C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

See all my books at AllThatChazz.com.

10/25/2010 • 9:15 AM 2

Comparing E-readers (because I’m running out of room!)

: Friday’s Library Sale Haul

: But the problem is…

The bookshelves are groaning. I’m going to need to get an e-reader so I can store my books in the weightless, spaceless ether.

Are you wondering what e-reader to buy? Here’s a an interesting link that compares the tech:

How five e-readers stacked up – USATODAY.com‏

Making The Most of Your Sony Reader – Where to Find eBooks (brighthub.com)
Digital Reading Finds New Home at Walmart (dailyfinance.com)
in 10 Americans Own an e-Reader, and Read More Than The Rest of Us (treehugger.com)
The Best eBook Reader to Give as a Gift: Holiday Buying Guide & Recommendations (brighthub.com)
How e-books can help your reading life (teleread.com)
Bookshelves are filled with books, and this blog’s filled with bookshelves (core77.com)
6 Ultra Geeky Bookshelves (techeblog.com)
The 10 iPad Book Apps: Using the iPad for Reading Books at School (brighthub.com)
Have e-books killed tree-books? [bioephemera] (scienceblogs.com)
Reading with the iPad: iBooks, Kindel, and Nook, oh my! (regex.info)

Filed under: Books, ebooks, web reviews, books, E-book, e-readers. comparing e-readers, IPad, Kobo, library, need an iPad, Nook, Shopping

10/07/2010 • 1:02 PM 2

10 Reasons We Write What We Write*

Image by gideonslife via Flickr

1. We write sci-fi because we fell in love after reading Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land.

2. We write children’s books to retain our innocence (and explore our loss.)

3. We write what we know.

4. Or we write what we care about.

5. We write horror so real-life horror is made a little less scary.

6. We write because words put pictures in our heads and, when done well, the brain doesn’t distinguish between false and true.

7. We write because we are otherwise unemployable.

8. We write non-fiction to serve.

9. We write fiction to serve up lies (that tell the truth.)

10. We write because we can’t help ourselves.

*There are many other reasons. What are yours?

How Robert A. Heinlein became one of science fiction’s giants [Book Review] (io9.com)
Writing Children’s Books: Age Levels Spelled Out (writinghood.com)
An Interview With Award-Winning Author Mayra Calvani (blogcritics.org)
Heinlein Biographer Tells All (tor.com)
Heinlein: Strangely Human (tor.com)

Filed under: Books, books, horror, Stranger in a Strange Land, why we write, why write?

06/18/2010 • 12:04 PM 0

cHUCK pAHLANIUK: Relax!

A lot of authors come and go or are trapped in the midlist and never break out, soon to be dumped by their publishers and agents after having their hopes briefly elevated. Others soar briefly, but the brand doesn’t catch on and now industry insiders wink at each other, telling each other the has-been was a flavor of the month. (These same editors, agents and publishers were certain they’d discovered the next Philip Roth not long before.)

Jay McInerney, for instance, wrote three really good books I loved: Ransom, Story of My Life and Bright Lights, Big City (which was made into a very good movie starring Michael J. Fox.) I tried to read the author’s next work but I felt he was suddenly trying to write as if he was an English author from a previous century. His solid stuff exhibited a sharp post-modernist wit but somewhere between his experimental popular fiction and what he wrote afterward, he wandered off. He’s still a successful guy and writes about wine and has made it big in the magazine world. However, he’s unknown to a new generation of readers and so, has become a bit of a footnote. In the 80s, you had to read him. Now? Really optional. He’s got a new book out, so maybe he’s working on a comeback.

Which brings us to: In a recent interview Chuck Pahlaniuk said he still didn’t feel like a success. (Wha–?)

I have proof he is a great success. Of course he wrote Fight Club (and a great movie was made of the book which is so close to the book they lifted almost all the dialogue.) Choke was made into a movie. He’s written quite a few books now actually: Lullaby (liked it), Diary (loved it), Survivor (liked it), Rant (not for me), Snuff (okay), Haunted (okay) Invisible Monsters (not for me) and Stranger the Fiction (really solid and readable.) He could stop there and have about as much output in numbers of books as Kurt Vonnegut had. Nothing to sneeze at.

BUT HERE’S THE PROOF PAHLANIUK IS A SUCCESS:

In a review of Rant (which was laudatory, long and detailed) not once did the reviewer even mention Fight Club!

Chuck. You’ve made it into the pantheon.

Congratulations.

Filed under: book reviews, Books, Writers, books, chuck pahlaniuk, fight club

06/17/2010 • 2:29 PM 0

Premises, Promises and the Payoff

When someone says, “I have a good idea for a story,” they better not just stop at one. It’s not enough for a novel to have a good premise. More good ideas must follow the first. A good book is not just one good idea, but many, strung together in a way that builds and builds to keep the reader reading.

I’ve been trying to enjoy Three Bags Full, a detective story where the detectives are sheep and the victim is their shepherd, who died with a spade through his guts. Ooh, a spade through the guts! Delicious! I must read more, I thought. I wanted to like the book, but it didn’t work out that way.

The comer on the cover was that it’s like Agatha Christie wrote a Wind in the Willows murder mystery. I loved Wind in the Willows and I’ve read some Christie 20 years ago so hey, a match made in heaven. Not baaaaaa-ad! (Get it? Sheep? Not baaaaa-ad? Never mind.)

Alas, experimental fiction can be trying when it belabors the conceit. It’s a good idea that could work well in a short story, but at novel length I’m fading fast…and I’m getting it the easy way on MP3! Save the change. Three bags Full is a good idea…but just one. Halfway through I’m thinking, “Isn’t it time for the little Irish village to have a big Greek feast with lots of lamb chops with mint jelly?”

Good books, like The Wind in the Willows, for instance, have good ideas at every turn and keep you turning those pages. What happens next? And then what? Keep that narrative train moving moving moving. Will Mole and Rat finally run over Mr. Toad with his own car? They never did…which I guess I’m glad of. I remember reading Wind in the Willows late into the night and my mom finally coming in to tell me to go to sleep. “Just five more minutes Mom! I want to find out what happens to Mr. Toad!”

BONUS:

Keep the good ideas coming. There should be tension on every page, or a very good reaason why there’s not.