Cym Lowell Blog

The Writer Who's Using Longform to Take Instagram to the Next Level (re-post)

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 12:30:00 +0000

Two months ago, when GQ contributing writer Jeff Sharlet (@jeffsharlet) downloaded the world's most popular photo app, he posted on Twitter: "New to Instagram. I like the family & friends function, sure. But who are the real photographers to follow?" He was navigating an unfamiliar territory of selfies, food pics, and humble brags. While those images fascinated him in their own way, he wondered: how could he contribute? (Duck-lipped pouts in the bathroom mirror: out of the question.)

Sharlet went shoe leather. He began interviewing strangers, taking their snapshots, and composing beautifully wrought essays to accompany the images. (The app's character limit on descriptions, it turns out, is 2,200 characters, or around 400 words.) On September 25th, he posted on Twitter: "It's so simple. Hang out someplace. Ask people if you can take their picture. Phone, point, shoot. Talk to them. Voila! A true story." And then, yesterday on Facebook: "These Instagram essays aren't distractions from my work. They're becoming my work."

He also digs up phone pics from stories reported months ago, reviewing notes and writing new essays to expand on and deepen the stories that were originally published. His last four posts—embedded below—are from the trip he took to St. Petersburg and Moscow to report for us on the gay resistance in Russia. Read these, revisit that piece, and start following Jeff.

Continue reading here. Follow on IG: www.instagram.com/jeffsharlet

-CYM

How Can I Get Comments on My Blog? (Re-Post from Bad Redhead Media)

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 12:30:00 +0000

BY NAOMI BLACKBURN

In my continuing series where I answer questions asked by YOU (in this case, this question comes from writer MJ Kelley), staff writer Naomi Blackburn takes on ‘How can blog posts incite reader comments?’ Thanks MJ for a fab question! Here you go….

When I first started writing guest posts, I was often disappointed if I didn’t get any comments on what I wrote. Though I was told by my hosts that they were, in fact, being read, I considered giving up altogether because no one seemed to be involved enough to comment—but I’m so glad I didn’t.

Instead, I reached out to other writers to get their opinions about why readers weren’t commenting on my posts. I learned that quality, interaction, and networking are tools that, when used effectively, can lead to inciting comments.

Quality

Quality is key! In order to be taken seriously by readers, ask yourself:

Is my blog both professional and inviting to readers?
Are my posts clear, concise, and error-free? (Not only do my blog posts go to my editor before I publish them, I also send them to beta readers to ensure I have included all relevant information.)
Is my blog interesting, or am I only screaming “BUY MY BOOK!”?
Is my blog unique? Do I contribute something new to the topic I’m writing about, or am I just repeating what others are writing about?

By ensuring your blog is high quality, you encourage readers to visit, read, comment, and return. If they trust and like your material, they’ll be inspired to interact.

Interaction

What do you do when you do get comments? In order to get comments, you have to give them as well.

Develop a relationship with your readers.
Respond when someone leaves a comment and create two-way dialog. Publishing a blog doesn’t mean you’re done. This is where the fun begins! If a reader takes the time to comment or ask a question, respond and engage!
Be helpful to others. Visit and comment on other people’s blogs. Bloggers and readers are likely to reciprocate and visit yours, too.
Use social media effectively. Retweet other people’s tweets about their blogs. Interact with bloggers on social media and show your support. They are likely to do the same. (If you’re not already, use the hashtag #MondayBlogs to gain—and give—exposure. This hashtag promotes bloggers and is a very supportive community. Plus #MondayBlogs has a giveaway to help increase your blog’s reach.)
Ask questions. Doing so opens up the floor for comments, rather than just leaving the door open but not inviting people to walk in.

By actively engaging and interacting with both other readers and bloggers, you show that you’re willing to be a part of networks.

Keep Reading for the last point!

-CYM

Cym Lowell is on a Literary Crusade to make sure our Veterans have the Quality of Life they Deserve http://bit.ly/1DTYMcB

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 22:42:00 +0000

Dear Friends, Family & Fans,

One man is on a literary crusade to make sure our veterans have the quality of life they deserve.

Cym Lowell, international tax attorney, and the author of Jaspar's War, has teamed up with the nonprofit (501c3) Soldiers’ Angels to provide voice-controlled/adaptive laptop computers and other necessary technology to support wounded warriors who, due to war, are blind, have low vision, suffer from cognitive impairments (memory loss, problems with orientation, distractibility), have communications disabilities (speech, hearing, stuttering), are deaf, hard of hearing, or who suffer from dexterity conditions.

Through his initiative OPERATION: NEXT CHAPTER, Cym Lowell has pledged 100 percent of the proceeds from his book to go toward supporting these wounded warriors.

“We all have dreams,” says Lowell, “and we all need them to be real and achievable. When dreams end, so does life. My goal is to make sure every soldier, Marine, airman and sailor on this waiting list receives a laptop. As an attorney and author, I know how essential it is to have a computer. With our support we can provide a bridge to healing for those who have put their lives on the line for the freedoms we all enjoy.”

In recognition of Veteran’s Day, Cym Lowell is hosting a Tweet-a-Thon, a week-long event where Twitter account holders write at least one Tweet per day about Jaspar’s War and its mission to help our wounded veterans.

“I have learned that helping others, whether it is through communication equipment or life inspiration, is a joyous blessing,” says Lowell. “It is inconceivable to me how blessed I have been. That blessing has taken me to another level of understanding of life, friendship, love, community, respect and simple joy.”

Please join us in this Tweet-a-Thon that will take place the entire week (Nov.4-11) leading up to Veteran’s Day.Below are some sample Tweets for you to use, or, you can create your own. Please include #OperationNextChapter and the website: http://www.cymlowell.com/

Sample Tweets:

#OperationNextChapter provides laptops to wounded #veterans with proceeds from @CymLowell’s book JASPAR’S WAR. http://bit.ly/1DTYMcB

A political thriller with a bigger mission, @CymLowell’s JASPAR’S WAR supports #veterans thru #OperationNextChapter http://bit.ly/1DTYMcB

When a peace treaty is signed, the war isn’t over for #veterans #OperationNextChapter supports our wounded warriors http://bit.ly/1DTYMcB

Please follow Cym on Twitter here.

Carole Claps & Cym Lowell

Senior Publicist

Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. | 155 Post Road East, Suite 8 | Westport, CT | 06880

P: 203-226-0199 F: 203-226-0256

carole@mediamuscle.com| Meryl L. Moss Media Relations| BookTrib.com| @mybookosaures

10 Talks from Authors (TED.com)

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 12:30:00 +0000

Click the Picture

-CYM

From YouTube Stars, Literary Lions (WSJ)

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 11:30:00 +0000

ROLFE WINKLER

Publishers seeking the next hit author have a new hunting ground: YouTube.

A wave of titles written by YouTube personalities is hitting the shelves this month as book publishers bet on the power of online media. They made a similar bet several years ago on books by popular food bloggers, such as Ree Drummond and Julie Powell.

“The Pointless Book,” an activity workbook by charming, goofy U.K. video blogger Alfie Deyes is coming soon. So, too, is a book by comedian and YouTube star Grace Helbig on how to pretend to be grown up. Two titles based on popular YouTube series for teens also are planned.

Michelle Phan, who has more than seven million subscribers for her YouTube channel offering makeup and style tips, is coming out with “Make Up.” The book will be published Oct. 21 by Penguin Random House’s Harmony imprint. Bertelsmann SE owns a majority of Penguin Random House.

Keep reading here.

-CYM

13 Ultra-Creepy Books To Avoid Before Bedtime

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 11:30:00 +0000

by: Jac Jemc

Author, 'A Different Bed Every Time'

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Let's kick off this list with the trilogy of books I've revisited most in my life, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Sadly, these books have been re-released without the original illustrations by Stephen Gammell, but enough copies of this edition existed that you can still regularly find them in used book shops, and don't compromise: it's those illustrations that make these stories come alive. These books kept me up when I was eight years old, and still do now,. The best tale by far, "Maybe You Will Remember," is featured in the third volume. Based on the reportedly true story of a hotel covering up an outbreak of the plague by hiding a body and lying to the deceased's relative, I was especially enamored of the endnotes which explained the "facts" behind the story and made the whole volume seem verifiable and plausible. I like an element of truth to my horror.

The Orange Eats Creeps by Grace Krilanovich
This book is an onslaught of vivid imagery and ambivalent, yearning horror. I lose the details of plot rather easily, but remember the way a book made me feel. The Orange Eats Creeps haunts me with a manic, trapped feeling, crushed and frantic. Like a hawk stuck in a canary cage. My mind still fixes on the image of a young woman sleeping on the floor of a convenience store, enough so that I can't rediscover her in a nightmare, but am instead stuck awake and dreaming of her.

Tales of the Unexpected by Roald Dahl
Let's take a moment to acknowledge what a sick lunatic Roald Dahl was. Let's put aside, for a moment, the fact that he was a horribly mean person: insulting and bullying those nearest and dearest to him. Forget even the children's books despite their genius ability to pull out that wicked streak and imbue it with delight and moral import. Instead, let's imagine that Dahl had been delivered his due as a master of the macabre in adult literature. I dare you to pick up this collection and begin reading, "Man from the South," and dream of putting the book down before finishing it.

Strange Piece of Paradise by Terri Jentz
Say you decide to bike across the country one summer with your college roommate and, one night, while camping, a pick-up truck levels your tent (with you in it), and then the driver gets out and attacks you and your roommate with an axe. Miraculously, you both survive, but no one is ever arrested or tried for this horrific crime. You go on with your life and fifteen years later you decide to look for an answer. When you return to the scene of the crime, everyone in the small town knows who it is that did it, and the fear of this criminal is only trumped by the terror at everyone who stood by and allowed it to happen.

Hell by Kathryn Davis
Holy god, this masterpiece needs more people talking about it. Three homes exist in the same house simultaneously, each one haunting the other two equally. The dog of a 1950s house barks in the ears of the figures in a dollhouse. A young anorexic girl wonders why the community is blaming the stand-off-ish neighbor for the murder of her friend, while, in another era, an expert on domesticity tried to forget her daughter wasting away in the next room. This book pushes the limits of narrative layering to such an extreme it can be hard to parse which story a sentence or even clause is adding to, but it's this compounding that makes the story such an eerie amalgam.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
I know. You were forced to read it twelve times between high school and college, and that's a shame because you analyzed it to death, but take a break and revisit it, perhaps especially after you've had a crisis where you wonder how much of your misery is of your own making and how much is the world working against you. Then, return to that attic room and take a peek behind the wallpaper again.

The Universe in Miniature in Miniature by Patrick Somerville
I'm including this book mostly for the final novella in this collection, "The Machine of Understanding Other People." It is both my sincerest hope and greatest fear that I might truly understand others consistently and well, and this story serves up a helmet that allows the person wearing it to do just that. It's a story with an immense amount of heart and warmth, but also a paralyzing sadness that pulls me back to consider its implications regularly.

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Please don't bother with the movies -- Swedish or English. Read the book. It is so much fuller and smarter and more vividly told. You're allowed more fear and imagination and beauty and grief. I can be less keen on stories centering around solidly fantastic beings and creatures, like zombies or vampires or mummies, but the humanity is so plain and affecting here, even skeptics will get invested.

Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
Link's story "Stone Animals" is one of the scariest I've ever read ever. Ever. Someone make a movie of "Stone Animals." Do it, and do it right, please. In a gentle and evenly paced way, show how every detail of one's wildest dreams can come true and then fossilize before your very eyes. Take all the Technicolor away, and show the world in its greyed out mourning.

Nylund the Sarcographer by Joyelle McSweeney
Is there anything better than a detective haunted by his own demons as he investigates a case? McSweeney dresses up this story to the nines with language thicker than poetry and philosophy that cuts much deeper than the surfaces the protagonist is focused on in this exquisite noir: "The Grandson walks a beat before, and as he passes under the brainpan of each streetlamp his silver hair lights like a fuse or like a pyramid of powder like a roomful of gas going up. They work down the long street: whump, whump, whump."

The Museum of Dr. Moses by Joyce Carol Oates
Are you the type that was floored by "Where are you Going, Where Have you Been?" a long while ago and you've been looking for that perfect balance of muted horror from her ever since? You're in luck, there's a collection just of her most mysterious and suspenseful stories. Who knew a random stranger saying hello could be so terrifying? Or that it would be so hard to prove your morals when trying to navigate the mind games of your junky son? I haven't read much Oates, but this book made me think I may be making a big mistake.

Something in the Potato Room by Heather Cousins
A poetry book that keeps you awake: now that's something! But what is the "something" in the potato room? You'll find out, but that won't be the end of it. The book thrums, like a steady pulse, a shadow behind every heartbeat.

One D.O.A. One on the Way By Mary Robison
If I were putting together one of those invite-any-five-living-people-to-dinner parties, I wouldn't invite Mary Robison because she most certainly would be sharper and wittier and prettier than me, and I'd end up in the kitchen, shedding tears into the dishwater while I listened to the other guests lose it with laughter. I love all of Robison's work, but this one has the sinister feel of staring at the writing on the wall and living with the threat of that impending doom. Can we all agree that anticipating a catastrophe is far worse than the catastrophe itself? Try going to sleep while waiting for that other shoe to drop.

Keep reading here.

Missing You by Harlan Coben Book Review and Some Critical Elements

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 11:30:00 +0000

Missing You

by Harlan Coben

(Dutton/Penguin Books 2014)

Harlan Coben’s most recent story is masterful, as always. The path of Kat, the detective protagonist, to solve a perplexing disappearance of a mother (brought to Kat’s attention by the missing woman’s son) is quite an adventure. At the same time, Kat is, oddly enough, connected to her long lost love, who disappeared almost 20 years earlier. In the end, the sleuth discovers an ingenious crime spree developed by a longtime pimp to earn more money in the internet age from those seeking love connection on-line.

I am an aspiring thriller writer. I find it instructive to synthesize the critical elements of the work of the masters of our craft in the hope of finding keys for my own success one day. In this quest, I have identified elements that I believe to be critical for such success (for me or, probably, a writer in any genre though my focus is on thrillers in their broad scope), as follows:

1. Readable Style: regardless of the presence of other elements, the story must be

easily read and digested. If it is dense, hard to follow, scattered, or otherwise not readily readable, it is not likely to succeed. Harland Coben gets an A+ in this category, perhaps the best in the business.

One endearing element of Coben’s style is an often almost conversation dialogue as if he is narrating a story in his own words. This is certainly an element of creating an easily readable style.

2. Early Hooking: the reader needs to be hooked by about the first 10% of the story,

when the elements should have been established. In Missing You, it took longer for the hook to set, but once it did it was off to the races.

3. Sympathetic Characters: readers want and need to be able to identify with the

lead character or characters in the story. Kat could be any of us, as could the victims of the ultimate crime spree. Heroism is found in many of the characters.

4. Plot: the story needs to be intriguing in and of itself. As noted, the storyline of

Missing You is clever and engaging

5. Engaging:these elements need to be connected in a manner to make a

page-turning bestseller. √. Fear Nothing is a great story, well told. I will pick up the next installment, as will hundreds of thousands of other fans!

6. Emotion: Another element that is important to me as an aspiring writer is

becoming involved in the emotions of the thriller characters. Frankly, most thrillers have little engagement with emotion, almost in the spirit of a James Bond character. Action, glitz, romance and suspense are all critical elements of a great story. For me, enjoying the emotions of the critical characters is the frosting on the cake. Coben does a fine job of exploring the emotions of Kat and the other critical characters.

Onward!

-CYM

Taylor Swift Joins Scholastic to Talk to Kids About the Power of Reading - October 29th, 2014!!

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 11:30:00 +0000

PRESS RELEASE:

Taylor Swift Joins Scholastic to Talk to Kids About the Power of Reading

Register now to view the “READING OPENS A WORLD OF POSSIBLE” exclusive video with Taylor Swift on October 29, 2014 at 1 p.m. ET

New York, NY (October 21, 2014) — Scholastic, the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books will present an exclusive video featuring an inspiring, personal conversation with Taylor Swift the global superstar and seven-time Grammy® winner about how reading and writing can open a world of possibilities for children. Taylor will also share with young viewers the books that have most influenced her and a never before seen clip from behind the scenes at one of her recent music videos.

As part of Scholastic’s new reading initiative, “Open a World of Possible,” the 30-minute exclusive video will air on Scholastic.com beginning on October 29, 2014, at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT. Registration to watch on 10/29 is open now at http://www.scholastic.com/taylorswift.

In a nod to her multi-week No. 1 international smash hit single, “Shake It Off,” Taylor will discuss how music helps her shake off the tough moments in life. Following the video, students can enter Scholastic’s “This is How I Shake it Off” writing contest* for the chance to win tickets and a meet-and-greet for two at an upcoming Taylor Swift concert, along with accompanying flights and accommodations. Additional prizes for runners up include a signed guitar and signed copies of Taylor’s new “1989” CD. Students in grades 3-8 attending a U.S. school can enter the contest by submitting a one-page creative essay or poem about how they shake off mean comments and hard times. More details, Official Rules and the contest entry form can be found at: www.scholastic.com/taylorswift.*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter by December 11, 2014. Void where prohibited.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month, a great time to approach the subject of bullying with kids. In support of this observance and the video with Taylor,Scholastic has curated a collection of resources that address bullying, building resilience and fostering a love of reading in kids:

For Teachers: Articles and tips about how to address bullying in classrooms, available at: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/unit/bullying-everything-you-need, as well as writing activities to get students in a creative spirit, available at: http://www.scholastic.com/taylorswift/pdfs/activities.pdf.
For Parents: A guide to the sensitive issue of bullying, including lists of anti-bullying books for every age and expert advice available at:http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/collection/bullying-teasing/parent-guide-to-bullying.

Through the ongoing Open a World of Possible initiative, Scholastic has begun a conversation for teachers, parents and children to share ideas and advice about simple ways to incorporate independent reading into busy classroom days and family time. Scholastic invites people to continue joining the conversation and connecting with peers on social media channels using the hashtag #SharePossible.

For more about Scholastic, visit our Mediaroom at: http://mediaroom.scholastic.com.

About Open a World of Possible

Open a World of Possible is a new reading initiative and campaign that reaches out to teachers, parents and children across all of Scholastic’s books, magazines, websites, instructional materials, consulting, customer service and delivery systems serving almost all of the schools and families in the United States and many more throughout the world. For more information, please visit: http://www.scholastic.com/worldofpossible/.

About Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift, who writes all of her own songs, is a global superstar, seven-time GRAMMY winner and the youngest winner in history of the music industry's highest honor, the GRAMMY Award for Album of the Year. She is the first artist since the Beatles (and the only female artist in history) to log six or more weeks at #1 with three consecutive studio albums. Taylor has an album on Rolling Stone's prestigious The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time (by women) list, Time magazine has named her one the of the 100 Most Influential People in the world, and she is Billboard's youngest-ever Woman of the Year and the only artist to have been awarded this honor twice. Taylor has career record sales in excess of 30 million albums and almost 80 million song downloads worldwide, and has had singles top both the pop and country radio charts around the globe. Taylor's album RED, released almost two years ago on Big Machine Records, has sold more than 6 million copies worldwide to date, including more than 1.2 million copies in the U.S. in its first week, scoring the highest first-week sales debut of any album in over a decade. Taylor is the only female artist in music history (and just the fourth artist ever) to twice have an album (2010's Speak Now and 2012's RED) hit the 1 million plus first-week sales figure. ”Shake It Off” is the first single off her fifth studio album 1989 (Big Machine Records), which will be released on October 27, 2014. The single has topped Billboard’s Pop, HotAC and Hot 100 charts and has already earned double Platinum-status by the RIAA for exceeding sales of two million downloads.

Media Contacts:

Sara Sinek

212-343-6899

ssinek@scholastic.com

Michael Barrett

212-343-6570

mbarrett@scholastic.com

Deanna Kugler

212-601-8267

deanna.kugler@porternovelli.com

Suggested Tweets:

@TaylorSwift13 & @Scholastic team up to show how reading + writing can help kids be more resilient – http://bit.ly/1yQETny #SharePossible

Ten Ways for Authors to Fail on Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 11:00:00 +0000

KJ Charles

There’s been a lot of social-media career immolation going on this week. It may be the full moon. People making idiots of themselves is not a particularly edifying sight, so I’m not linking specific cases, but here are my basic principles of How Not To Do It for authors.

1) Interact online if you’re no fun to interact with.

Everyone tells you to be out there. Have a Goodreads or Facebook group, chat on Twitter, have a community, let them get to know you. But what if they don’t like you? I’ve had the experience of disliking an author’s online personality so much that it’s seeped into how I regard their books. I’ve chosen not to pick up books that would have otherwise been autobuys.

Obviously, authors have been unlikeable throughout history. This is why we have to sit alone in small rooms with our imaginary friends. But in previous years, it was reserved for their long-suffering loved ones and their editor. Now fans can get a share too.

This is a tricky one to judge, since most people don’t set out to be jerks. And I’m certainly not suggesting anyone should be silent, or a doormat. There are things we all need to stand up for, and stuff that shouldn’t be let go. Some people make their, uh, bracing interactive style a positive part of their brand (i.e. forceful without being a jerk). But if you’re getting into thin-skinned sulks, insulting your own fans, or picking fights with potential readers, you’re probably better off backing off.

2) Be vile.

Right. If you, the author, post a hilarious video/meme or an amusing blog post or whatever, and the response is, ‘wow, that is really racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic’, the correct approach is as follows:

Look again at what you posted.
Consider why the objection has been raised and if it is valid. If you can’t see what the problem is, ask, and listen to the answer with an open mind. You might learn something.
If you have caused real offence, even if you had no intention of doing so, apologise, and try to learn from the experience. If you think saying it was worth the offence caused, or that you’ve been misinterpreted, try explaining why and listening to the responses. Again, you may learn something.
Click here for the rest of this great article.

Make a Book Pumpkin – Frugal Fall Craft

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 11:30:00 +0000

Click HERE.

Do Authors Obsess Too Much About Book Reviews?

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 11:30:00 +0000

by Anne R. Allen

Whether we're newbies or superstars, traditional or self-publishers, pretty much all authors stress about reviews: getting them…and surviving them.

Getting Reviews is Tough

From the time our first book launches, we're told our number one job is to get reviewed. We send out ARCs, desperately query book bloggers and give away as many books as possible in hopes that some kind soul will write a few lines saying how they liked the book.

Some authors also use the new pricey book review sites—the ones where you have to pay $30 a month to be listed on a site that gives away free copies to people who probably won't review anyway.

Or they pay to get reviewed at Kirkus ($400-$550) or Publisher's Weekly($149). (These are not illegal like paid online "customer reviews," but many experts, like Joel Friedlander, consider them a bad idea.)

For a report from the review-chasing front, here's a great post from Molly Greene that includes her experiences with one paid review site. (Spoiler alert: it wasn't all Kumbaya and rainbows.)

We start out hoping for a bunch of rave reviews from big name book blogs or prestigious print journals, but after 100s of rejections from overwhelmed sites, we're grateful for a lukewarm mention on a blog with a readership of two people and a parakeet.

And then there's the biggie: getting reviews on the all-important retail and reader sites.

Nothing looks sadder than a naked, unreviewed book on Amazon or Goodreads. So we plead for people to accept free copies of our pricey, expensive-to-mail paper books on Goodreads and give away as many ebooks as we can on Amazon and Smashwords.

Some desperate authors even cross ethical lines. This is dumb and can get you kicked off Amazon permanently, so don't succumb to temptation to do stuff like:

Paying review mills or somebody at Fivrr to churn out generic one-line 5-stars.
Trading reviews.
Establishing "sock puppet" accounts for ourselves so we can review our own books and/or trash other people's.

People do these things because they're told they gotta, gotta, gotta get those reviews. They've probably heard that they need a certain number of Amazon raves—maybe it's fifty, or a hundred, nobody's quite sure—to make the bestseller lists and get promoted by the algorithms. (A myth: more on that below.)

But we all try to reel in as many reader reviews as possible, begging everyone we meet to read the book and write something. Anything. Preferably something nice.

Only mostly they don't.

Most sales and giveaways generate very few reviews. Lots of scammers use Goodreads and other sites to get free hard copies they can sell on EBay. And the few who do write reviews can be downright nasty.

There's a bizarre reviewer subculture in the Amazon-Goodreads jungle that revels in giving nasty reviews to books they haven't read. It's a game for them. They'll glance at a few lines in the free "look inside" sample or simply reword other negative reviews. They often buy and return an ebook within minutes so they can get a "verified review" stamp on their one-word one-star.

The motivation of these people isn't entirely clear to me, but apparently some are competing to rack up a lot of review numbers—some write dozens per day—which can make them eligible to get free products to review. Others are playing Amazon like a videogame. The rest are just mean people who must be having terrible lives.

But the thing is, none of this stuff is helpful to readers looking for their next read. The abuse also hurts the reputation of genuine reviewers and sends authors into despair.

Surviving Bad Reviews is Tougher

Keep reading here....

-CYM

14 Amazing Bookish Halloween Costumes for Children

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 11:00:00 +0000

BY BECKY COLE

Halloween approaches, fellow book nerds. Do you know what you’re going to wear? Neither do I! Let’s get our creative juices flowing by cooing over some photos of adorable little nuggets in bookish Halloween costumes.

I may not have a baby of my own to play dress up with, but I’m fully amenable to appreciating the wee bookish Halloween costume efforts of others.

(Also: beware, friends and relatives who have recently reproduced. I am scheming.)

I cannot contain my glee when I look at this little hobbit. He’s ready for second breakfast. Look at his furry feet!

“…and the smallest one was Madeline.”

CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE COSTUMES.

BookRiot

Book Club Books: 12 Fabulous Titles Everyone Can Agree On

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 11:00:00 +0000

The Huffington Post | By Maddie Crum

Selecting a book club book can seem as harrowing as the plot of a page-turner. Should you opt for the true story of a valiant trek across the Pacific Northwest, or the underrated, lesser-known classic? Should you ignore your 400-page limit for the sake of discussing The Goldfinch? Should you cancel your book club altogether?

Lest your wine-soaked discourse on what to read eclipse a more engaging conversation about books and life in general, consider these 12 fool-proof book club picks:

The Story of Land and Sea by Katy Simpson Smith
With a PhD in History and an MFA in creative writing, who better to pen a Revolutionary War-era novel than debut author Katy Simpson Smith? Her first book follows a single father and his ailing daughter Tabitha, as he attempts to cure her of yellow fever by taking her to sea. Embellished with flashbacks from the time before Tab's mother died in childbirth, this story is both painstakingly accurate to its era and pleasantly relatable to a contemporary audience. Read our review here.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Another stunning debut, Everything I Never Told Youfollows the pain and trauma a family must cope with after the loss of its eldest and most-praised daughter. Ng examines parental pressures, Asian-American stereotypes and various means of coping with grief in her story of a biracial family's gradual unraveling. Read our review here.

Keep Reading here. Huff Post Books.

-CYM

10 Tips to Organizing a Kick Ass Online Book Event

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 11:30:00 +0000

Today, one of our WANA instructors is here to talk about a topic that makes most of us want to throw ourselves in traffic. BUT Angela Ackerman, our marketing maven is here to demystify ~~Sasquatch~~ the book launch party….

The Book Launch—WTH? What AM I THINKING?

The book launch. The discoverability blog hop. The big Christmas sale. You know you need to do it, that it will be good for your book, but the MOUNTAIN of work looming makes you want to run for Netflix and Big Bang Theory reruns.

After hosting many successful online events, I’ve learned a few tricks to making it through them alive. It involves a lot of coffee, frozen pizza for the family, and these ten steps.

1) Pick a Theme

Every event needs something jazzy to make it stand out. Pick a theme for your event that makes it fun and different. Think about your audience, and what they might find entertaining or valuable, and then pair it with a unique element from your book.

Is your book about pirates? Create an online treasure hunt. Is your hero a safe-cracking thief? Host a bank vault break in (Becca and I did something similar HERE.) The goal is to attract YOUR IDEAL AUDIENCE by tailoring your event to something they specifically will enjoy.

2) Marshall Your Forces

Keep Reading here from Kristen Lamb's Blog.

-CYM

The Chemistry Behind the Smell of Old Books: Explained with a Free Infographic

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 22:04:00 +0000

What gives old books that ever-so-distinctive smell? Andy Brunning, a chemistry teacher in the UK, gives us all a quick primer with this infographic posted on his web site, Compound Interest. The visual comes accompanied by this textual explanation. Writes Brunning:

Generally, it is the chemical breakdown of compounds within paper that leads to the production of ‘old book smell’. Paper contains, amongst other chemicals, cellulose, and smaller amounts of lignin – much less in more modern books than in books from more than one hundred years ago. Both of these originate from the trees the paper is made from; finer papers will contain much less lignin than, for example, newsprint. In trees, lignin helps bind cellulose fibres together, keeping the wood stiff; it’s also responsible for old paper’s yellowing with age, as oxidation reactions cause it to break down into acids, which then help break down cellulose.
‘Old book smell’ is derived from this chemical degradation. Modern, high quality papers will undergo chemical processing to remove lignin, but breakdown of cellulose in the paper can still occur (albeit at a much slower rate) due to the presence of acids in the surroundings. These reactions, referred to generally as ‘acid hydrolysis’, produce a wide range of volatile organic compounds, many of which are likely to contribute to the smell of old books. A selected number of compounds have had their contributions pinpointed: benzaldehyde adds an almond-like scent; vanillin adds a vanilla-like scent; ethyl benzene and toluene impart sweet odours; and 2-ethyl hexanol has a ‘slightly floral’ contribution. Other aldehydes and alcohols produced by these reactions have low odour thresholds and also contribute.

The Aroma of Books infographic can be viewed in a larger format here. And because it has been released under a Creative Commons license, it can be downloaded for free. For another explanation of this phenomenon — this one in video — see this previous post in our archive: The Birth and Decline of a Book: Two Videos for Bibliophiles

via IFLScience

Originally posted here: Open Culture

What a College Football Star Did With a Group of 50-Year-Old Women Will SHOCK You

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 12:00:00 +0000

Re-post from MadWorld by Sean Brown

A wide receiver from the University of Georgia did something with a group of 40 to 50-year-old women that will undoubtedly leave you in shock.

Malcolm Mitchell met Kathy Rackley at a local Barnes and Noble one day, where she proceeded to tell him about her book club. Malcolm, who only had a junior high reading level when he entered college, asked her if he could join Kathy and her friends for their meetings once a month.

Kathy had no idea that a few years back Malcolm was the number one rated wide receiver in college football, and she told him that he probably wouldn’t be interested since it was a group of older women. Malcolm didn’t care, however, and he told her he would like to join them anyways.

Ever since, Malcolm has been attending the monthly meetings with the women, discussing books and enjoying the company of the group of woman who are all a generation older than him.

Perhaps the greatest part of Malcolm’s story is when he was asked by CBS reporter Steven Hartman what his greatest accomplishment in his life has been. After years of playing football and being in the national spotlight, he told Hartman it was when he finished reading the Hunger Games series in about two days.

His reason? Football comes naturally to him and he says it’s a “gift,” whereas improving his reading was a challenge that took hard work to accomplish.

Hats off to Malcolm for setting a good example for black youth across America. Such a story is inspirational and shows that friends can be made between the most unlikely people.

Make sure you share this story if Malcolm’s unusual friendships are inspirational to you as well.

-CYM

Fictitious Dishes: Elegant and Imaginative Photographs of Meals from Famous Literature

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 12:30:00 +0000

Repost from Maria Popova

From James Joyce to Maurice Sendak, by way of weep-worthy jelly and gifted chickens.

Food and literature have a long and arduous relationship, from the Artists’ and Writers’ Cookbook to Jane Austen reimagined in recipes to Alice B. Toklas’sliterary memoir disguised as a cookbookto those delicious dishes inspired byAlice in Wonderland. But nowhere does that relationship come alive more vividly and enchantingly than in Fictitious Dishes: An Album of Literature’s Most Memorable Meals (public library) — an ingenious project by designer and writer Dinah Fried, who cooks, art-directs, and photographs meals from nearly two centuries of famous fiction. Each photograph is accompanied by the particular passage in which the recipe appeared, as well as a few quick and curious factlets about the respective author, novel, or food.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, 1963

'Then I tackled the avocado and crabmeat salad...Every Sunday my grandfather used to bring me an avocado pear hidden at the bottom of his briefcase under six soiled shirts and the Sunday comic.'

by J.D. Salinger, 1951

'When I’m out somewhere, I generally just eat a Swiss cheese sandwich and a malted milk. It isn’t much, but you get quite a lot of vitamins in the malted milk. H. V. Caulfield. Holden Vitamin Caulfield.'

The project began as a modest design exercise while Fried was attending the Rhode Island School of Design a couple of years ago, but the concept quickly gripped her with greater allure that transcended her original short-term deadline. As she continued to read and cook, a different sort of self-transcendence took place (after all, isn’t that the greatest gift of literature?): A near-vegetarian, she found herself wrestling with pig kidney for Ulysses and cooking bananas eleven ways for Gravity’s Rainbow.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, 1865

'Have some wine,’ the March Hare said in an encouraging tone. Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea.'

The book begins with a beautiful quote from Ray Bradbury’s 1953 classic Fahrenheit 451:

I ate them like salad, books were my sandwich for lunch, my tiffin and dinner and midnight munch. I tore out the pages, ate them with salt, doused them with relish, gnawed on the bindings, turned the chapters with my tongue! Books by the dozen, the score and the billion. I carried so many home I was hunchbacked for years. Philosophy, art history, politics, social science, the poem, the essay, the grandiose play, you name ’em, I ate ’em.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925

'On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors-d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold.'

Fried, whom I had the pleasure of advising briefly during her graduate thesis at RISD, reflects on her long-term love affair with the culinary details of famous fiction, which possess a unique multi-sensory capacity to transport the reader into a specific world and thus grant the singular gift of exceptionally vivid memories:

Many of my most vivid memories from books are of the meals the characters eat. I read Heidi more than twenty years ago, but I can still taste the golden, cheesy toast that her grandfather serves her, and I can still feel the anticipation and comfort she experiences as she watches him prepare it over the open fire. I remember some meals for the moment they signify within a story: the minty cupcakes that Melissa gives to Chip in The Corrections — a marker of their love affair, which causes Chip’s professional downfall and general unraveling. Other meals have stayed with me for the atmosphere they help convey. Recently, a friend told me that after reading Lolita, he began to drink gin and pineapple juice, a favorite combination of the novel’s narrator, Humbert Humbert. I read Lolita when I was barely older than Lolita herself and was amazed that my friend’s description of the cocktail catapulted me back to the distinct world that Nabokov had created: a sticky New England summer when an intoxicated, lust-lorn Humbert Humbert mows the unruly lawn in the hot sun, pining for Dolores, who is away at camp. Likewise, Melville’s description of steaming chowder in Moby-Dick evokes a vision of Ishmael’s seafaring life: salty, damp ocean air on a dark evening; finding solace in a cozy, warmly lit inn with a toasty dining room filled with good cheer and the rich smell of fresh seafood.

All of Fried’s photographs are immensely thoughtful (Ishmael’s austere dinner from Moby-Dick is not only a nautically appropriate serving of clam chowder, but also appears lit by candlelight), and some bear a distinct undertone of cultural meta-satire (representing A Confederacy of Dunces is the ultimate edible Americana, a hot dog on a classic All-American diner tablecloth).

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, 1851

'Our appetites being sharpened by the frosty voyage, and in particular, Queequeg seeing his favorite fishing food before him, and the chowder being surpassingly excellent, we despatched it with great expedition…'

In a sentiment reminiscent of Lewis Carroll’s parallel between food and intellectual consumption, Fried writes:

Reading and eating are natural companions, and they’ve got a lot in common. Reading is consumption. Eating is consumption. Both are comforting, nourishing, restorative, relaxing, and mostly enjoyable. They can energize you or put you to sleep. Heavy books and heavy meals both require a period of intense digestion. Just as reading great novels can transport you to another time and place, meals — good and bad ones alike — can conjure scenes very far away from your kitchen table. Some of my favorite meals convey stories of origin and tradition; as a voracious reader, I devour my favorite books.

The final pages of Fictitious Dishes, which is an absolute delight in its entirety, also feature one of the loveliest dedications I’ve ever laid heart on:

Thank you and love to my father, for teaching me to read carefully, and to my mother, for teaching me to look closely.

For a side order of literary deliciousness, see Alexandre Dumas’s rules of dining etiquette and some scrumptious recipes inspired by Jane Austen’s novels.

All photographs courtesy of Dinah Fried

Repost from Here-

CYM

33 Must-Read Books To Celebrate Banned Books Week

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 12:00:00 +0000

Repost from Buzzfeed.com
via PowellBooks

So, I'm a week or two late to this stupid party. Can we stop banning books already?

September 21 to September 27 is Banned Books Week. To celebrate, we found a bunch of books THE MAN doesn’t want you to read. Fight the power! Read the books!

1. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson

What is so offensive about a kids’ picture book about penguin parents? Welllll, those penguin parents happen to be the same sex, which, according to Wikipedia, set off the alarm of many social conservatives in the US. So much so apparently that “the American Library Association reports that And Tango Makes Three was the most challenged book of 2006, 2007, and 2008.” Wowza.

2. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

The graphic novel version of Marjane Satrapi’s childhood in Iran is a must-read for all humans—except seventh graders in Chicago, where the school board “order that it not to be taught in the seventh grade curriculum because of its ‘graphic images.’”(SocialistWorker.org)

3. Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman

When this book came out in 1971, “many regional distributors and bookstores were unwilling to carry the book, citing its subversive nature and the literal encouragement of theft the title provided.” (Wikipedia) Fortunately none of that stopped the book from becoming a cultural phenomenon.

4. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

According to Wikipedia, this book was banned by the Fruitland Park Elementary School in Lake County, Florida because some parents thought it “encourag[ed] messiness and disobedience,” among other things.

Who bands Shel Silverstein?

KEEP READING THIS LUDICROUS LIST-

CYM

5 Tips for Writing Suspense

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 01:55:00 +0000

Repost from Writer's Digest

I am a traditionally published thriller author. My latest book No Time to Die just hit shelves this week. When I first started writing suspense fiction, though, I had very little idea what I was doing. It took a humble amount of trial and error to get in a groove and overcome basic rookie errors. Now, seven years later, I like to think I’ve figured out some tricks of the trade. I’ve also been extremely lucky to receive the support and mentorship of some of the top names in the biz, like Jack Reacher’s creator Lee Child and the late Michael Palmer. So without further ado, here are some tips for budding thriller writers that I wish I’d known from day one…

GIVEAWAY: Kira is excited to give away a free copy of her novel to a random commenter. Comment within 2 weeks; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. You can win a blog contest even if you’ve won before. (Please note that comments may take a little while to appear; this is normal).

1) Structure Scenes like Mini-Novels: Each one should contain its own narrative arc, with rising action and a climactic moment that signals the end of the chapter. It’s good form to finish most chapters on a cliffhanger—especially the first one. A major dramatic question should be raised in the opening scene, and then resolved in an unexpected or unfavorable way to hurl the main character further into the conflict (and thus drag your readers into the story). Get your protagonist in trouble as soon as possible and never let her get too comfortable or too safe. As far as chapter length, I’ve found that an average of five pages (double-spaced, size 12) works well for keeping up the pace.

2) Plot Strategically to Avoid the Sagging Middle: This rookie error is one I had the misfortune of making early on: I wrote the beginning of a book and then abruptly ran out of steam about sixty pages in. When you’re staring down 240 blank pages without a plan, it’s easy to freeze up. Now I have a method. Once I have the main cast of characters and their conflicts, I conceive a new book in four sections. At the end of each section, I devise a major twist to launch into the next section and keep up the narrative momentum. Once I’ve figured out my four big plot points, I go deeper into plotting the concretes of each individual section, dropping red herrings and hints about the twists to come so that they will be logical without being predictable. This is the most challenging part of the process for me and is apt to change when I actually get to writing. I think of the outline like a highway: you can go off-roading from time to time but you get back on the highway to get to your final destination.

(How many markets should you send your novel out to?)

3) Alternate Character POVs: I love writing in third-person multiple vision, alternating between protagonist, antagonist, and usually another main character who has a stake in the central conflict. Getting into each character’s head increases suspense for the reader, who knows to anticipate the moves of competing characters and either roots for or against them to succeed. It’s the easiest POV choice to use in writing a thriller. When you follow Tip 1 and end each chapter on a cliffhanger, then switch to a new character whose scene also ends on a cliffhanger, the reader will be tearing through the pages to learn what happens. A word to the wise: the hardest POV choice is writing in first person—and keeping with only one character—for the entire story, because then you can’t create dramatic irony. (i.e. when the reader knows more about the stakeholders in the conflict than each character alone knows.)

4) Obscure POV when useful: Say you’re writing a murder scene but you want the killer’s identity to remain a secret. I wanted to pull this off in my new book, since the killer was someone surprising in the story, but I didn’t want readers to know who until way later. The trick is to write the scene from the victim’s perspective. Don’t allow the victim to know or recognize the killer—so you can have a dramatic, intense scene without spoiling the mystery. This is the first chapter of No Time to Die.

(Book Payments and Royalties — Your Questions Answered.)

5) Raise questions and delay the answers: This technique is the absolute key to suspense. Pique people’s curiosity and then make them wait for a resolution. While they’re waiting, introduce a new tantalizing question, and then delay that answer too. Once you can layer these successfully, you’ve got a page-turner. The famous author Pete Hamill told me once that writing suspense is about planting diving boards and then jumping off them later. Best advice I ever got.

Go forth and good luck!

Go HERE comment & read.

-CYM

Strong Darkness by Jon Land PRIZE PACKAGE Giveaway & Review

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 11:30:00 +0000

Strong Darkness

by Jon Land

(Forge/Tom Doherty Associates Books 2014)

Strong Darkness is best-selling Jon Land at his triumphal best! It is at the zenith of his remarkable story-telling skill. Unforgettable characters locked in battle with a Chinese monster deceiving our supposed defender, U.S. Homeland Security intent on controlling our elections, to open the U.S. communications network to Chinese zealots with their own object -- establishing a means of killing tens of millions American cell phone users with a key click.

Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong is on her game. The son of her fellow-traveler Cort Wesley is seduced by a beautiful Chinese porn star, bred to be an irresistible sex machine, with an agenda of her own. Cort Wesley responds with the assistance of Caitlin’s avenging angel Guilliermo Paz, another killing machine relentlessly seeking his own salvation.

You will not put this one down until you reach the finale in an avalanche of evil creatures.

Jon Land writes remarkable thrillers. Aside from clever context and engaging characters, he treats readers to an understanding of the emotions of these heroes as they confront evil and their own reality. He also connects Caitlin’s current Texas Ranger missions to those of her grandfather in the times of range warfare.

When you turn the last page, you will smile with expectation of a continuing saga of Caitlin, Cort Wesley, Guillermo and the boys, which Jon reports is on its way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are you ready for a giveaway?? Leave me a link in a comment, to you. Yes, you. It can be your blog, IG account, Twitter account, Goodreads account or an email address. Leave me your social media footprint! One entry per person. Random number generator will pick a winner in 2 weeks. Deadline October 13th, midnight CST. Giveaway open worldwide but shipping on actual book & bookmark will be limited to US only.

What will you win?

1. Strong Darkness (ordered from Amazon, hardcover or kindle, your choice)

2. $10 Starbucks eGift Card to drink while reading Strong Darkness

3. Custom Bookmark eGift Certificate from this shop: kraze4paper

Enter. Win. Read.

CYM

Jon Land

Highland Park, Texas school district suspends seven books from high-school curriculum

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 01:07:00 +0000

Posted in the LATimes: Jacket Copy
by Michael Schuab

The Highland Park, Texas, public school district is the subject of some raised eyebrows this week after suspending seven books from the curriculum of Highland Park High School in response to complaints from parents. The news broke widely Monday (9/22), the second day of the American Library Assn.'s Banned Books Week.

The seven suspended books are "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green, "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse, "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison, "The Working Poor: Invisible in America" by David K. Shipler, "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein, and "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls.

The Associated Press reports that parents of some Highland Park students objected to the books because they contained "sex scenes and references to rape, abuse and abortion." The books will be reviewed, and could be reinstated, but it could be a long process.

Some parents aren't happy with the school district's decision. According to the Dallas Morning News, a group of parents and students has formed to try to get the suspensions lifted. One parent, Laurie Dodic Steinberg, noted that one of the books was being read by students when the suspension was enacted. "They have pulled 'The Art of Racing in the Rain' right out of the hands of the sophomore English students," she told the newspaper, adding: "The fact is they’ve pulled these books in the middle of the six weeks and are now asking the teachers to scramble for a whole new lesson plan. It’s just incredibly sad.”

The Dallas Observer's Emily Mathis notes that the school district removed two books from the curriculum earlier this year: "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult and the frequently challenged novel "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky.

Alexie, one of the challenged authors, spoke out Monday, tweeting: "The real reason my True Diary gets banned? Because it's about the triumph of a liberal Native American rebel."

Jeannette Walls is also unhappy about the suspension, and will get a chance to talk about it fairly soon, close to the home of the controversy. As Texas Observer reporter Patrick Michels notes, Walls will be the keynote speaker next year at a literary festival -- in Highland Park.

Reposted from Here-

CYM

Eight Books To Read Before They Are Made Into Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 11:30:00 +0000

by Cathy Spalding, News For Shoppers

Better start reading, because there are eight movies coming out before the end of 2014 that have been made from books.

Bookstore and online retailer Books-A-Million, Inc. has released a list of these books and their movie release dates.

They include:

• The Giver, adapted from the book by Lois Lowry about a boy who is raised in an ordered society with no war or disease, who is then trained to be the new Receiver of Memories. The movie stars Jeff Bridges, Taylor Swift, Katie Holmes, and Meryl Streep and will be released on August 15, 2014.

• If I Stay is a story by Gayle Forman that tells about a young cellist who has a near death experience in a car accident. While her body is in a coma, she watches and flashes back on her life, all the while deciding whether to fight to survive. The release date is August 22, 2014, and stars Chloe Grace Moretz, Mireille Enos, Jamie Blackley, and Liana Liberato.

• Dark Places is the first of two novels by Gillian Flynn that you can see on the silver screen this year. In it, a girl searches to find the truth about who murdered her mother and sisters twenty five years earlier. Starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, and Corey Stoll, the movie version comes out September 1, 2014.

• This Is Where I Leave You is a lighter comedy amongst the serious themes in these books and movies. Written by Jonathan Tropper, this tells the story of a dysfunctional family who gathers together in one home after the death of their father. The movie will be released on September 12, 2014 and stars Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, and Jane Fonda.

• Maze Runner, the first in a book series by James Dashner, tells of a boy who wakes up knowing only his name. He is trapped in a maze with a number of other boys who all have to learn to survive on their own. Starring Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Will Poulter, and Thomas Brodie-Sangster, the movie will be released on September 19, 2014.

• Gone Girl is the second book by Gillian Flynn to become a movie this year. It tells the story of a women who disappears on her fifth wedding anniversary. Her husband acts strangely, but is he capable of murder? Watch this movie on October 13, 2014, starring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tyler Perry.

• Wild is based on a true story by Cheryl Strayed of her solo journey along the Pacific Coast Trail through California and Oregon as she comes to terms with events in her personal life. The movie stars Reese Witherspoon, Gaby Hoffmann, Laura Dern, and Michiel Huisman and will be released on December 5, 2014.

• Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, tells the remarkable story of a delinquent boy from humble beginnings who goes on to compete in the Olympics, serve in the Air Force, become stranded on a life raft, and get thrown into a war-time prison camp. This movie will be released on December 25, 2014, and stars Jack O’Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Jai Courtney, and Luke Treadaway.

These books are available at Books-A-Million and other retailers.

Click here for the original article.

-CYM

Think Like a Freak by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner #BookReview

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 12:00:00 +0000

Think Like a Freak
by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
(William Morrow 2014)

How would you describe your own thinking processes? Are they conformist (running with the herd), non-conformist, idiosyncratic or some other pattern derived from celestial or religious origins?

Whatever their source, those processes are critical elements of how we interact with events on a daily basis. For example, if loudmouths are speaking inappropriate words in a loud voice in a closed in space (like an airplane), do you try to ignore it, become confrontational, or otherwise. I tend to become confrontational wanting to stop the insulting behavior.

Levitt and Dubner commenced a focus on behavior in Freakonomics with the hope of retraining our brains to think more economically and rationally. Of course, what they may be doing is retraining their own minds and lifestyles, then publishing the results to fund unique lives. We all have an axe to grind.

In any event, they celebrate unique ways of reacting and proselytize for individuality. Think Like a Freak is entertaining, easy reading. It is also thought-provoking. For example, I found quite revealing the discussion about feedback. Our authors advise that the key to learning is listening to feedback. In other words, adapting our behavior and thought based on what we learn from experience. They cite an example of an advertising campaign in newspapers. Due to an oversight, an area of Pittsburgh was not covered for an entire summer. The agency was fired. But when sales statistics were checked, there was no difference with or without the advertising. The take-away from feedback: maybe the advertising was a waste of money. Do you think it continued

I had other favorites. One was the perception that expensive wine is better. Taste tests reflect that ratings are random as compared to actual cost. Does that feedback suggest that we should retrain ourselves to buy the cheapest in a specific varietal?

Another revealing observation involves personal exercise. If you decide that you should do wake-up thinking you should do some push-ups and can do 5, should you be happy? Or should you challenge yourself. Why not ask yourself for 25, or 50, or 100. Go for it! I did so and now do 105 per day, 35 at a time.

Finally, they address the subject of declaring an end to one element of your life and moving. This is therapeutic for all of us, regardless of how difficult it may be. Our authors address this in the context of whether they should terminate the Freaks series. Letting go of such a successful enterprise would be the antithesis of the inevitable conventional wisdom to go with a winner. On the other hand, letting go may open other frontiers of even greater opportunity/

We are all freaks, so let’s liberate ourselves!

Warms, Cym

AMAZON

Inspired to Write

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 12:00:00 +0000

-CYM

Live Chat with Kira Peikoff (No Time to Die) on Booktrib

noreply@blogger.com (Christy Bright) — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 11:30:00 +0000

In a Washington, D.C. research lab, a brilliant scientist is attacked by his own test subjects. At Columbia University, a talented biochemist is lured out of her apartment and never seen again. In the Justice Department’s new Bioethics Committee, agent Les Mahler sees a sinister pattern emerging…Zoe Kincaid is a petite college student whose rare genetic makeup may hold the key to a powerful medical breakthrough. When she is kidnapped, the very thing mankind has wanted since the dawn of time threatens to unleash our final destruction.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

KIRA PEIKOFF is a writer based in New York City. She graduated with high honors from New York University in 2007 with a degree in journalism, after four years of various reporting internships: covering street crime for The Daily News, writing about Capitol Hill for The Orange County Register in Washington, D.C., reporting on business and technology for Newsday, and researching feature stories for New York magazine.

To fulfill her longtime dream of writing a novel, she then spent a year exclusively working on LIVING PROOF. The story was inspired by her experience reporting from the White House in the summer of 2006, as she watched President Bush announce the first veto of his presidency to deny federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Peikoff’s passionate feelings about what many people view as a controversy of morality vs. science-one with potentially life-or-death stakes-led to the central conflict in LIVING PROOF.

After completing that book, Peikoff worked for several years in the editorial departments at two NYC publishing houses, which gave her an invaluable inside look at the publishing process and the rapidly changing industry.

NO TIME TO DIE, her second novel, has just been published by Kensington in paperback, ebook, and audio. These days, Peikoff is working on her third thriller, freelancing for a variety of major media outlets including The New York Times, and attending Columbia University’s Master of Science program in Bioethics. She lives in New York City with her husband and dog.

-Cym

AMAZON
BookTrib