Category: Books

Books, Reviews

Bryan Cranston is best known for his role as Walter White on AMC’s Breaking Bad. In his book, A Life In Parts, Cranston recounts his life from childhood to his time after Breaking Bad. We learn about his struggles with anxiety and his pain, and we learn about his work.

Although Cranston didn’t actually say so in these words, I felt that many times he was saying the same thing I’ve been saying: “Do the best you can, hope for the best and see what happens.” It’s been kind of a motto for me.

Cranston didn’t expect he would be a success. He didn’t know Breaking Bad would be the hit that it was. He just gave it his all and look what happened.

Another thing I came away with is that people at the top of the ladder, no matter how much experience they have, they are often wrong. Directors and networks, and so on. The people who sit at the long tables and make the big decisions. There were times they didn’t feel Cranston was right for the role or that his work sucked. But he got the part because someone would believe in him and fight for him.

Once in the role, Cranston would prove the higher-ups wrong. This was the case with Breaking Bad and it was the case with Malcolm in the Middle. Cranston showed those who didn’t believe in him that he was the best man for the role.

I apply that to writing, and pretty much anything else too. Some editors might think your work is terrible, but other editors might disagree with them. In the past, I would feel that if one editor didn’t like my work, the work was shit and no one was going to want it. I threw away a lot of stories that were probably fine. These days I keep my work on the market until it sells, because editors ain’t always right, just like directors, networks and producers ain’t always right. Not even doctors are always right.

The message I get from Cranston’s book is, if you want it, work for it and you just might get  it.

Don’t give up.

Books, Reviews

The first edition of Berlin Embassy was published on November 30, 1940. At the time, World War II had been going on for over a year and would continue for another five years. The Holocaust had not yet begun, but it was getting underway. Adolf Hitler had been in power for six years and Nazi Germany was well-established.

William Russell was an American diplomat who lived in Berlin from 1937 until 1940. He shares his experiences and observations. Germany was a nation divided by those who followed Hitler and those who did not.  As a diplomat, Russell interacted with people who knew Hitler personally and their accounts make Hitler out to be a self-worshipping, egoistic monster.

Russell also interacted with many common people, members of the Nazi Party and the Jewish.

Remember, the book was first published in 1940. William Russell died in 2000. Berlin Embassy was not intended to reflect what’s happening in the United States today and yet it might as well have been. There’s the same attitudes, just substitute the Muslims for the Jews. Propaganda is everywhere. Donald Trump has the same personality traits that Adolf Hitler had.

Does this mean the United States will take the same path Nazi Germany did? Let’s hope not.

Books, Reviews

In the far future, what’s left of the human race is hiding beneath the surface of Crystallia. They have remained undetected by their enemies for seventy-five years. When an Uploader craft lands on the moon not far from Crystallia, old fears resurface and the colony prepares for war against the more advanced enemy.

Gustavo Bondoni‘s Siege is a fun book. The characters are believable and the story is well-developed. I can see a possible spinoff from the epilogue and I wonder if Bondoni will make it happen.

Books, Reviews

I read Stephen King‘s On Writing twice before. The first time was probably in 2003 and the second time would have been in 2006. Now that I have more experience in the business of writing and have a better understanding of the things King talks about in On Writing , I decided to give it another read.

I approach my writing projects pretty much the same way Stephen King approaches his. Like King, I usually don’t draw up an outline before I begin work on a project. I like to start the story and let it go wherever it wants.

King repeats a few times in On Writing, “the story is the boss.” I agree with that. It works for me. Other writers might use outlines and steer their characters like cars, and it probably works fantastic for them. That’s fine. Whatever works for you is great.

There are other things that King and I agree on, like story morals (Sometimes there’s a moral, sometimes there’s not, and so what?) and symbols (If there happens to be symbols, they might be lifted, but if not, that’s fine.). Stories do not require morals and symbols to be good stories. Stephen King and I would agree, anyway.

I don’t agree with everything King says in this book, but a lot of it is pretty similar to my own practices and believes about writing. Unlike some other writers you might meet, King admits that he screws up sometimes and I appreciate that honesty.

On Writing is a good read and I recommend it to anyone who is struggling as a writer. There are many useful tips.

Okay, so that’s another book knocked off my to-read list. I had three more nonfiction titles lined up before I got to read some fiction again. But I’m tired of nonfiction and I want a break from it, so I moved Gustavo Bondoni’s Siege to the top of the list. I’ll start on that tomorrow.

Books, Reviews

I haven’t blogged in over a week. Been failing to get to the end of my check list. I just finished reading Finding Fish, by Antwone Fisher, so here’s my review..

Finding Fish is nonfiction. Antwone Fisher tells the story of his life as a foster child in Cleveland. From a very young age and until his late teens, Antwone was fostered by a family that abused him and two other foster children in their care.

It’s a very emotional story. It brought tears to my eyes. Thank God for the United States Navy. The Navy not only gave Antwone a home when he’d finally left his foster parents, the Navy also helped him recover.

Books, Reviews

While reading Melissa J. Lytton‘s Echoes of a Dream, I kept thinking that the prose rolls like it does in Walter Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress. They’re completely different stories; Mosley’s is a noir set in 1948 Los Angeles and Lytton’s is a science fiction set in the future. But I feel the writing is similiar in that it just takes you in. I don’t think “grabbed me and held me” is the right way to describe it. It’s more like you’re comfortably settled into the story and it’s a smooth ride.

Eric Hudd is a drug addict, though he has been clean for some time now. He has a job and his own place, and it seems his life is on a better path. But something is wrong. When Hudd accidentally kills a man, he’s not sure it really happened or not. Soon he finds out that the factory near the building he lives in has something going on that tampers with people’s dreams and realities. Hudd decides it needs to stop.

Lytton did an outstanding job creating this novel. Her character development and world building skills are excellent, and she has a keen sense of story.

Books, Reviews

So, I finished and reviewed Joe Hill‘s Heart-Shaped Box a few weeks ago. I believe Heart-Shaped Box is the first novel Hill published. Yesterday, I finished Hill’s second novel, Horns.

Heart-Shaped Box and Horns are two completely different stories, but both were deep in music. Judas Coyne, the rock star who bled all over the pages in Heart-Shaped Box is criticized by a character in Horns. I guess not everyone is impressed with Jude’s music.

I like when writers pull that trick, mention a character from a completely different, unconnected story. It makes that character feel more real, alive, and it makes me feel like I’m being reminded of an old friend.

Okay, so… Horns. It’s a rather strange story, dipped in dark fantasy. Ig Perrish wakes up after a night of drunken raging and discovers he has grown horns. Now everyone is telling him their darkest secrets. Because of this, Ig starts to hear the truth of what happened to his girlfriend, Merrin, a year ago.

As usual, a good read and entertaining, even though the story touches on a highly sensitive subject. Hill showed very clearly how brutal and ugly rape is. I was uncomfortable as I read the scene where it happened.

Books, Reviews

It’s hard to read Joe Hill‘s Heart-Shaped Box without thinking about the Nirvana song with the same name, but I suspect that’s what Hill intended. This book mentions several rock stars and bands. Hell, the lead character’s dogs are named after Bon Scott and Angus Young. It’s a horror novel that pays homage to rock ‘n’ roll.

Heart-Shaped Box is the first Joe Hill book I’ve read. I have to say, Joe Hill is just as talented as his dad. Their styles are pretty similar, a lot of free flowing wordage that keeps the reader engaged.

Jude Coyne is a rock star, though he hasn’t recorded anything in the last few years. He’s living in a farmhouse in New York with his girlfriend, Georgia.

Jude has a dark hobby. He collects occult items, like a skull, a noose that was used to hang a man, a witch’s signed confession, things like that. When Danny. Jude’s assistant, tells him that someone is selling a ghost online, Jude decides to buy it even though he thinks it’s a joke.

But the ghost arrives. Jude finds out that the ghost is the stepfather of his former girlfriend. The ghost wants Jude dead and anyone who tries to help him.

Books, Reviews

Okay, I was out in my hunting shack when I finished reading Gunny’s Rules: How to Get Squared Away Like a Marine, by R. Lee Ermey.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I thought the writing was good. I agree with much of what he said,. Some of it was what I had been thinking all along, even some of the practices he suggests are things I had already been doing.

Other things he said gave me ideas on how to improve myself. But there were also things that I strongly disagree with and his attitude toward certain people rubbed me the wrong way. I saw holes in a couple of his arguments too.

So, I guess if you read this book, some things might be useful to you, other things might not be.

Books, Reviews

Chris Gerrib speaks my language when it comes to pirates and action-packed science fiction adventure novels. I remember Pirates of Mars (Book 2 of the Pirates series) and how much I enjoyed it. Last night I finished reading The Mars Run (Book 1) and it was fun.

Janet Pilgrim wanted to go to college after graduating high school. She had her sights on universities that were stepping stones to real careers. She believed everything was in place for her to go, but then her dad lost her college funds in another one of his get-rich-quick schemes.

Now Janet has no money for college and feels her life plan is postponed, but she is determined to get things back on track. While out and about, Janet comes across an ad for a space program. She decides to check it out and soon finds herself enlisting for a mission to Mars.

But Mars is a new frontier and sparsely  populated, which means the law is not much on Mars. When the ship is captured by pirates, Janet is put through harsh trials, but she does what she can to survive.

I’ll put The Night Watch (Book 3) on my to-read list, but I might reread Pirates of Mars first, just to get the series in order.