Books Still Have it to Stir our Emotions

According to a new study, "Books are just as powerful as movies when it comes to their potential to prod our brains into such reactions as delight, pain or disgust...".

For those of us who are writers, this is is great news...books can still compete with movies when it comes to touching us in a deep and meaningful way.

This from a posting on a science news blog! I would have expected something like this to come from Psychology Today. You can read the story here.

http://www.livescience.com/health/080821-reading-emotions.html

Konrath's "Fuzzy Navel" is a Juicy Winner (Drink Responsibly)

Dirty Martini was my introduction to the writing of JA Konrath, and after I put down that book, I thought to myself, "Wow. That was a great story. But I don't think he'll ever top the chaos I just witnessed."

I was wrong.

Konrath's latest thriller takes fear and humor to a new level when he packs mayhem and murder into eight action-packed, laugh-out-loud hours. The opening chapter fakes right and then surprises you with a left hook. From there, it's all downhill (or uphill, depending on your point of view). The next few pages demonstrate a couple of acts of vigilante justice that will have you secretly wishing you could take the law into your own hands from time to time, and it's fun to watch. But then things turn nasty. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels, the protaganist, witnesses several of her colleagues bite the dust. The action ramps up when she heads home to find her arch enemy, Alex Kork, has escaped from prison and has made herself at home, along with Jack's mom & fiancee. With a gun pointed at her loved ones, Jack is forced to entice Harry McGlade and Phin to join her. The ultimate aim is to force Jack to watch her friends and loved ones die...the ultimate revenge for a woman that Harry lovingly described as "Frankenbitch".

But that's not the only problem Jack faces. It seems a trio of paramilitary wannabes have decided that Jack's got to go, and they soon join the party, surrounding her home and cutting the occupants off from the outside world with some high tech jamming devices and a old fashioned pair of wire cutters.

And you think your job is tough?

This book is a real page-turner, so I recommend you buy it on a Friday. Once you start reading, you won't want to stop, so your Saturday and Sunday will be spoken for. Unplug the TV and the phone...on second thought, after reading this, you'll probably be clutching the cordless with both hands.

The best part of this latest Jack Daniels' tale is the shocking surprise ending, a cliffhanger which will leave you (figuratively) dying for more. There's quite a few twists and turns in this one, but I've managed to figure out what really happens in the end.

If you want to know yourself, you can buy the next Konrath novel, Cherry Bomb, which is due out in 2009. Or you can bribe me to learn the truth. Send me an email, and I'll send you my address. I'll reveal all for one million dollars...no, make that two million dollars. One million for me and one million for the out-of-court settlement when Konrath sues me.

At any rate, pick up a copy of Fuzzy Navel. And take a big swig. You'll be glad you did.

Best line?
Jack Daniels, "I think my work followed me home."

How To Get Boys To Read - Gross 'Em Out!

The problem of how to get boys to read more has never been a big secret. We've just forgotten our target audience. What boys like is adventure, thrills...and lots of gross detail in the killing, as the Wall Street Journal reminds in Friday's article. Some of the favorite topics include Vlad the Impaler, a Romanian prince who was the real life inspiration for the story of Count Dracula.

Check out the link here, but don't read while eating:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121814900158422243.html

Scott William Carter's "The First Book" Should be first on your list.

One of the great pleasures of being a writer is getting to meet other writers, even if it is only over the internet. I first learned about Scott William Carter from a posting on the discussion forums of bksp.org (Backspace, a writer's forum), and also from a post by his agent, Rachel Vater.

Scott has been tireless in his promotion of new writers through a weekly interview blog he conducts. When I contacted him about interviewing me about my first novel, he was very enthusiastic. Since then, I've discovered many new writers that I never would have noticed if he hadn't brought them to my attention.

For anyone looking for a new author to read, I can't think of a better place to start than, "The First Word". Check it out. You'll be glad you did.

http://thefirstbook.wordpress.com

Mystery Writers: Spinetingler wants you for their Archives

If you've ever been published by Spinetingler Magazine, you may want to read the following. They are collecting stories for their archives, and they need the permission of their writers beore they can collect the stories. See the following message from Sandra Ruttan for more details.

The new issue of Spinetingler Magazine should be available in a few days, and the continuation of Spinetingler is due to the persistence of Brian Lindenmuth and his efforts to persuade me to at least save the Spinetingler archives by moving them to Mystery Bookspot. Ultimately, MBS adopted Spinetingler and provided me with the financial resources needed to increase payments to writers, and technical support to create and upload the issues.The new issue is, in part, a tribute to Tribe’s Flashing in the Gutters. All the stories are flash pieces or short-short stories, and some of the flash pieces originally appeared in FITG. However, we didn’t note which ones originally appeared on Tribe’s site, because we wanted to show how well the stories have stood up over time, and the caliber of the writing showcased on Tribe’s amazing site.

With Tribe’s blessing and Brian’s continued interest in making sure that important contributions to the genre are not lost to us forever, we’re now seeking permission to post an archive of Flashing in the Gutters from all writers who had work on the site. We do not wish to re-post the stories without consent, and we do expect this to be a time-consuming project, but hopefully by fall an archive of most of the stories will be available at mysterybookspot.com.

All writers can e-mail Brian Lindenmuth (blindenmuth@gmail.com) or Sandra Ruttan (sandraruttan.spinetinglermag@gmail.com) to confirm whether or not their story can be included in the archive.

Never Say Never Again: James Bond Returns!

Although Ian Fleming died over forty years ago, the Bond character lives on, most notably in movies, but now, he's returning to the printed page. Sebastian Faulks is the latest author (but not the first) selected to write a new James Bond thriller after Fleming's death.

The new novel returns to the days of the Cold war, which should make die-hard Bond fans happy. With luck, it will also bring on a new group of younger fans, despite the fact they may not know the historical relevance of Sputnik, the race to the moon or the Berlin Wall. It should arrive in time for the 100th anniversary of Ian Fleming's birth.

You can read the article at the Wall Street Jornal online, here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121020673072975501.html

Tag! You're It!

I was catching up on my blog reading when I stumbled across an invitation from Mark Coggins to pick up a book and quote from it. Not just any quote...a quote from page 123, the 6th, 7th and 8th sentences. So, with that invitation accepted, here goes...the results are quite interesting.

The nearest book at hand was "The Children of Black Valley" by Evan Kilgore. And on page 123, here's the appropriate quote:

"If I don't know everything about who you are and what you're doing here, I'm going to press this button. Then, it will hurt. Then, we'll start over."

Hmmm, interesting! I hadn't planned on reading this book just yet, but now, my antenna is activated. Sounds like I've stumbled across a pretty nasty character. Better return to page one, and see how we got here. As far as the context of the quote, feel free to use your imagination. I found it fairly shocking.

This feels like one of those chain letters, but with an cool twist. I'd like to send out five invitations to some people who, hopefully, read my blog from time to time (or perhaps, get lost and stumble into it).

Thanks go out to Mark Coggins for this invite.

The Rules Are:

1. Pick up the nearest book at hand (left or right...hand, that is).
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence.
4. Post the next 3 sentences.
5. Tag 5 other people (but don't contact them...let them find you).
6. Acknowledge who tagged you.

My choice to play tag!

1. Libby Fischer Hellman, author of Easy Innocence.
2. JA Konrath, author of the soon to be released Fuzzy Navel
3. Sandra Rattan, editor of Spinetingler Magazine and author of What Burns Within.
4. Julie Hyzy, author of a tasty little cozy called State of the Onion.
5. Lee Lofland, author, investigative expert and blogger at The Graveyard Shift.

There are a lot of people I could have chosen, but hopefully, there is something for everyone in this list. I can just imagine a barbeque with this group...the possibilities are endless! Maybe I should send out some invitations (I'll just make sure the fire extinguisher is fully charged...)