I took to Facebook to ask my hordes of fan what problem I should solve with my video today. The world-wide problem of horrible book recommendations from non-writers came up. Of course, this is an issue of immense import, so I jumped on it.
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I don't generally make a video about a book before I've finished reading the book. But in the case of S by J.J Abrams and Doug Dorst I felt compelled to offer a few thoughts and reactions because not since Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves have I been so taken by a new way of storytelling.
Flushboy by Stephen Graham Jones is my kind of book. Family dysfunction with a power element of the grotesque, in this case, the father's entrepreneurial drive toward starting a drive-thru urinal franchise. Buy Flushboy Mentioned: Stephen Graham Jones: http://www.demontheory.net/ Adam Johnson: http://creativewriting.stanford.edu/people/adam-johnson
November is here which means Movember is here which means NaNoWriMo is here which means nothing different for me, as I don't participate in National Novel Writing Month nor am I capable of growing a beard. For me it's NoNaNoWriMoNoGroMo. But that doesn't mean I can't give my two pennies about both topics while bringing in some bookish talk, as this channel is meant to do. Mentioned: Movember: http://us.movember.com/ NaNoWriMo: http://nanowrimo.org/ Kevin Rabas: http://kevinrabas.com/ Drinking: Southern Tier 2x Double Milk Stout Reading: Flushboy by Stephen Graham Jones
Andrew, known as HeavyShelves in BookTube land, was kind enough to invite me to a Google Hangout a few nights ago where he treated me like a rockstar for almost 3 hours. That's a long time, especially when you consider the time frame was 12am - 3am his time (he's in the UK). I definitely encourage you to take a watch. Or, just listen, as you would a podcast (visually, it's pretty much just webcam style cuts between his face and mine...except for one truly amazing appearance by Nicholas Cage...see image below). Andrew asked some great questions, and we had some great discussions. List for these gems: My publishing history (and the importance of knowing people, starting here) Writers need to know their productivity limitations (more about why I can't be allowed to write 8 hours/day, starting here) The importance of caring about what you write (the real "write what…
This is it, the last video in my Reading Harry Potter for Babies series. Every year I raise money for March of Dimes, which is a foundation established to study the causes and develop cures for premature birth. This year, rather than simply beg friends and family for donations, I'm taking donations to read Harry Potter. More about this strange donation tactic at the full intro video here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCVBPVLXJAU I want to thank every single person who donated money to this great cause. In total, we raised over $600, which meant I had enough money to completely finish reading the first Harry Potter book, but more importantly that's $600 more dollars going toward the March of Dimes effort. Apologies if I mispronounce names Special Thanks to Simon West-Bulford (http://www.simonwb.com/) ManArchy Magazine (http://www.manarchymag.com) Jesse Wichterman Misty Bennett Gordon Highland (http://www.gordonhighland.com) Books and Booze podcast Renee Pickup (http://www.books-booze.com/ and http://www.youtube.com/user/BooksnBooze) Booktubers/Readers Chenoa Shannon…