd tendencies who practically come across as alien beings, so detached are they from what we tend to think of as walking , talking, breathing, loving, caring, decent, honest, kind, and hardworking normal people.
Have you thought that? Then this book is for you!
So buy the book now, and enjoy an up-close view of a campaign where the candidate is hated by the world and plows forward anyway, smiling at a crowd with no smiles in return, because that is who he is and that is how these guys roll. Or try your luck at a free copy by clicking a button at Goodreads!
(Or… if you’re not one to gamble… just shoot me an email! I still have review copies I’d be happy to send your way. All you need to do is offer to post a review on Amazon or your own blog or wherever you prefer to leave your online trail of readerly reaction. Let me give these things away! Make me a happy man!)
Here’s the Giveaway text:
Giveaway! Five free signed copies of The Race, the “absolutely fascinating” novella about one man’s attempt to survive a sex scandal. My Little Book Blog calls it “a delightful novella about politics, scandal, reputation and above all, the importance of love…”
“An incredibly astute and well-written novella about politics… Smart, well-written, and frequently funny, The Race offers some interesting speculation into the mind of the American politician…” –Small Press Reviews
“Warm and full of life” — My Little Book Blog
“This was a great little piece of political fiction… Wilson shows his writing chops – immersing us in a political world that doesn’t feel jargony, over-the-top, or formulaic.” — Radical Science Fiction
So if you’re a Goodreads reader, head on over to the Giveaway and sign up for your chance to win big.
Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Race
by Jacke Wilson
Giveaway ends October 10, 2014.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
October 5, 2014
Writers Laughing: Gertrude Stein
Stein was stern. Photo after photo, the same expression. Dour. Fierce. Almost combative.
But that’s not good enough for us, is it? We like laughing writers!
And… here we go!
Yes! Of course! The little dog on her lap (or maybe it’s the one up by her head)? One of them is making her laugh!
And here’s a bonus photo. Not quite a laugh, but…
That happy face is certainly thanks to the baby. WHO IS JACK HEMINGWAY. Ernie’s boy.
What a great day. Love Gertrude. Love her even more when she’s laughing. Happy Monday, people!
“Another Well-Written Novella”: Five Stars for The Promotion!
Here we go! Another great review of my book The Promotion, this time by the awesome More Books Than Shoes. And what a nice way for me to celebrate my Sunday. She enjoyed it!
The Promotion is the second novella I’ve read by the talented Jacke Wilson, and I didn’t think it was possible but I actually enjoyed it more than ‘The Race’
Wow! And there’s this picture – The Promotion on her Kindle:
As is so often the case, the reviewer writes a description as good as any that I myself can come up with:
It follows the story of a lawyer who is tasked with the job of recruiting new attorneys to join the firm he works for. From the get go we can see he’s not having the best of times. His wife who became addicted to gambling has left him and his work life isn’t much better. The new job role gives him a sense of purpose, or passion, to try and encourage people to join the business, only after a few odd lunches with two other colleagues Jennifer and Martin, he can’t help but feel that things aren’t going too well.
He becomes obsessed with a woman named Mina Meinl and soon it is all he can think about, almost like one last hurrah, if he can solve the mystery of her, his life will improve. But underlying all of this is the story of someone who has lost his or her way in the world. I’ve seen some people describe this mans decline into madness, but what I got was the slow, subtle cracks of someone falling into a depression.
There’s more too. Head over to More Books Than Shoes to read the whole thing. And here’s the capper:
Another well-written novella, with many layers of thought threaded throughout. If you want something that you can read fairly quickly and keep you intrigued, this is the perfect book for you.
Star Rating out of 5: 5
How wonderful. I’ll be smiling all day. My thanks to More Books Than Shoes for a perfect way to kick off my October. Onward and upward, people!
Are you a reviewer? Do you like free books? Just let me know you’re interested and I’ll happily send you a copy.
October 1, 2014
Writers Laughing: George Orwell
Okay, the degree of difficulty is off the charts for this one. This is a man who agonized over politics and the English language. Who loved England and democracy but spent his life fighting against oppression and tyranny and the dangers of lazy thinking.
Laughing? George Orwell was shot in the throat while fighting in the Spanish Civil War. Come on, Jacke. You really think you can find a picture of him laughing?
Well, here we go:
Laughing! Right? Okay, maybe it’s no Ray Bradbury…his life was harder, and…
Wait…you don’t believe me? You think that’s just a smile? What are you accusing me of, reader? You think I’m trying to sneak one past you?
Reader, we have a good thing going! Don’t you trust me?
Fine, fine. I’ll give you my evidence. That picture above is taken from THIS picture:
Look at that baby’s face! Look again at Orwell and tell me he’s not laughing.
No, really. Look back and forth several times. Baby to George to baby to George to baby to George. I swear I can see the laughter!
Okay, okay. You insist on thinking that he’s all business? Well, maybe. But at least his business was not always politics:
That’s George Orwell tying his son’s shoes. Fantastic. Kind of like Scott and Zelda laughing with Scottie or Leo Tolstoy drinking from the little glass. Caught in a natural moment.
Life is good, people, life is good.
Image Credits: telegraph.co.uk, georgeorwellnovels.com
Today’s Comment of the Week: The Paralegal Checks In
Wonderful Reader K.C. writes:
The Promotion is definitely my next read. My “day” job is as a paralegal and the description is genius. Can’t wait to read.
Oh boy! A paralegal! Reading about “when big law meets big trouble…” This should be interesting…
It kind of reminds me of that time I walked into the kitchen at work only to find a paralegal sitting at a table, eating potato chips and reading a book called Kill All the Lawyers. I made a joke about it, thinking she’d quickly try to hide the cover. I thought she’d be embarrassed, having been caught reading this book at a law firm.
I thought she might apologize. I thought her face might turn red.
Nope.
She looked at the cover, looked back at me, and shrugged.
And now, the powder keg of The Promotion rolls its way into a firm, looking for a good spark. I’m sure K.C. will find much to enjoy. I’m sure she works with some crazy people, and she will enjoy finding that all the lawyers in the book are crazy too. Unless only some of them are. Or maybe just one.
In any case, I hope she reports back on whether she recognizes anything familiar. (And for her sake, maybe I should hope she doesn’t…)
If you’re a lawyer and/or you hate lawyers, or if you just work with them and hate them (no or in that clause!), or if you’re indifferent to those questions but you just like the idea of a modern-day Edgar Allan Poe character let loose in a law firm to cause whatever mayhem he can while still trying to pretend nothing is wrong, you may enjoy The Promotion, the book that’s been called “an exceptionally fast read” and described as having “humor, depression, and hope all together in one short book.” Amazon’s running a sale on it, people. A buck for the Kindle version, and $4.49 for the paperback.
That’s right. It’s a promotion of The Promotion. A phrase I try not to overuse but which always reminds me of this, which makes me laugh, so I guess it’s okay:
September 29, 2014
This Is It! The Top Post of the Year!
This is it! We’ve come to the end of the Blogiversary Extravaganza, in which I’ve counted down the top posts of the year. Object, object, object, object. Ho-hum. I even had to throw in a few honorable mentions just to keep things interesting. (Hello, Soho Press, John Lennon’s Writing Wisdom, and the irrepressible Charlotte Brontë, dumping her hopeless suitor!)
This countdown has been fun, people! I’ve indulged myself by smothering myself in glory. And you were right there with me! Although you haven’t enjoyed it nearly as much as you have the countdown to the absolute worst posts of the year. Ah, people. I don’t know what to say. What is it about humans that love disaster so much? Must it be that way? Does it have to be the case that recalling the posts that blew up in my face has been more popular than traipsing back through the hits? Something wrong about that. Twisted. Perverse. (And I would do the exact same thing, of course.)
But now it’s time. The top post of the year. I hinted that it might be The Burger Car (still one of the most popular endings), or The Monster (which prompted perhaps the best comment of the year), or maybe The Spitwad (underappreciated but well loved in a sneaky way). The Sweater caught fire for a while and made a late run. The Mugs did their slice-of-life thing. Fell short anyway. Of course. They are The Mugs. That is their nature.
Only one Object could be at the top. And this one earned its way there. That’s right… the story about the time I shared an office with Jerry Seinfeld… the real Jerry Seinfeld… and if you remember the story you’ll know what that means…
The Jacke Wilson Blogiversary Countdown
Most Popular Post of the Year 2013-2014
A History of Jacke in 100 Objects #3 – The Blood Cake
The winner! And it’s a worthy candidate. Congratulations, Blood Cake. You spun my misery – not to mention the total disgrace of two of my co-workers – into computer-generated-frosting goodness. Kudos to you.
And to celebrate another one of my favorite comments, The Blood Cake also prompted this gem:
I started reading, and I could not stop. I had my daughter read the first two sentences, and she could not stop. Same with my wife…
Wow. Could there be a nicer compliment to pay a writer? I’m still overwhelmed, just thinking about it. Thank you so much – it is such a wonderful thing to hear!
And that goes likewise for you, dear readers. Thank you, thank you, thank you. This blog has been a tremendous boost for me, taking me from the depths of despair to the lofty heights of connecting with readers. I’m grateful to each and every one of you, and all the Likers, and all the Commenters, and the Amazing Reviewers (who deserve their own special circle of heaven), and the Even More Amazing Purchasers of My Books. I’m truly a lucky guy. You can’t see Jacke, but Jacke is smiling. And swallowing hard. And shuffling his weight from one side to the other. That’s right. Jacke is a little misty right now.
Ahem. [Blinks several times.]
And now, the waterworks is turned off. The dust has settled. Losers have gone home licking their wounds. Even the winners have lost their glow. Let’s get back to another year of blogging razzle-dazzle, with a bunch more objects, some more writers laughing, another round of small-press shoutouts, a rant or two, a promotion or two, and hopefully a few surprises to keep things full of positive energy.
Onward! And upward! (And thank you!!)
September 28, 2014
Writers Laughing: Norman Mailer and Truman Capote
Another curious one. Knowing these two, my guess is that they despised each other 99.99 percent of the time.
But in that other .01 percent …
…big laughs for everyone!
Image credit: Popaganda.gr
