Devil in the Details

The devil's in the details, or so the saying goes. When you're talking about grammar, spelling, and punctuation, that old idiom is especially true. Apparently it's a lesson that Paris Hilton needs to learn. The Wall Street Journal reports that she sparked outrage among Colombians recently when she tweeted that she had just landed in "Columbia," when she meant the nation of Colombia. This is an all too common mistake in the eyes of Colombians, and they're sick of celebrities like Paris, Justin Bieber, and Ozzy Osbourne misspelling their country's name. Corporations do it, too, and the Nixon Administration was guilty of the offense back in 1973. 

Now thousands of Colombians have joined a movement called "It's Colombia, NOT Columbia" to rid the world of this misspelling. They have t-shirts and, of course, social media to promote their cause.

So if you want to avoid the devil in the misspelling details, there are books out there to help you. A popular one is How to Spell like a Champ. If you need more than just help with spelling to improve your writing, the short ebook Grammar Without Tears was reviewed here last month, and you can try The Book on Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Well.

Hopefully today's blog was written without too many grammatical mistakes, because that would be especially embarrassing. Happy writing!

Review: 50 Shades of Kink: An Introduction to BDSM by Tristan Taormino

50 Shades of Kink: An Introduction to BDSM by Tristan Taormino
Link to buy
ISBN-10: 1627780300

ISBN-13: 978-1627780308
Story Rating:4 out of 5

Review:

This book is a quick and easy look at BDSM and may help those new to the lifestyle learn what to do to begin or initiate some BDSM play or interactions. The author is a well-known sex educator and more. She explains things easily engaging readers never talking down to them.  Adventurous couples can find fun and exciting things to try and talk about in this book.

I enjoyed this fast paced look at the lifestyle. Taormino makes things easy and interesting. Those that may be curious to know about BDSM will find it engaging and will get a nice introduction to many things. If you are truly new or interested in this world this is a good book to start with. It is full of information on many subjects and gives you a nice jumping off point. Newbies can get their toes wet and decide on what they want to learn more about in a friendly manner. There are some touches that make this book a good choice. From the foreword by Rachel Kramer Bussel to the list of reading material for those who want to continue their look into the lifestyle. I was also glad to see the list of 50 items to have begin with consent, communication and honesty. All showing that this author has put some thought into this book and cares that readers get the right information.

Reviewed by Gabrielle

Is Bigfoot fiction or nonfiction?

Is Bigfoot fiction or nonfiction? A lot of people swear that Bigfoot, as well as other "legendary" creatures like the Loch Ness Monster and Chupacabra are alive and well and living just around the corner. Others insist those creatures are pure fantasy. 

It's fun to imagine they're real, and if you'd like to do some research on your own, there are plenty of books to check out. Yes, they're in the nonfiction section, even though the jury is still out about whether those beasts actually exist or not. Animal Planet released a book last year called Finding Bigfoot: Everything You Need to Know, and a brand new title called Bigfoot: Exploring the Myth and Discovering the Truth just came out last month. Happy reading, and good luck in your search!

Review: Write Attitude by Diana Bocco

Write Attitude by Diana Bocco
Link to buy
ASIN B00GGA5JK4
Rating: 4 out of 5

Review:

WRITE ATTITUDE by Diana Bocco is billed as a three-book collection that includes How They Did It, The Ten Habits of Successful Writers, and The $1000 Query Letter. Calling each of these three segments a separate "book" doesn't seem accurate. The entire book, with all three segments combined, is 131 pages. The first section is the longest of the three at 73 pages. That's short to be called a book by the traditional definition. It might have made more sense to combine all three books into one and simply publish it as a single title. 

Bocco's research technique was to ask professional writers about what they do, how much they earn doing it, and how they got where they are. This book could be useful for aspiring freelance writers who need ideas to inspire them in their careers. What readers won't find are step-by-step instructions to achieve career results similar to those of the authors spotlighted in the book. This isn't a how-to guide to start a freelancing career.

The first segment of WRITE ATTITUDE is How They Did It, a collection of 25 freelance writer interviews. The author gave each of the subjects the same list of questions, and the writers completed them. Questions such as how they made the leap to being full-time writers, how much they typically earn in a year, and what their work day is like. There are a variety of different genres represented, including writers who make their money selling articles, blogs, and books. That's particularly helpful because it presents different career options for aspiring freelancers.

The first few interviews make for interesting reading, and every writer has some valuable comments and insights. My favorite question was about advice they'd give to aspiring writers. The answers were varied and brought up some intriguing ideas I'd never heard before. However, after the first five or so interviews, reading the same questions over and over again became monotonous.  On the upside, the interview responses were well-written, which one would expect from a pool of professional writers.

Segment #2 is called The Ten Habits of Successful Writers. The list includes such habits as "Successful writers have discipline" or "Successful writers send their work out." The book offers insights from multiple authors about each topic and how they apply it to their own careers. Like Segment #1, the authors have some interesting points to make, although some of the habits are the same ones you see in every book or article about the writing profession.

Segment #3 is The $1000 Query Letter. In this reviewer's opinion, it was the best part of the book. It offered 16 real-life query letters written by different authors in different genres, ranging from trade magazine articles to romantic suspense novels. The queries' backgrounds were explained, including how long it took the project to sell and to whom it sold. It was particularly helpful seeing how authors with few if any publishing credits skirted around that deficit with well-worded query letters. The only problem was that it was a little depressing to see that some writers with a wealth of writing credits were still sending out queries destined for the slush pile. One would hope that at some point in a writing career, that uniquely unpleasant part of this profession would become obsolete.

Overall, this is an interesting book for both beginning and experienced writers. Everyone can benefit from learning new tips and techniques used by successful people in their field. Some of the information here is a bit too simplistic, for instance it's not particularly helpful to say that one habit of successful writers is being disciplined. All writers know they should be more disciplined, but there's no point in making them feel like they'll never be successful unless they spend 12 hours a day hunched over their computers. If readers take this book with a grain of salt and realize that some of the writers in here who claim that they write all day, every day, are probably exaggerating, then they'll doubtless get more out of it.

Reviewed by Peter W.

Author interview with Joel Eisenberg

Please start by telling us a little about yourself, including things like education, jobs, spouse, children, pets, etc.

Okay. B.A. Degree in Special Education from Brooklyn College. I taught for ten years, including autistic children and adults. My longest-term population though were gang kids, drug addicts, kids from broken homes.

As for jobs, well ... I worked over 100 of them (some for days) before making my living as a writer. Hence my 2005 book, "How to Survive a Day Job". Let's see, I was a teacher, a telemarketer, a laundry attendant for a mental hospital, an insurance salesman ...

Married to my beautiful wife Lorie, who was one of the top pharmaceutical sales reps in that industry for many years, before we started to work together nearly six years ago. We have a beautiful rescue dog - Koko ("double knockout"), a boxer-pit. We call her variously a "K-10" because she's damn near human, or "Rin-Tin-Tits" as she has nine nipples from a litter (we have twisted senses of humor in our house).

Tell us about your latest book and what inspired you to write it.

My latest book is fiction, actually, my first novel. It's an epic 8-book series, "The Chronicles of Ara", where my co-author Stephen Hillard and I attempt to discover the very origins of artistic inspiration, within a fantasy setting.

To this end, we study the works of many "darker" authors, who appear as supporting characters in the books. Tolkien, Lovecraft, Poe, Mary Shelley, Verne, Carroll, etc. We look specifically to these writers as they tended to troll the bleaker side of human nature more than most and, by extension, confront some uncomfortable questions ... and answers.

Do you belong to any critique groups and/or do you have other people read your work as you're writing it? Who's brutally honest and who's a cheerleader? Which do you prefer?

I used to; I don't now. I've been in the film business for a long time, and realized a while back - many may disagree - that you show your work to 100 people, you'll get 100 different responses. At some point, you need to trust your instinct and say "that's it."

That said, I'll show the work but to no more than 4 or 5 trusted associates.

Which authors have been the greatest inspiration to your writing?

Good question. Poe, Anne Rice, Clive Barker, Shirley Jackson and Joseph Campbell, the mythologist.

Do you outline before you write or just dive head-first into a manuscript? Do you maintain a schedule for writing, or is it more haphazard?

I NEVER outline. To me, writing is akin to dreaming. I don't outline my dreams. When I write, I let the words flow from my head to my arms to my fingers to my iPad ...

I have a very strict schedule. I wake 3:30 AM every morning, hit Starbucks at 4:30, take a half-hour to drink my coffee and eat my peanut butter and bagel ... set my music preferences ... and work non-stop from 5-8:30. I go home, have breakfast with my wife and walk Koko ... then write with some breaks until about 7PM. A very long day.

Where do you do your best writing? (Ex: desk in your office, public library, under a tree in the park, in front of a Real Housewives TV marathon, etc.) Do you like music or some other background noise, or do you need quiet?

Starbucks and I always listen to music. Loud music.

What are the best and worst parts of writing a book?

There are no "worst" parts to me. I love writing. I am passionate about writing. It is my peace.

When you're driving and you have a sudden, brilliant idea for the new manuscript you're working on, what do you do? (Ex: pull over and fire up the laptop, keep driving while scribbling on a McDonald's bag, tell Siri, etc.)

I record it on my iPhone.

When you go to the zoo, which animals do you visit first?

Always the monkeys. I don't know why - no kidding - but I've always been drawn to the "Planet of the Apes" film series.

What are the top 5 titles in your Netflix queue? (Be honest.) Or if you don't have a Netflix queue, which books are on your bedside table? (Again, be honest.)

Okay, I have no queue. But, in the interest of fairness I can watch the following hundreds of times over (again, no kidding. I'm obsessive I guess): The orig Star Wars trilogy, Grand Canyon, Casablanca, City Lights, Carrie (orig), The Last Dragon and The Big Picture (guilty pleasures), Halloween (orig), Dawn of the Dead (orig), Bride of Frankenstein, Boogie Nights, Rocky (all of them), Magnolia, etc.

Do you prefer to read ebooks or print?

I was an avid print book collector, then went almost fully to ebooks ... now find myself missing print.

What do you enjoy doing, apart from writing?

Running, biking, reading, movies, traveling ..

Where is your favorite place in the world?

Great question. How about ... New York. My home town. Followed closely by Hawaii and Italy.

Do you have any advice for people who want to write a book?

Just do it. This response is cliche, but there really is no better advice. Clive Barker once told me, "Never pause to consider how impossible your task is, just get it done." I've rarely received better advice ...

https://www.facebook.com/chroniclesofara

Why do we love nonfiction?

Why do we love nonfiction? Because truth is often stranger – and more entertaining – than fiction. Take

China's newest controversy, for instance. The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese senior citizens are in a dispute with young people over dancing and loud music. But it's not exactly what you'd expect. Turns out, middle-aged and elderly people are getting together in public places to play music and dance into the night. The seniors say the exercise keeps them healthy. Neighbors complain that the noise keeps them from being able to relax, and it interferes with their children's ability to concentrate on homework. It's like Footloose, only Kevin Bacon's role is played by older Chinese people.

Author Spotlight: Stephen King

When most people think of Stephen King, they think fiction. Many of us also give an involuntary shiver as the image of Jack Nicholson's "Here's Johnny!" face comes to mind. But Stephen King also writes nonfiction. Perhaps his best-known book is On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.  
http://www.stephenking.com/library/nonfiction/on_writing_a_memoir_of_the_craft.html 

This book is described on King's website as "both a textbook for writers and a memoir of Stephen's life." It's written not just for other writers, but for anyone who seeks to learn how one of America's most famous and successful authors got where he is.