Broken Eye by Brent
Weeks is the third book of The Lightbringer series. This novel follows the
exciting events detailed in Burning Knife, the second book in the series. The
four main narrators are Gavin, the current Prism who has lost his powers, Kip,
Gavin’s son, and a Blackguard trainee, Teia, Kip’s friend and a Blackguard
trainee (and Kip’s slave, but that is another story), and Karris White Oak,
Gavin’s wife (she is also a former Blackguard and The White’s assistant. The
White is the leader of the spy corps of the Chromeria). These four characters
have important tasks to carry out in the war against the Color Prince and a
shadowy group of assassins named the Order of the Broken Eye. If they fail in
their missions, then the colors will become unbalanced and they risk the
destruction of their world.
Summary Background
Chromaturgy is the magical system of the Seven Satrapies. They call
magicians who use Chromaturgy drafters and the best drafters live on the Chromeria,
the seat of the Satrapies government. Drafters can take a part of the spectrum
of light and make a substance called luxin. They can shape luxin into items,
with the color of the luxin determining the properties of the item. Most
drafters can draft one or two colors while the Prism can draft all the colors. There
is only one Prism alive at one time and the Prism is the military, spiritual,
and political leader of the Satrapies.
Summary Plot
Gavin is the Prism, but he had lost his powers. He is a galley slave
under Captain Gunner and Gavin searches for a way to escape. Kip is a
Blackguard trainee but is being coerced and groomed by his grandfather Andross
to do Andross’s bidding as the potential next Prism. Kip is conflicted with his
feelings for Andross. He is also conflicted with his feelings for Teia, who is
his friend, comrade, and a reluctant slave who he would like to become romantically
involved. This plot becomes more complicated when Tisis is interested in
getting to know Kip physically and Kip finds he is also interested in her.
Events get beyond Kip’s control and he must try to escape the Chromeria before someone
assassinates him. Teia is tasked by the White to infiltrate the secret Order of
the Broken Eye. It is a dangerous mission complicated by her interaction with
the assassin named Murder Sharp. Kariss White Oak assists the White by gaining
intelligence about the Color Prince’s rebellion.
Meanwhile, the Color Prince has been marshaling his land forces
beginning an invasion of the Blood Forest which is one step from the Chromeria.
The main characters must become involved in defeating him before he becomes too
strong.
Recommendation
The story of the Lightbringer series gets more complicated and interesting in this novel. This novel is a part of the larger series. The author resolves plot points from book 2 and the author introduce others to be explored in the next book. The four main characters are well drawn. The author pushes their arcs in this novel to a climactic confrontation at the Chromeria. There were other viewpoint chapters in the novel, but I believe those chapters were unnecessary though they were well written. It would take more space to develop more than the four main characters. The next novel in the series is named the Blood Mirror and I will read it this year. The last novel in the series is named the Burning White and is scheduled to be published on October 22, 2019.
Links
This is the link to the
Goodreads page of Broken Eye by Brent Weeks.
Self-Publishing Boot Camp Guide for Authors, 4th
Edition: Your roadmap to creating, publishing, promoting, and selling your
books is written by Carla King. It is a
comprehensive guide for authors interested in self-publishing their
work. The book strives to be up to date with current information. This is the
fourth edition and Carla King updates the consumer’s guide section periodically
through her website, so to use this book to its fullest effect, authors should
seek out and use the updates to the consumer’s
guide by subscribing to her reader’s list.
Summary
Self-Publishing Boot Camp is divided into seven sections which cover her advice on all aspects of becoming a self-publisher because self-publishing is a business and authors must understand what they want to achieve by self-publishing. There are certain tasks to self-publishing that can be completed by hiring the work out based on the project’s budget and the author’s ability to complete certain tasks.
These are the seven sections in the book.
Prepare for success
by using beta readers (she uses Word to write the book and BetaBooks to
distribute to beta readers), beta publishing (she uses LeanPub), self-edit
your work (she uses ProWriting Aid, MasterWriter, and Fictionary), and
hiring a professional editor.
Create a publishing
business by developing a business plan,
creating your publishing imprint, and buying at least ten ISBN for all your book formats.
Good book design is
important to make your book look as close as possible to the mainstream
publishers. Book Design involves the interior design and most critically
the book cover. It is important to hire out this task to a professional. Create
the book with a PDF for printing and an e-book.
Distribute your book using Amazon KDP for Amazon ebooks (MOBI book
format), Smashwords for all other ebooks (EPUB book format), Amazon Kindle
Print for Amazon POD (Print on demand with PDF book format), and IngramSpark
for all other POD (PDF book format).
Selling your book
direct by your website and through other means. (She uses WordPress and GoDaddy.com for her websites. She uses
Gumroad for direct orders.)
Book marketing and
promotion through your website and social media.
This section is the consumer’s guide for self-publishers where the available
vendors are reviewed, and recommendations are made. This section is
updated and if you subscribe to her reader’s list, then Carla King will email
you the updates in a separate web book. This is the link to the
subscription page. https://selfpubbootcamp.com/readers/
Recommendation
This book has all the knowledge you need to decide if self-publishing is the right way to release your book. It seems like a daunting task, but Carla King takes each necessary step of the process and explains what to do clearly and simply. The consumer’s guide gives options for help in producing a self-published book. Let Carla guide you on your journey of self-publishing. That’s my plan and I will update this post to show my progress.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Self-Publishing
Boot Camp by Carla King.
Camino Island by John Grisham is a thriller about the
theft of rare manuscripts from the Princeton University Library. Frustrated
writer Mercer Mann is recruited by the FBI rare asset recovery unit to get
inside the inner circle of rare book dealer Bruce Cable, the FBI’s suspect for
buying the stolen original handwritten manuscripts of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s
five novels. Mercer must go to Bruce’s bookstore, Bay Books, on Camino Island in
Florida. If she can convince Bruce to show her the manuscripts, will she turn
him into the FBI or will she let him go?
Summary
The first three chapters of Camino Island follow the
viewpoints of the three main characters in succession. The first chapter, The
Heist, follows Denny Durban a disgraced Army Ranger as he and his crew steal
the manuscripts from the Princeton Library. Chapter Two, The Dealer, is the
backstory about how Bruce came into money, opened his bookstore, and becomes a
dealer in rare writings. Mercer is introduced in Chapter Three, The Recruit,
when she had just lost her job as an adjunct professor at the University of
North Carolina. She had written a well-received novel years ago and a book of
short stories. She had been unsuccessfully trying to write her next novel as
she taught. Elaine of the FBI rare asset recovery unit has an offer for Mercer.
Return to her childhood summer retreat of Camino Island to learn what she can about
Bruce and the FBI will pay her well including eliminating her student loan
debt. She had spent her summers there with her Aunt Tessa until her Aunt died.
Mercer is reluctant to go, but she accepts the offer for the money. She engages
with the writer’s community on Camino Island and is soon introduced to Bruce.
He is a notorious ladies man, who is married to Noelle but is rumored to bed
young female writers as they come for book tours at his store. Mercer is a
likely target for Bruce and that is why Elaine recruited her. The story
continues following Mercer, Bruce, and Denny until the conclusion.
Recommendation
I liked this book, but something was missing. It had to do with my expectations for the novel and the characters. I can’t decide who the protagonist is and the genre of this novel falls. The three main characters are Denny, the antagonist, Mercer, maybe the protagonist, and Bruce, who is somewhere in between. The categories on Amazon put this novel under thrillers and suspense with subcategories of Heist, Crime, and Conspiracy. It could have been a thriller, but Denny never threatens or even meets Mercer or Bruce. The secondary plot involves the writing community on Camino Island. It could have been a literary novel where Mercer found her muse to write by interacting with the community, but that’s not how the novel turned out. So, it’s a non-thriller thriller or a non-literary literary novel. The setup and characterization are well done, and that makes the unfulfilled ending disappointing.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Camino
Island by John Grisham.
Origin by
Dan Brown is his fifth book featuring Harvard professor of symbology and
religious iconology Robert Langdon. Edmond Kirsch is a former student of
Langdon. Kirsch is a billionaire computer tech genius who has a controversial presentation
to make. When his presentation is interrupted, it falls to Langdon to solve the
riddle to unlock Kirsch’s research. Langdon’s life is threatened by unknown assailants desperate to keep Kirsch’s
research from the public. Can Langdon solve the riddle before Kirsch’s research
is lost forever?
Summary
Edmond Kirsch has discovered something about the origin of
man that will challenge the world’s religions. He tells his findings to a religious
leader from Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. They are shaken by the news.
Kirsch plans to announce his findings at a large event watched worldwide at the
Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Langdon is one person Kirsch invites to the
event. Ambra Vidal is the museum director who planned the event with Kirsch.
She is also the finance of Prince Julian, the heir to the Spanish throne.
Edmond talks to Langdon before the event in private. He poses two questions about
the human race to Langdon. How did it all begin? Where are we going? Kirsch starts
his presentation but something goes wrong. Langdon and Vidal must flee the
museum and solve a riddle to unlock Kirsch’s presentation so everyone can see
what he planned to say. Their only ally is Winston, the artificial intelligence
that Kirsch had invented. They must avoid the Guardia Real (the Spanish Royal Guard),
the Spanish police, and members of the Palmarian Church on their journey from Bilbao
to Barcelona. The finale takes Langdon and Vidal from Gaudi’s Casa Mila to
Sagrada Familia to the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and a final resolution.
Recommendation
I liked this book, and it fits well with the other novels in the series. The plot moves quickly, and the premise is intriguing. I was worried the solution would not be as shocking as it was portrayed to be in the novel. Without providing spoilers, I would say Kirsch’s conclusions do not pose the threat to religion he proposes. Where do we come from? There is still room for a creator. Where are we going? The answer has been used in science fiction novels for decades. I think it is good that mystery readers will be exposed to science fictional topics in this novel, so like that idea. The formula of the book is like a travelogue, send Langdon to a location and set one scene in each famous landmark that is there. It’s easy, but it works.
Links
Origin by Dan Brown is Book #5 of the Robert Langdon
Series
This is a link to my book review of The Atlantis Gene by A. G. Riddle, Book 1 of the Origin Series. This novel is about the origin of man. It is a technothriller like Origin, but it takes a different path than Origin does by having an extraterrestrial solution. It is a quick read with an interesting premise.
The
Dispatcher by John Scalzi is about Tony Valdez who is a legal professional
murderer. In the future, people who are murdered
come back to life in the place where they find most comforting. People who commit suicide and have natural deaths stay dead.
Murder victims return to life naked but alive. So, murderers can keep people
from dying an eternal death. Someone has kidnapped one of Tony’s colleagues,
another Dispatcher and Tony must rescue him, or his colleague may be killed and
stay dead. Will Tony continue to search for him even though Tony may face his
own eternal death?
Summary
The story starts with Tony at the hospital on an assignment
covering for his friend Jimmy Albert. Insurance companies demand Dispatchers
are present at risky surgeries so if the operation goes wrong the Dispatcher
can murder the patient so the patient can live again. This will protect the
hospital and the insurance company from wrongful death lawsuits. It is a judgment
call for the Dispatcher on whether to do the task. After he completes his
assignment, Chicago detective Nona Langdon interviews Tony about Jimmy. Jimmy
is missing and Nona thinks Tony can help her find him. Tony knows the right
people to ask about what assignments Jimmy was working on. Jimmy was taking
less than legal jobs and they wondered if that was why he was kidnapped. Tony
uses his contacts without Nona knowledge and it gets him into trouble. Nona and
Tony follow their leads to find out what happened to Jimmy.
Recommendation
The Dispatcher is a 130-page novella and is a tight, intriguing story. The mechanism of how murder victims are returned to life is an interesting idea and the ramifications are explored in this story. It’s a future police procedural with a surprising moral. If you don’t pay attention to your loved one’s wishes, you will suffer at your own peril. I want to read the next novella, The Dispatcher 2 when published and learn more about Tony and the role of Dispatchers in this world.
Links
The Dispatcher by John Scalzi is Book #1 of the
Dispatcher Series
This is the link to The Dispatcher’s Goodreads page.
John Scalzi read the first chapter in his work in
progress, the Dispatcher 2, at the science fiction conference ConFusion in Detroit
on January 19, 2019. This is a link to my recap of the conference and John
Scalzi’s reading
This is a link to my book review of The Consuming Fire
by John Scalzi, Book 1 of the Interdependency Sequence. It is the next most
recent book I have read by John Scalzi.
This is a
book review of the Consuming Fire by John Scalzi. Cardenia Wu-Patrick is the most recent Emperox of the Interdependency. She is coronated as Grayland II and
her reign starts with a crisis. The star systems of the Interdependency are
connected by the Flow and the Flow is changing. She faces a looming disaster
when the dependent colonies of the Interdependency will become isolated. What
can she do about the collapse of the Flow and can she get the ruling class to
agree to her solutions?
Summary – Background
Cardenia is concerned with the crisis of the projected collapse of the Flow connections to her Empire. The Flow is a wormhole network that connects the different stars of the Interdependency. Humans can only live on the surface of the planet called End. All other colonies are space stations or enclosed stations on planetary bodies. The Interdependency is headed by trading clans. Each clan owns a star system and has a monopoly on one product. The products are traded between clans and no colonies are independent. Cardenia’s clan is the Wu clan. The Wu clan created the Interdependency and every Emperox for the last thousand years has been a member of the Wu clan.
The secondary plot of the novel involves the Nohamapetan clan’s opposition to Cardenia’s rule. Nadashe Nohamapetan has been accused of the attempted assassination of Cardenia. Her mother, the Countess Nohamapetan tries to free her daughter. Cardenia lets the wheel of justice progress without interference. Cardenia put Kiva Lagos in charge of the Nohamapetan clan’s finances, which causes conflict with the Countess.
Summary – Main Plot
The main plot involves the projected collapse of the Flow. Flow physicist Count Claremont predicts the collapse of the Flow by his calculations. Flow Physicist Marce Claremont, his son, continues his father’s work and is Cardenia’s closest advisor. When the first Flow collapses as predicted, the Interdependency is rocked with the ramifications. Flow physicist Hatide Roynold has different ideas than Marce about the Flow. She predicts that other Flows will open as others close. A flow opens to a lost colony in the Dalasysla system that has been isolated from the Interdependency for 800 years. Cardenia sends Marce and Hatide to investigate the lost colony. They want to discover what can happen to an isolated colony when the Flow collapses. What Marce finds in Dalasysla will change what the people of the Interdependency think about their past and their future.
Recommendation
The Consuming Fire is a quick reading action novel with a satisfying conclusion that answers questions but raises more questions. It’s a great follow up to The Collapsing Empire and shows enough about the conflicts in the Interdependency to set up a spectacular conclusion in Book 3 which is tentatively titled The Last Emperox due to be released in 2020. I liked the relationship between Cardenia and Marce the best. They make an engaging pair. I thought the best part was the revelations that Marce discovers in the Dalasysla system. It’s an excellent expansion of the story’s universe. I plan to read Book 3 as soon as it is published.
Links
This is the link to The Consuming Fire’s Goodreads
page.
Danny is
autistic and lives in the town of Bleak Harbor located on the Michigan
shoreline of Michigan. He’s excited because the dragonfly festival and his
sixteenth birthday will happen in the next week. He focusses his attention on certain
topics like dragonflies, perch, the Chicago Cubs, and the poetry of Wallace
Stevens. Danny lives by his routines, but his routines are disrupted when Danny
disappears from his home. Who would kidnap him and why?
Summary
Danny has recently moved to Bleak Harbor with his mom
Carey Bleak Peters and his stepfather
Andrew “Pete” Peters. Bleak Harbor was founded by Danny’s ancestor Joseph Estes
Bleak. The heir to the Bleak fortune worth millions of dollars is Serenity
Meredith Maas Bleak, Carey’s mother. Carey and her brother Mayor Jonah Bleak
have been written out of the will and
Serenity wants to donate her money to the town if they will rename the town for
her. Carey has been on her own since she had Danny and finished college. She
had lived in Chicago with Danny and Pete. She still works in Chicago and
commutes back to Bleak Harbor. Pete was a commodities trader in Chicago but
lost his job and is now running a medical marijuana shop in Bleak Harbor. Carey and Pete are having marriage trouble
and they both have secrets neither knows about the other. They both receive off
text messages about their secrets. Danny goes missing and the secrets come out.
Other characters that complicate the story include Katya Malone, a police
officer assigned to Danny’s missing person case who is mourning the accidental
death of her daughter, Randall Pressman, Carey’s boss who Carey has obtained incriminating evidence against, Quartz,
Pressman’s fix-it man and a former NSA agent, Allen Locke, an ex-DEA agent who
is hot on Pressman’s trail, Michele Higgins, a reporter looking for a big
story, and Jeffrey Bledsoe, an ex-con and Danny’s birth father. The sins of the
past haunt these characters and when all the secrets are revealed, will Danny
survive?
The SecUnit
(Security Unit) for the PreservationAux survey group has hacked and disabled
her governor module during her last contract. The hack lets her follow the Company’s
programming or to ignore it. She saves Dr. Bharadwaj from certain death from
the hostile fauna of the planet where the PersevationAux group has been
surveying to decide if they want to bid to the Company on building a colony
there. The SecUnit calls herself Murderbot, but never out loud. Her feelings of
companionship for her human employers impede her programming. What will she do
when an unknown enemy threatens her charges, hide or fight?
Summary
SecUnits are made by the Company and must be used by
every survey team for protection. The Company supplies all the materials to
each survey team from the lowest bidder, so the materials are unreliable and
suspect. SecUnits are half organic and half mechanical, so she is a cyborg. SecUnits
are supposed to be perceived by their contractors
as autonomous robots. They can be
repaired using the MedSystem. She communicates with the HubSystem of the habitat to keep the security of her charges. The story’s complication occurs when they
lose contact with the DeltFall Group survey team, the only other survey team
assigned to their planet. Dr. Mensah, the leader of the PreservationAux Group, investigates
at DeltFall’s habitat despite the SecUnit’s suggestion they leave the investigation
to the Company. What they find at the habitat changes their perspective on the
Company and on their SecUnit’s behavior.
Recommendation
I loved this story. The action is tight, and the
conclusion completes this story. The protagonist has the perfect blend of
sarcasm and drive to understand her
reasons for existing. She wants to sit back and watch her space soap operas,
but her human charges keep getting in the way, making her have feelings she
doesn’t understand. She is not the Murderbot she pretends to be and they catch
on to her deception. This novella begins her transformation into something
else. This story is the first of four novellas in the Murderbot Dairies series.
I want to read the other three novellas available and the Murderbot novel that is
scheduled to be released in 2020.
Hamilton, an American Musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda
and Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
Hamilton, An American Musical
I watched the play Hamilton on 08-25-18 at the State Theater
in Cleveland, Ohio. After enjoying the play, I wanted to experience all things,
Hamilton. This review includes five different media I experienced in 2018. I watched
the play; I read the biography; I read the book featuring all the lyrics and
stories about the production; I ripped the soundtrack from the library, and I
ripped the Hamilton Mixtape from the library. All the media was great, and I am
glad I pursued all things, Hamilton. If the play comes back to Cleveland, I
would like to see it again.
Hamilton play Introduction
I made a monthly plan for 2018 to go out with my wife for date nights. The plan was Hamilton on 8-25, the Ohio State Buckeyes versus Oregon State on 9-1, the play of Pride and Prejudice on 10-27, the big ten championship game on 12-1, and the Cleveland orchestra Christmas concert at severance hall on 12-22. They were all great events. I wasn’t sure I would like Hamilton because I had heard about the amount of the rap used by the actors. I’m not a rap fan, I am a rock fan. But when the play started on 8-25, I was hooked. The play tells the gripping story of Alexander Hamilton’s life with no dialog. All the words are sung using different styles of music including rap, rock, R & B, soul, Broadway tunes and Motown.
Hamilton play Summary
Alexander Hamilton immigrated to New York City as a
young man, became a successful lawyer, fought in the American Revolution, was
George Washington’s closest confidant, and created the Federal banking system.
But the people of our culture remember him as the face on the ten-dollar bill
and the guy who lost a duel to Aaron Burr. This play makes the story real and
applicable to today. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the play’s author, the songwriter and
the lead actor, author, the songwriter and the lead actor is a genius. He based
this play on the Hamilton biography of Ron Chernow. It’s so much more than a
play. His lyrics are rich and on point. He tells us a compelling story. The
final song’s title says it all. Who lives, who dies, who tells your story.
Lin-Manuel told Alexander Hamilton’s story, he told it well, and it will be
told for generations to come. That is the definition of a legacy, a wonderful
achievement.
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
Alexander Hamilton Introduction
Ron Chernow researched every part of Alexander Hamilton’s life to write his biography called Alexander Hamilton. He tracked down all the available sources and wrote this biography, warts and all. Hamilton was brilliant and driven to succeed, but his passions lead him to poor choices in business, love, and pursuing a vendetta that leads to his fatal duel.
Alexander Hamilton Summary
The biography starts with his parents. They were a
black sheep fourth child of a Scottish nobleman and a plantation girl from the
island of Nevis. Hamilton’s drive to better his position in life was from
seeking to avoid being poor like them. He inspired the people of St. Croix with
a published letter about a hurricane that hit the island and they gathered the
money to send him away to school. Hamilton went to King’s College (now called
Columbia) in New York City. He became a lawyer and fought in the Revolutionary
War as George Washington’s most trusted aide. He longed for the glory of battle
but was too valuable for his administrative skills for Washington to risk him
in combat so he saw limited action. After the war, he was the first treasury
secretary for Washington’s cabinet and he set up the Federal banking system from
scratch. Washington and Hamilton were the leaders of the Federalist Party and were
opposed by the Democrat-Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and
Aaron Burr.
Aaron Burr started as a friend and colleague to Hamilton, but the slights between the two men graduated up into a vendetta. Hamilton’s aspirations of becoming the next president were ended with a sex scandal started by the Reynolds Pamphlet which was written by Hamilton himself. After Washington retired, Hamilton became the highest ranking general in the army, but they did not go to war with England again at that time. Hamilton blocked Aaron Burr’s bid to become the third president and this lead to the fatal duel.
Alexander Hamilton Recommendation
Chernow makes all the aspects of Alexander Hamilton’s life come alive and it is easy to see how Lin-Manuel Miranda was inspired to write songs and eventually a play about it.
There’s a book on the Hamilton play called Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter. The book has the full lyrics of the songs from the Broadway Musical with annotations by Lin-Manuel. It also includes pictures from the performances. The 46 songs are arranged into 32 chapters and each chapter starts with a short article about different aspects of the production. The articles cover the original solo performance of the song Alexander Hamilton by Lin-Manuel, background information about the main players of the original production, backstage stories on the set, choreography, instrumentation, costumes, cut and unused alternate songs, and other insights. My highlights were pictures of the original notebook notes from Lin-Manuel on pages 36 & 202, the full lyrics of the cut song Cabinet Battle #3 on the debate on slavery on page 212, and photographs of original letters and pamphlets written by Hamilton. This book brings back memories of the play, the annotated lyrics gives insight into the writing process, and studying the printed lyrics help in understanding all the words to the cast recording.
I borrowed the double CD from the library of Hamilton,
American Musical, the Original Broadway recording. All 46 songs, 23 per disk,
of the play are on the disks. I like all the songs but my favorite five tunes
are in order from the best; Alexander Hamilton, My Shot, You’ll Be Back, The
Room Where It Happens, and Who Lives Who Dies Who Tells Your Story.
Hamilton The Mixtape
Lin-Manuel Miranda also commissioned various artists
to cover the songs from the cast recording. The songs are on the CD, The
Hamilton Mixtape. My favorite five tunes in order from best are; Say Yes To
This, Helpless, Dear Theodosia (Reprise), Wait for it, and It’s Quiet Uptown. There
were two songs that were not part of the play that were demoed for this CD. They
were Valley Forge and Cabinet Battle #3. Both songs were interesting, and it’s
too bad they couldn’t be included in the play because of time and material.
My Hamilton Mixtape
I made a 21 song under 80 minutes Mix tape featuring
the best songs from both albums as follows:
Alexander Hamilton from the Cast Recording
My Shot from the Cast Recording
The Story of Tonight from the Cast Recording
The Schuyler Sisters from the Cast Recording
You’ll Be Back from the Cast Recording
Helpless recorded by Ashanti
Satisfied recorded by Queen Latifah
Wait For It recorded by Usher
That Would Be Enough recorded by Alicia Keys
What Comes Next? From the Cast Recording
Dear Theodosia (Reprise) recorded by Chance the Rapper
Say No To This from the Cast Recording
Say Yes To This recorded by Jill Scott
The Room Where It Happens from the Cast Recording
Washington On Your Side from the Cast Recording
One Last Time from the Cast Recording
I Know Him from the Cast Recording
Burn recorded by Andra Day
It’s Quiet Uptown recorded by Kelly Clarkson
The World Was Wide Enough from the Cast Recording
Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story from the Cast Recording
Links
I mentioned watching the play and reading the biography in my Writing Progress Report for October 2018. This is the link.
Bonus: There is a YouTube video of an original solo
performance of the song Alexander Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda at an evening
of poetry, music and the spoken word at the White House on May 12, 2009. It’s
an amazing performance with over 6 million views.
Dean Koontz wrote a book
in 1972 called Writing Popular Fiction for Writers Digest Books. In 1981 he expanded
and rewrote it and published it as How to Write Best Selling Fiction. He
mentions doing another edition in about ten years, but it’s been over thirty
years and no new edition has been released. I heard about this book from many
sources over the years but did not pick up a copy. Recently, an internet writing
teacher I follow, Jerry Jenkins, mentioned it at jerryjenkins.com. He wrote the
Left Behind series and over 190 books. He says Koontz’s book inspired to become
a writer. The advice within helped him to write fast and well. So, with those
recommendations in mind, I resolved to buy the book, since it was unavailable
through my library. It can only be bought as a used original edition. The
cheapest copies at Amazon were $200, so I gathered together my Amazon gift
cards and ordered a copy. My copy arrived, and the dust jacket looked pristine
as showed in the picture attached to this review. The book’s first printing was
1981. This book is from the second printing in April 1982. The binding is broken
in one spot. That can be seen in the second attached picture. The reader marked
the book in ink and highlighted passages with a yellow highlighter. Observations
are written in the margins by the first reader and some of them are insightful.
No pages are missing or torn.
Summary
So, what information did
I learn from this book? The book is 309 pages long with 15 chapters of advice
and definitions. Koontz explains why he wrote this book, explains his writing process,
and gives examples excerpted from his fiction. Key points from page 75 are that
the novel’s protagonist must face terrible trouble at the novel’s beginning and
from page 111 the complications must build up to a final and worst complication
leading to the resolution. He describes how he uses the idea pump on pages 65
and 72, a free-form word association used
to create an idea for a novel-length
work. Koontz describes his four-point classic plot story pattern for successful
novels on page 74. This is the structure that Jerry Jenkins teaches. The main
take away of the book is given in eight points of what a reader demands on page
13.
A
strong plot
Action,
Action, Action
A
hero or heroine
Believable
Characters
Character
motivations explained
Developed
setting
Good
Grammar and Syntax
Style:
use vivid and visual writing
These eight points are explained in chapters 4 to 11. Koontz
specifically gives his advice on how to write successfully in the science
fiction and mystery genres in chapter 12. He gives writing advice in chapter 13
and publishing advice in Chapter 14. Chapter 15 is an exhaustive list of the
authors Koontz recommends reading including their best-known works. He believes
that to be a writer of popular fiction, you must read the popular authors to
learn how to write like them. A serious writer would want to read them all.
There are 101 authors named, and I have read works from 44 of them.
Recommendation
So, what is my opinion of the book? Koontz uses a conversational tone that establishes him as a mentor to the reader. The advice is solid and applicable for today. The examples are dated but also interesting. I can see why this book could not be updated. It would have to be completely rewritten with new examples and updated genre information so that is probably why Koontz has not done it so far. I am a better writer having read this book, so I am glad I purchased it. It is one of the best writing books I have read. If you enjoy writing, then I suggest buying or borrowing a copy.
