Objects: Stories of Things

My first book, Objects, is available now through Amazon. I've already set up my Goodreads Author page to help promote the book. Here we go into the wide world of self-publishing.

Memoirs of an Antihero by Drew Blank

Drew Blank hooks you from the first page of this sarcastic book about a vigilante who will tell you, he is no hero. Drew, the writer and main character, sums it all up quickly: “Screw justice. I just needed the money.” With a line like that, you would expect a self-obsessed, undoubtedly narcissistic personality. Drew is a long way from self-obsessed. In fact, he gets into all of this for the love of his daughter, Michaela Luann Sullivan aka Moxie, who, we find out at the beginning of the book, has just been diagnosed with leukemia. Leukemia is not an automatic death sentence, but it requires treatment, costly treatment. The cost is far higher than Drew’s nearly minimum wage job at Tully’s Seafood will pay for. The corrupt town he lives in offers him an unusual out, however. Crime is rampant in the city of Cross. A good bit of it is drug deals and other such activity, lucrative activity. Drew decides to cash in by robbing the corrupt rich in order to pay for his daughter’s treatment.

Though he might not call himself a hero, there is the usual mixed response to his seemingly heroic actions. While some are truly happy he is taking drug dealers off the street, there are others (including corrupt cops) who see him as a problem. One they are more than willing to use lethal force against. At the top of the pyramid of drugs in Cross is the mysterious Benji Carver, who is certainly willing to go to some extraordinary lengths to get rid of Drew, or rather his vigilante persona Freak. After a series of interesting and escalating incidents, Freak goes up against Benji Carver, or Blueboy, with the life of his darling Moxie and her mother, Reggie, at stake. In the end, Freak survives and it looks like he just might get away with it all.

No hero truly works alone. In Drew’s case, his team is made up of: his best friend, Christine “Twisty” Bailey, a perky fellow server at Tully’s who is also an artist and science fiction junkie; Phil Kendall, a gay computer genius and his roommate; Jeff Gustafson, a non-gay machinist; and finally the former military man turned tattoo artist, Tom. Thankfully, Tom is not only a good tattoo artist; he is also a decent medic because Drew’s first few excursions leave him with some rather drastic injuries.

While not on Drew’s vigilante team, other important people include: Carmela “Mema” Severi, who fills the role of mother figure for Drew; Regina “Reggie” Sullivan, Moxie’s mother and Drew’s former girlfriend; and Dominick Prazzo, former server at Tully’s, close friend of Drew’s, and current member of the Cross police force who is assigned to the Freak’s case.

While there are points in the plot that are somewhat predictable, Drew’s voice as he writes makes it impossible to concentrate on the plausibility or implausibility of what goes on. He makes it sound good. His sense of humor makes it impossible to not want to see what happens. Check out Drew’s website: http://www.screwjustice.com to pick up a copy of the book and show support for this unconventional author and his fantastic material.

Other Contact Material

FACEBOOK for Drew | FACEBOOK FANPAGE | TWITTER

Book Review: Codex by Lev Grossman

One thing stressed for all authors is finishing strong. Grossman would have benefited from taking that advice. Codex, overall, is fairly well-written. The characters are a trifle boring, but otherwise realistic. The setting, in some places, is quite good. The story flows along without many hitches or snags. However, the ending is so terribly uninspired it is hard to believe it even belongs to the same book. If you took away the last thirty pages, I'm not entirely sure the book would even miss them. I know as a reader I certainly wouldn't have.

Read the entire article here.

Review of Sagar'un: Tales of New World by Crystal Rayne and Konrad Hollenstein

As a reader, I open every book with an expectation of excellence. This writer, whoever they are, is going to sweep me off my feet into a realm of wonder and adventure. This expectation keeps me reading past the parts where things may not quite make sense in order to fully dig out and appreciate the book as a whole. In the case of Sagar'un: Tales of a New World, my expectation did not survive to the end of the prologue.

Naming the god of all creation, Kronos the Lord of Time, was one of the first things I noticed and found disheartening. Yes, the name carries with it a long history, but it also smacks of a lack of imagination. Especially when the names given to the other gods do not follow the same pattern. There is a comma splice on page one. In some cases, that alone would be enough to cause a reader to stop reading. Also on page one, there are verb tense changes within sentences and needless repetition. Keep in mind, this is all on page one. The prologue goes on for approximately ten pages.

The prologue covers the birth of a new world, the world of Sagar'un. Sagar'un is built by four elemental spirits: Safa, Savina, Nido, and Baphtomos. A pantheon of lesser gods and goddesses is also involved, called the Pathon. I'm not entirely sure if that is an attempt at a new name or a misspelling on the part of the authors. While the groups are convened together, Kronos sets the world in motion, starts time, and reveals to the assembled how he is going to make Sagar'un different from the other worlds previously made. He is going to give man command of his own destiny. I do not quite understand why the God of Evil, Malicos, gets upset about this. Malicos and his counterpart, Hyboros, get into an argument and cause the destruction of the gem created from the essence of the four elementals by Kronos. Kronos then hides the portions of the gem so neither Malicos nor Hyboros can take control of the gem. While on the surface, this seems perfectly acceptable, I have several questions at the end of the prologue.

First, why did Kronos allow these two to undo his work? He has the ability to freeze them in time, so he did not have to allow it to happen. Why let them destroy his work and then threaten them with consequences? It seems very backward.

Second, why are Malicos and Hyboros even arguing? Hyboros makes a comment that Malicos is upset about how mankind having the gem will make the balance of good and evil secondary. I do not follow this logic. Good and evil are human concepts. Giving men power and choice in no way changes how easily swayed they are. In fact, power makes it easier to sway a person to the dark side. As the saying goes: Power corrupts.

Third, why toss the pieces down to Sagar'un at all? Once the gem bursts, Kronos takes up the pieces. Why not simply use them to reconstitute the gem instead of throwing them down to the world below? Or, return the power to the elementals he took them from? His choice does not make sense.

These are not the only questions I am left with at the end of the prologue, but simply the ones I have the hardest time attempting to answer. Combined with the grammatical mistakes, these questions make it very hard to keep interest in the story. I read all 410 pages of Sagar'un: Tales of a New World and there were a few glimmers of possibility in its pages, but mostly I found it incredibly disappointing from beginning to end.

There are obvious points where the dialogue does not fit the setting. The leader of a wolf pack screaming about “LEGAL TRICKERY,” for example. (pp. 56) Or the mother of the chief asking, “Who are you guys?” (pp. 36). It destroys suspension of disbelief. Basic grammar rules such as those for comma usage and apostrophes are consistently ignored, another jarring effect. Finally, the plot itself is only cohesive in sections, not as a whole. Overall, “Sagar'un” has so many issues, I am surprised it made it into print.

Sagar'un: Tales of New World is available on Amazon.com.

Review of RJ Astruc's A Festival of Skeletons

A Festival of Skeletons is a Festival of Laughs
A review of RJ Astruc's novella, A Festival of Skeletons, available through Crossed Genres in 2010.
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Review: Android Karenina by Ben H. Winters & Leo Tolstoy

Ben H. Winters teams up with Leo Tolstoy (from beyond the grave) to bring us his soon to be classic steampunk novel, Android Karenina, through the publishing house of Quirk Classics. You may recognize Mr. Winters from his previous work with Quirk Classics, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters which he wrote with the assistance of Jane Austen.

Anna Karenina is a woman with an above average life. She has is married to a man of means, has a son, and appears for all intents and purposes to have it all. This is not the case. Anna, though she does not initially realize it, lacks love. Her husband is a good man, but he is undemonstrative, even cold toward her. Enter the handsome Count Vronsky who highlights that lack in her life and even strives to fill it. If it were not for the robots and the aliens, this would seem like a 19th Century romance.

Aren't we glad Ben added robots and aliens?

Android Karenina is Anna's Class III, a robotic companion created to be there for her every waking moment and make her life easier. The android cannot talk, but is programmed to glow to enhance the look of her mistress's outfits and provides emotional support whenever necessary. She is Anna's closest friend and confidante. Every major adult character in the book has a Class III available to them. Count Vronsky has a mechanical wolf. Anna's husband, Alexei, has a very unique Class III in that it is embedded in his face and linked to his brain.

This is not a good thing.

Besides the Class IIIs, which serve as companions to humans, there are Class Is and Class IIs. Class I's and IIs are not so much robots as mechnical devices, like the coffee pot (Samovar) and the electric shaver.

Now as for the aliens...I really do not know what to say about the aliens without giving away too much, so I will say this: Yes, there are aliens and they are important. You will just have to read the book to find out how and why. Pay close attention whenever they start talking about the Honored Guests.

So, to recap, Android Karenina is a sort of romance with robots and aliens. All that adds up to a fun read to me. Probably for you too if you're reading this blog.

In celebration of the book release, Quirk Classics is once again offering prize packs. Each person is eligible to win one of 25 prize packs worth nearly $100. The pack includes:
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith [My review of PPZ:DotD]
How to Survive a Horror Movie by Seth Grahame-Smith
Dracula's Heir: An Interactive Mystery by Sam Stall
Extreme Encounters by Greg Emmanuel
How to Tell if Your Boyfriend is The Antichrist by Patricia Carlin
An Android Karenina Poster
AND MORE!!

Just check out the Quirk Classics message board and mention my blog [Creative Chaos] to enter to win.

Disclosure: Written in exchange for a review copy of the book

Three Young Adult Books Ready for the Big Screen

Three Young Adult Books Ready for the Big Screen
With Twilight and Percy Jackson topping the box office, it is obvious that Young Adult books are box office gold. Here are three more books that could easily bring in the cash.
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The Twenty-First Chapter of "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess is a classic and not just because Stanely Kubrick made a movie out of it. Burgess does something phenomenal in A Clockwork Orange by offering a world entirely outside of the comfort zone of the average reader and through the lens of a character it is very easy to find detestable, which I believe was the whole point.

Though Burgess had a long and varied career, including thirty-two novels as well as other works, A Clockwork Orange is the book he is best known for. The version I happened to pick up was the 1985 American reprint which includes not only the 21st chapter left out of the original American version, and the American film, but also an introduction written by the author called "A Clockwork Orange Resucked". Having never read the 1963 printing of A Clockwork Orange or watched the film, I started with the introduction and was, while not shocked, surprised there were two different versions of the book: American and everyone else. (Why this surprised me, I don't know, we Americans have a tendency to want to make ourselves special somehow. Why not have a printing all our own of an incomplete story if it makes us stand out?)

The reason given for Burgess choosing to allow his work printed without the 21st chapter is one any writer can respect, it was about the money. He wanted to sell the story; therefore, he let it go without what he considered to be a very important chapter. According to Burgess, "the twenty-first chapter gives the novel the quality of genuine fiction, an art founded on the principle that human beings change" (viii). I was always taught that no good story has static characters; in order for the work to be of worth, the characters have to change.

With this in mind, I read A Clockwork Orange for the first time, specifically wondering if the twenty-first chapter was really going to be as important as Burgess was making it out to be. It certainly should be, but there is no telling. Authors are rarely the best judges of their own work.

For those not familiar with the plot of A Clockwork Orange, this is the story of Alex, an ultra-violent fifteen year old in future London. At first, things seem to be going very well for him, running around with his mates Dim, Pete, and George. However, after he breaks into the house of a woman and accidentally kills her, he is sentenced to fifteen years in jail. While he is in jail, he is given the option of taking part in a conditioning program that will cure him of his violent tendencies. The program works, very well, making violence so abhorrent the thoughts make Alex ill. He loses his free will by being forced to be good. This does not last, however, as Alex is eventually deprogrammed or 'cured'.

This is where the original American version, and the Kubrick film, end with Alex intent on returning to his previous behavior.

In the 21st chapter, the reader is introduced to Alex's new crew, of whom he is now the oldest as opposed to the youngest. He is still the man with the ideas, so he retains his place as leader. However, he is caught in the thought he no longer gets the same feeling from his behavior. Then he runs into his former mate, Pete, the only one of the four who seems to have truly moved on with his life. Pete has married and now has a respectable job. This meeting, I feel, is what truly gives Alex the idea he is ready to move on.

Does Alex's choice to move on with his life, to give up the ultra-violence, get married, settle down, and have a family of his own add much to the book? The original ending seems to promote the power of evil, and the lack of redemption available to those who chose to follow that path. This final chapter, however, offers the idea of there being a chance for everyone. Even those who chose to be one way can find a way out of there. Things can change. So yes, his choice adds a great deal to the narrative, it adds hope.

Books on the Cheap

I love books. Any reader genuinely loves books. We collect them until we are literally doing a Scrooge McDuck swimming through solids, only we are doing it through paper as opposed to coins. We become adept at dealing with paper cuts obviously. However, with the current economy, continuing to buy books at full price (especially when you are constantly in want) has become a bit difficult. So…how do you keep feeding your bibliophilia? Go cheap.

[CHEAP] Half.com, a subsidiary of eBay I found while in college. It is a great place to get textbooks for far less than whatever the bookstore is selling it for. In fact, Half.com is more than half the reason I even managed to get the texts I needed to read for some of my classes. I was the epitome of the broke college student. Through Half.com, you can buy the book for less than full price, but you also have to pay for postage. Make sure to factor that in when you are choosing which books to buy. Also, buying several pieces from the same seller at one time can save you on shipping.

[CHEAPER] Paperback Swap. A friend of mine introduced me to Paperback Swap over a year ago and while I do not use it often (I hate letting go of books), it is a good way to get books for nothing beyond the cost of shipping. The basic thought behind Paperback Swap is there are people out there who want what you have, so why not swap it around? Taking the Swap Meet high tech. Fun fact, they also have a sister sites DVD Swap and CD Swap.

[CHEAPEST] Your Local Library. Most people do not think about the idea of the local library selling books; however, unless my library system is a complete anomaly, they do sell books. You have the least control over what there is available, but it is still a great way to get books. I found a French textbook for $0.30 once. The other good point of this: you are helping to support your library. With the way funding is going, libraries are taking hits left and right. If you want them to stick around, you have to put some money into them.

Never, ever, ever should a person be without books and if you know these resources, there is no reason you ever should be.

A Touch of Old Magic

I just completed "Old Magic" by Marianne Curley which I picked up in Wal-Mart on one of my many impulse buys. I realize that 90% of my impulse buying centers around books and food. Figure that one out. Anyway, it was one of the few books I saw which was fantastical, but lacked the current topic of choice: vampires. So I picked it up with every intention of going ahead and reading it that day. Long story short, I did not get a chance to read it that day, or even for a few weeks after the fact. In fact, it sat staring at me from my bookshelf for over a month before I got past the blurb on the jacket. I did say this was an impulse buy, didn't I? So I finally settled down to read it and was sucked into the world of Kate and Jarrod. Short bios of the characters:

Kate is a social outcast, the daughter of a woman who has long since left for another life who is being raised by her grandmother Jillian. Jarrod is the new boy in town, clumsy, awkward, desperate to fit in and apparently the seventh son recipient of a rather powerful curse.

Curses don't get as much play in fantasy as they really should, they are such lovely things.

Jarrod, who carries the usual realist myopic view of the world, doesn't believe in curses or magic or anything he can't quantify and label. He is also very much a weak willed coward. Oddly enough, he always seems to have something of a backbone when it comes time to deny the existence of magic.

You spend the first half of the book dealing with the somewhat typical high school antics of drama queens and bullies, with a in class wind storm and coffee house earthquake thrown in. I have to admit to really feeling as if I was slogging through that section. However, them getting to go back in time to take on the originator of Jarrod's curse was much more interesting.

Rhauk, the curse maker and possible ancestor of Jarrod, is perhaps my favorite character out of the whole book, but I have a soft spot for deranged evil bastards. His best move: Tricking Kate into agreeing to stay with him. She's so level headed you almost can't believe he has managed it until she tells Jarrod to go home without her. Of course, Jarrod does no such thing. Instead, he stays and hones his gift to fight Rhauk to get Kate back.

The final showdown goes a bit unpredictably. I thought Jarrod might actually die, despite knowing that as a main character the chances of his demise were about .003%. Jarrod kills Rhauk and you would think this would eliminate the curse from his family, except Rhauk proves once again he is a thinking villain. He's been lying about his curse from the start. I won't tell you how because it will spoil the surprise.

Overall, I will read this again when I'm looking for something entertaining to eat up an afternoon. Even with the slogging sections, it was still a great book. Pick up a copy via Amazon.com or Half.com.

The Fall of Lucifer by Wendy Alec

I always find myself somewhat saddened when I cannot bring myself to finish something that I started. However, The Fall of Lucifer by Wendy Alec has simply left me with no interest in it whatsoever. I find the idea of someone detailing the fall of Lucifer fascinating, which is perhaps why I love Paradise Lost so much. This did not live up to my expectations.

The descriptions were very pretty. The story which should have been gripping, simply had no traction. I wanted to like the angelic triumvirate, I truly did. I just didn't in the long run and as such have found myself unable to even finish the book. It has gone from pleasurable reading to simply a chore worse than the texts for English 101 I originally read back in high school.

I know because I did not finish reading, I cannot offer a complete review. Yet that in a way is a complete review. The book bored me so much I did not finish. Think I might be wrong? Pick up the book at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Just After Sunset: Stories Worth Reading?

King, Stephen. Just After Sunset: Stories. New York: Scribner, 2008.

I always find myself looking forward to a book of short stories that comes out from Stephen King. I have been a fan for almost as long as I have been reading horror. Of course, when Just After Sunset: Stories came out, I was very, very interested in getting a chance to read it and find a new favorite story or two. Truthfully, while I was not really frightened by any of the stories offered, I found them interesting in other ways. Willa, the story of realizing ghost-hood, offers an interesting look into the very stubbornness of the human spirit even once it has left the mortal plane. The Things They Left Behind touches on the tragedy of the destruction of the Twin Towers and those who were killed. A Very Tight Place looks at how hate can seek destruction and how the spirit can find the strength to overcome in spite. All together, thirteen stories are offered, each of them unique and good in their own way.

Did I really find any of the stories scary? Not really. There were some hints of things that might tingle the spine, but for the most part, they are less horror and more thriller. I have nothing against thrillers and think that Stephen King does that almost as well as he does true horror worthy of putting in a night light. I suppose the one that horrified me the most was N. N. is the story of a man who stumbles into the stewardship of a ring of stones meant to keep the dimension of normal human existence separate from a dimension of creatures seeking to consume all that comes before them. The slow breakdown of Dr. Bonsaint is done beautifully through the use of journal entries in a fashion that seems to harken back to Lovecraft, but that is something to be considered at another time. The journal entries and case notes seemed to make the story more real, as if you could look up the mentioned newspaper article and find the discussion of the deaths of the doctor and his sister.

My other scary favorite is The Cat from Hell. It starts out feeling almost ridiculous, with the hitman, Halston, hired to get rid of a house cat. Even after the explanation of why the cat needs to die, it still feels like using a sledgehammer to swat a fly until the cat lives up to the name the Drogan gave him. First causing a car wreck and then crawling down a man’s throat to eviscerate him from the inside, truly frightening. Even though I love cats, I found myself looking at the cats in the neighborhood sideways for a little while, checking to see if they might be up to something.

Though Just After Sunset: Stories does not seem all that scary, it is still a worthwhile read. Maybe not for the exact reason I was looking forward to it, but just for its content. Pick it up on Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, or Half.com.