Writing and Reading

“The general who became a slave….

The slave who became a gladiator….

The gladiator who defied an emperor.

Striking story.”

- Joaquin Phoenix

Talking to a celebrity is an exhilarating thing! Even though I’ve personally talked to said celebrity on the phone before. Even though generally we’re friends! It’s funner (yes, funner) when said friend is also said celebrity. Yes, funner.

About an hour ago, I had a stimulating conversation on “The Odd Mind” with Lesa Trapp interviewing the one, the only…

L.B. GODDARD,

“The Goddess of Shadows”

Cue in the frightening orchestra music and blood showers. Dear God. Scary.

It was on the BlogTalk Radio web site under the show “The Odd Mind”, and our dear friend of darkness Lindsey (I mean, L.B.) had e-mailed me about her coming onto the show for an interview (fun, fun!). She urged me as well as many others to call in on the show.

So I did.

Networking is fun, people. Especially when it’s live and as personal as possible. And when separated by many States, a radio show rawks!

I just wanted to say thank you to Mrs. Goddard, L.B., Lindsey, our Lady Denizen of Darkness (I can pull them nicknames out nonstop, baby, watch me) for inviting me onto the show to chat. It was a blast.

For those who still haven’t heard of Lindsey Goddard, editor of “The Monsters Next Door,” CHECK IT. I promise you–you will never be the same.

Great to be baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Yeah, pass me the Funyuns! WHOO!

So I got me a selection here that’ll turn your insides, boil your blood, bake your colon up, redden your eyes, rock your senses, sing to your soul, slice your will into pieces, force you up to your feet so you can fight, fight hard, fight long, fight until the blood pours out of your eyes, and you choke on your spit from the cries and howls of a will to victory, VICTORY!

Can you guess the Wretched Writer likes battle scenes? Scenes of glory? Scenes of bloodshed for a cause? Heh…. Especially considering the bastard’s going to be shipping out for Basic Training very soon for the United States Navy. What a patriot, right? Eh…. He’s a little girlie-man, is what he is. Thank God he’s not here to whap me on the side of the head.

So anyway, this particular piece is, like, AWESOME. Take a gander at it. The video matches the feel of a battle scene–think “Braveheart” or “Gladiator” or “Troy” or “300″. Great battle scenes. Lots of blood. Chuck Stake would orgasm over it. Just not here. No, not here.

I swear, it’s happening. It’s really happening. The era of the paperback/hardcover is ending. Slowly. Soon bookstores might turn into kiosks with workstations holding Macs and PCs, sort of like a FedEx Kinko’s. No more shelves, no more mounds of books. No more reading areas. No more coffee. (well, maybe they could swing that–ya gotta have some of that Starbucks!) No more nice couches and chairs!

DEAR GOD!!!

I’m talking about that rising beast of the book biz, the e-book. Yes, I’m writing another post about the e-book.

I can’t count how many times I’ve seen some news or an article regarding the e-book–we’re hearing news about the Amazon Kindle, that new Sony eReader, the new app called “Stanza” that works on the Apple’s iPhone, turning your phone/camera/browser/gaming device/coffee maker/vibrator into, also, yet again another function, a freakin’ book reader!

Let’s face it, e-books are on the rise.

One of Nathan Bransford’s newer posts asked a pivotal question in literary history. Simply this: Will You Ever Buy Mostly E-books?

It’s a fabulous question. And it deserves a fabulous answer. Don’t worry, Nathan. I may get the chance to actually answer in a little bit on your own blog. Just know that your question hath spurred me to rant on my own. I feel it in my veins.

In my budding career as a writer, I’d have to say a number of things about my habits and reading ‘projects’ I take on. Put it this way: I have many friends who are also writers. I have a couple friends who are actually published writers. I have some of their books. I don’t know if it’s in the water or the air, somehow subliminal messages pass into my brain via mechanical fruit flies (sort of like those ‘flies’ from the remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still”); but as much as I take on my own projects, I feel a certain need and place to also read other writers’ work. Not necessarily for enjoyment, mind you. Do you understand what I’m saying?

Take my soon-to-be upcoming video book reviews, hopefully first one coming out in the next century. (I’m close to finishing your book, Sarah, I promise!) It is, in my opinion, a common fact that if you read something critically, you also write for yourself actively. Call it assimilation. A Borg, I am not. But close. Watch out, Captain Picard. Call it immersion in the literary world. Call it anything. But whatever you do, don’t say it’s simply for pure enjoyment. It is no longer.

I can say the same for our wondrous literary agents and editors out there, too. Regarding our manuscripts, NONE of it is for enjoyment (unless they’re finding they really, really, really, really, really, really, really like a particular manuscript). It’s business.

And here is my point. I would give everything save my soul to be able to download as many unpublished works onto some device that allows me to read in the privacy of my own bed, on the floor, on a train, on a bus, walking down the street to the doctor’s office to have my prostate checked, you get the idea. Saves time. With a device like that, I’d have Sarah Jensen’s book finished about ten decades ago. But that’s not possible; all I have is a freakin’ desktop. That I sit in. On a chair that’s bent to one side (hey, if it works, it works).

There lies my absolute value in a Kindle or eReader. In fact, for several weeks now, I’ve been dying for an app to be available for my Verizon Voyager that allows me to download Word files and be able to read them as if on a Palm Pilot. That would be the coolest thing. Soon I’d be reading Michelle McLean’s historical romance, and Mary Lindsey’s YA paranormal, H.L. Dyer’s THE EDGE OF MEMORY, Elana Johnson’s sharp work, Scott Tracey’s coolness. EVERYONE who’s striving for publication, I want to read! And a Kindle/eReader/reading application thingy for cool smartphone multifunctional device would help tremendously in that department. I’m sure, based on Nathan’s life, that it benefits him as well.

Will then the traditional paperbacks/hardcovers go bye-bye? No. Not at all. At least not for me.

Like I said, being a tiny budding writer in this big literary world, my concept of reading has changed. I don’t read simply for fun anymore; actually, let me rephrase: what I read for fun is now supplemented by what I read for business. And if you do the math, that’s a hell of a lot of reading! But it’s cool.

I have my favorite authors, you know? I still love Terry Goodkind. I will own his books until I’m dead and buried. And I will pass on his books to my son. I’ve owned a few classics as well–Nathaniel Hawthorne, Isaac Asimov, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe. Can you imagine owning these classics via a ‘reading device’? That’s almost like owning a Bible via implants in your brain (although that would be extremely efficient). There’s a certain honor to owning a piece of work in the literal ‘flesh’. Especially if you have that loving autograph written on the first page! (squeals like a little girl)

Now don’t get me wrong–you purchase a book through the Kindle or eReader, you’re still owning it for sure. But the concept is slightly different. I’m sure you understand.

My answer to Nathan will probably be this: no. I won’t mostly buy e-books. I might buy a few e-books for fun. But not many. Most of the books I’d read for enjoyment will still be in paperback or hardcover.

Ever heard of the ‘beach read’? Can you imagine being out in the beach, wearing sunglasses, with your electronic Kindle? Can you see the sun melting away the Kindle, or the sand getting stuck in its crevices? I’d feel more comfortable with a wrinkly, slightly moist, curled-up awesome paperback with a sweet cover on it. It’s…timeless.

I don’t know if other people feel the same as I do, but the fact of the matter is–books have been around literallysince, well, biblical times, I’d say. That’s a long time, last I heard. There’s always a place for an awesome, cozy paperback or hardcover in my home. ESPECIALLY for a bestseller of which I happen to be a fan. I’d own anything Stephen King if my life depended on it. You’d probably not find him on my hypothetical Kindlereaderstanzaphone at all.

Pass me the timeless beach read any day, baby. (That is, of course, after I finish reading Sarah’s book, and then Jordan Dane’s book, and then Michelle McLean’s book, and then H.L. Dyer’s book, and then….)

Just a quick post and celebration, peeps! Get some confetti up in here! Rawk it!

Check it, Chuck Stake with his bloody crocodile leather suit (hopefully he won’t sit down on my sofa) is here to party it out till the sun comes up; and my musical pal Freak Quincy’s off from the station to work the tunes here…

TO CELEBRATE MY 1,000th UNIQUE HIT

FOR THE “WRITING AND READING” BLOG!

I’m not even done with the month yet, and I’ve already broke 1,000. Apparently, you like me! You really, really like me! (starts tearing up in the eyes) (Blows millions of kisses)

I’d like to thank the Academy, and my son, and Barack Obama, and Jack Bauer, and my parakeet Petie, and grass, and stationary paper, and all the times I had to blow my nose, and my grocery store that I work at, and the infamous Meijer Greeter who prowls around my blog from time to time, and Sarah Jensen, and H.L. Dyer, and Michelle McLean, and Kristal Shaff, and Elana Johnson, and Christine Fonseca, and Mary Lindsey, and pizza, and Kool-Aid, and rock erosion for being so faithful to the natural order of things, and Ozzy Osbourne.

And, of course, a big shot-out to the big G, the head honcho of Heaven, the big cheese of cherubs.

God, I love You.

I had a severe wake-up call yesterday when one of my friends told me of a great pastime closing down for business–not because money ran low or because rats were in the kitchen or because a fire torched everything and not enough funds to rebuild. No.

A bigger ‘fish’ took over the market, choking out the smaller ‘fish’. Pretty sad, really. Because I loved the place ever since I was a kid.

I’m talking about Waldenbooks, a mall-associated chain bookstore basically all over the United States. Whether I was growing up in Chicago or living here in Grand Rapids, I’d step into the mall with my family, I’d see the Waldenbooks, and my mind would drift away to whimsy and wisdom and beauty of books and how important it was to have an imagination, and to see the smiles on the faces of those working in the store.

It made me love books. No kidding.

Well, here in Grand Rapids, the Woodland Mall, the Waldenbooks is closing down. You know why?

The unstoppable juggernaut, the unbeatable Roman gladiator, the Death Star of the literary world (well, next to Amazon, of course)…

BARNES & NOBLE…

is opening up a new branch right in the mall.

This takes me back to certain clips of a relatively popular film in the romantic comedy genre known as “You’ve Got Mail”. A story about an old little Jeffersonian-quality bookstore that promotes the enjoyment of reading, that reading is priceless and shouldn’t be about money–

Until the big, bad money-making machine of a superstore comes in, squashes the tiny little store with its low prices and coffee shop and tons of soft sofas and chairs and rows and rows of mass-produced books.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I happen to adore Barnes & Noble.

In fact, you can’t get a better chance of finding the book you want, reading the book you want. Sometimes I take my son there, because they have a kids section with a “stage” for playing and reading and one of those nice “Thomas the Train” train sets.

But this thing happening, these small, dedicated bookstores closing down (read Colleen Lindsay’s blog for more news on things like that, too), because of these bigger ‘fish’ monopolizing the book industry, serializing the concept of the ‘book’, ‘expanding’ the industry, it really does make me wonder….

I mean, agent Nathan Bransford once touched on this before, too, due to the rapid change in the book industry because of the current economy.

Publishers these days are relying more on the bestsellers and celebrity books than on first-time unknown authors with something new and fresh and not necessarily ‘popular’. Editors and agents these days are more comfortable with something that will sell based on the current numbers than something that will sell simply because it’s just a good book.

(However, on a sidenote: you got to hand it to many literary agents out there, Nathan included; for them to take on a project with a prospective author, the agent still has to be completely in love with the work. Bravo, agents. I heart you big time.)

Is this a proportional trend to the fact that smaller, independent bookstores all over are closing down because of the big ‘fish’, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble and even Borders?

Is the industry turning into something more about mass production and media and big bucks and less about literary quality and the joy of reading?

Here’s a more interesting question: is this a good thing or a bad thing for the book biz? Hmm….

DISCUSS.

Back to work. Here I am in the morning, trying to make sense of my pencils and funny fingertips. COFFEE!

Seriously, you know, like, man, after the weekend and calling in on Friday and my trip to Lansing on Wednesday and Thursday, it’s good to be back to post another loving…er…post…of the MIC. I’m posting a post. I’m posting a post of a post from Ryan Higa again. ‘Cause, you know, Ryan Higa is FUNNY! Especially in the morning. When I’m trying to stay awake.

You know what I want? Tacos. I want tacos. There should be a place that serves morning tacos. That would make a killing. They’d have these flour tortillas with scrambled eggs and cuts of bacon and sausage. It would be a breakfast taco. Like a breakfast burrito. Only a taco. ‘Cause I want tacos. Now.

Okay, so here’s the clip from the MIC. Taco Supreme.

So…. Like I said, the funniest things that happen sometimes come out of real life. This one in particular. I won’t explain what I mean by “Asian Priest”. But this a quote from a good pal of mine who sometimes gets carried away with booze. What he said made no sense. And I thought it would be profound to immortalize him here on “Writing and Reading”. Cheers.

************************************

“You watch it,

or I’m gonna stick my ‘charles’

in your face!”

- Ben Longman, Grand Rapids, Michigan

It’s time for a little evil…. (The Wretched Writer feels the fire grow in his eyes).

I have my fourth sketch here of my very first villian of THE CAIN LETTERS. Literally. As in, he appears in the very first scene of the book.

His name is…

NIKOLAS STAHL

Sired centuries ago by darkness, Nikolas Stahl of the Russian Vampire Nation, Warrior of the First Blood Council in Russia, lived with a hunger to reign–bitter over impurities over the history and centuries of strange experiments and new breeds of vampire. In essence, Nikolas stands as one of the oldest vampires in the world–hence making him a ‘purist’. Among his most loathed are a vile breed of vampire known as ‘threll’. Hideous monsters sired out of dead vampire blood, transforming them into something unspeakable and shameful toward the natural vampire race.

For all his eternity, he’s sworn death to that breed, wanting to rule over the Council itself as well. Poisoned by power and an insatiable lust for the secret of his being, the origin of power, the origin of evil, a lust rivaling that of his own need for blood, Nikolas Stahl faces the vulnerable world with a fanged smile on his face and eyes of fire. A fire that will forever burn….

I’ve mentioned many times the toils and tumult of having to wait for an answer from a literary agent or editor about a query letter or submission. I’ll admit something–

I’m close to saying that it’s even worse waiting for that little signed piece of paper that says I’m fit to enlist. It’s just a little piece of paper. With someone’s name written in fancy cursive (also known as a ’signature’). And that little piece of paper will decide my future.

In seven days time, I’ll essentially be homeless. And here I am. Waiting. Waiting for an answer.

I’ve never felt time. Move. Any. Slower. Than. This.