The place where all the writing magic happens. Notice the tools of the trade : coffee, French press (new for birthday- thanks mom!), MacBook running Scrivener, a certain book (product placement) and a consumer tour guide magazine of Philadelphia.
Anyone else have a space to show off?
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have been working through audiobooks on my trek to and from work and after the success of Drood as an auidobook, I decided to stay with Dan Simmons and revisit Hyperion. My initial reasoning was that I wanted to read The Fall of Hyperion but it had been some time since I read the first and wanted to refresh myself.
The book is still good. The characters are still compelling. The performances were fantastic!
What is interesting about this audiobook is that it is performed by 6 performers, once for each of the pilgrims. ALL of them do a great job. What is interesting is that the producers of the audiobook do not just have the narrators change for the tales of each pilgrim but even have each piece of dialogue that is stated between tales spoken by the actors. In this way it is much more like a staged production verses an audiobook. The voices chosen are great and well suited to the parts. All of them seem to match the tons I had in my head while reading it.
Another interesting fact is that the audiobook was produced nearly 20 years after the original book. Hyperion was originally released in 1989 and the audiobook is from 2008. Very cool that the book has such legs. I may also be a result of Simmons’s newer releases and attempting to piggy back on them. Either way, it is a very well done version.
Since I have done so many audiobooks, this reminds me of From a Buick 8 audiobook. The construct of that book is similar with multiple narrators and tales and the use of a different reader for each part. The difference is that the in between part of From a Buick 8 are all read by the same narrator.
I am almost done The Fall of Hyperion as an audiobook. It is read by Victor Bevine who is the primary reader (the narrator) of Hyperion. He also does the Priest’s tale (both of them). He also has read the Endymion cycle as well – which I may check out!
This year I have decided to take the plunge and participate in NaNoWriMo. Dave..you are talking baby talk – what is that? Well, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month (which has gone international, would that make it InNoWriMo?). The concept can be spelled out basically in this: Starting November 1 at midnight until November 30 at 11:59pm you write a novel. The goal is 50,000 words. That is on the shorter side of a novel, but still quite the feat! Some examples: Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
So you are gonna write something that good?
Yeah – that would be awesome huh? I am setting the bar low. Shooting for 50,000 words of English in sentence format. I have an idea that has come into focus and I am hoping the process itself will drive it to the finish-line. This is about getting stuff OUT not about refining it. That is what the other 11 months of the year are for. This is a full out sprint.
My biggest challenge will be finding the time. With work, 2 kids, a wife, and sleep (damn you sleep!) I will be trying to squeeze it in. But it is really one more thing to add to an ever growing list. Right between “Cut the Grass” and “Fold the Laundry”. Should fit right in there.
I sent an email to friends and family asking for support and also asking them to get on my case. I received some very encouraging emails (thanks Mom and Dad and Uncle Joe) and some very point-blank teasing emails (thanks Nancy!)
I also asked if anyone wanted to join me in my NaNoWriMo adventure. I actually have 2 more people joining me, my mother and my Brother-in-law Scott. Prior to the email I already had one along for the ride, Steve, a co-worker of my wife. Should be a interesting mix of output from the four of us. Considering Steve is an English teacher and my mother has written several novels before, my money is on them. But you never know, I could be the next Danielle Steele in disguise (see – low bar!).
So – what is next?!
Well, I start writing! I have an idea to try at night, after the kids go to bed. That may not work. I am also very deadline driven and 30 days is a lot of time for me to loaf. I can see myself doing 60% of it in the last 10 days.
On a technology front, I am using a program called Scrivener to write and organize. It is a very cool little program designed around the writing process that allows you to write and have research, outlines, summaries and even add keywords and meta data. It is Mac only (sorry Windows people).
There is a piece of text to the top of the page (look up!!) so that I can keep a constant update on my word count. Current word count as of this post…ZERO. MAN, I am flying!
The Affinity Bridge by George Mann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Welcome to London!! Beware of the “plague” and the dirigibles.
The Affinity Bridge has sat on my shelf for sometime and I decided that I was ready for some steampunk adventure fun. Mann’s book was part Sherlock Holmes, part Jules Verne, part zombie and part Indiana Jones. All of which were balanced. The book was thrilling.
The book follows the adventures of Newburry and Hobbes, a team that consists of an academic adventurer (ala Indiana Jones) and in intelligent forward thinking woman. Neither of them were earth shattering characters or reinventions of the “dynamic duo” and yet I found my myself more and more cheering them on and wanting to read the book. I would look for any spare moment to read it.
Was the book revolutionary? No. Was it written in a way that was exemplary? Not at all. But the characters, the era, the plot and the pace all added up to one very very fun read. I really enjoyed reading this. The book combines a lot of what has been recently published, which I find myself buying and enjoying.
George Mann
Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician: A Novel by Daniel Wallace
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have wanted to read something by Daniel Wallace for sometime and decided on Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician as my first go.
The story follows a man named Henry Walker. The story opens at the end as Henry is confronted by three teens and disappears. We have his story recounted by the family of the circus sideshow that Henry has become part of.
I love stories that have a retell factor and produce a sense that the perspective is as important. A sense of “that’s not what I heard” or “Actually it really went like this” and each tale is a variation and expansion of the previous. The family of circus folk in this story are a warm, weird group of people that have a relationship with Henry that is unique to each and everyone of them.
The book is both very endearing and very creepy all at once. I am taken by Henry and compassionate to his past – and each version is emotionally distinct – and his story. And yet every time a new tale is told, you have a revision and your own expectation put in check. As it progresses you become more aware of this and the impact does wear thinner. But the book is a good length because as that starts to happen, you get a “truth” revealed and the conclusion is complete.
The emotional ride is also creepy as the horrid people and prejudices are revealed and manipulated through the discoveries of people and the history. The horrible things that are revealed are at times hard to swallow but make for a tragic figure.
Daniel Wallace
Wallace writing is light and fanciful and even hopeful. The story counters this and is heavy and emotionally dark and convoluted at times. But I found the book as a whole rewarding.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories by Michael Chabon
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Millennium, #3) by Stieg Larsson
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