Courage and Craft: Writing Your Life into Story (Paperback)

Posted by qpen on May 19, 2010

Review

-This is a clear, insightful book about reading and writing by one of the most gifted teachers of writing today. She wrestles the art of good writing from the clutches of the muse and brings it down to earth where we can have a go at it. With humor and generosity, she shares her good ideas and love of craft. It is a nourishing read, second only to taking one of Barbara’s classes.- – Linda Hunt, actress -There are too many technical, academic writing texts out there. B (more…)

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The Elements of Story: Field Notes on Nonfiction Writing (Hardcover)

Posted by qpen on April 18, 2010

Review

“A virtual Merck Manual for story doctors, filled with insightful diagnoses and effective prescriptions.” (William G. Connolly, co-author of The New York Times Style Manual of Style and Usage )“Ailing writers, not to worry. There is a Story Doctor in the house. His name is Frank Flaherty, and his powerful medicine is on every page of The Elements of Story. It belongs on your shelf right there next to that other Elements book.” (Roy Peter Clark, author of “Writing (more…)

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The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction (Paperback)

Posted by qpen on April 10, 2010

During her many years of teaching introduction to fiction courses, Ann Charters developed an acute sense of which stories work most effectively in the classroom. She also discovered that writers, not editors, have the most interesting and useful things to say about the making and the meaning of fiction. Accordingly, her choice of fiction in the first edition of her The Story and Its Writer was as notable for its student appeal as it was for its quality and range. And to compleme (more…)

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Terry Pratchett’s Unseen Academicals

Posted by Britt Hellman on March 13, 2010

UK’s best-selling author Terry Pratchett’s latest novel Unseen Academicals (2009) is a parody on the cultural phenomenon of European football (soccer) and everything that surrounds it. As such, it may be better understood and enjoyed by Europeans than Americans; in particular since football hooliganism, a distinctly UK phenomenon, plays a central role in the story.

But really, the book is about so much more than football (soccer) and makes for fabulous entertainment for anybody, American or British. It is also a book about fashion super models (and their association with football super stars); pies of every conceivable variety (and their association with football fans); as well as goblins and orcs (association to football unknown).

In typically characteristic Pratchett-fashion, everything on the Discworld mirrors things in our own world with a slight and hilarious twist. For example, a tail-gate market on the Discworld becomes a cart-tail market. And instead of cheerleaders, there are naiads dancing on the sidelines.

The book has many heroes, in particular a goblin-turned-orc by the name of Mr. Nutt. Because he’s one of only a handful of surviving orcs on the Discworld, two of the world’s most powerful leaders take him under their wings to help him save himself as well as his dying race.

It bears mentioning that the two leaders in question, Lord Vetinari and Lady Margolotta have been at this before. Their previous projects have included rock trolls, werewolves, golems, and vampires, all of which they assisted in becoming integrated and accepted members of human society.

Mr. Nutt gets sent from Lady Margolotta’s Uberwald to Lord Vetinari’s Ankh-Morpork and assigned the task to accumulate ‘worth’ in human society. In doing so, Nutt gains many loyal friends and admirers in his workplace, the Unseen University. Co-worker Trev Likely goes to any length to defend his orc friend, and the head mistress of the Night Kitchen, Miss Glenda Sugarbean (creator of the crusty onion pie) becomes a staunch admirer, which later leads to a budding romance.

By impressing his superiors at Unseen University with his knowledge and knack for strategic thinking, Mr. Nutt eventually gets placed in charge of coaching the school’s new football team. And then one thing leads to another.

Unseen Academicals may be a parody on the phenomenon of European football (soccer), as well as a number of other things thrown in for good measure, but soccer fan or not, this book will give you many hours of joyous reading and barrels of laughs.

Mrs. Hellman resides in North Carolina with her husband and their three boys. She’s a professional copywriter and does book reviews as a hobby. Visit her web-site named after The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett, where you can order Unseen Academicals and all the other 36 novels in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.

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The Wrecker by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott

Posted by Britt Hellman on March 7, 2010

The Wrecker is the second novel in a new Western series by “one of the greatest adventure novelists of our time” (imdb). It promises to become perhaps the most popular Clive Cussler series yet. Because, let’s face it, stories about the Wild West never lose their appeal to American (as well as International) audiences.

The main character of the of this new Clive Cussler series is a detective by the name of Isaac Bell, a fearless figure of physical prowess equaling James Bond who simultaneously possesses observational skills and powers of deduction rivaling Sherlock Holmes.

As an independently wealthy heir to a Boston banking family, Isaac Bell pursues his detective investigations with a fury born out of an obsession and passion for justice rather than the need to make a living.

Isaac Bell gets hired by the Southern Pacific Railroad Company to find and stop a saboteur known as “The Wrecker,” who has targeted Southern Pacific construction sites throughout the West. If the sabotage continues in the midst of pressing deadlines to finish work on a major new track, it could cost Southern Pacific its good standing with its lenders, and rapidly lead to bankruptcy.

Unbeknownst to all until the very end of the book, The Wrecker is a regular member of the inner circles of Southern Pacific Railroad president Osgood Hennessy, even courting the railroad baron’s “unspeakably beautiful” daughter Lillian. He’s a formidable adversary, perhaps as brilliant as Isaac Bell himself.

The agenda of the Wrecker is to seize control of the Southern Pacific Railroad through various dummy corporations he has put in place, which will help him capture the fallout from Southern Pacific’s impending bankruptcy. Not only that but it appears he plans to eventually to control the entire United States railroad system, the greatest source of billionaire wealth in America at the turn of the last century.

Notorious as an avid automobile enthusiast, one reason why Clive Cussler may have picked the early 1900′s as the setting for his new series may well have been to give him an opportunity to write about car chases in classic automobiles from the turn of the last century.

Featured in The Wrecker, we find the winner of the 1908 New York to Paris race, the 1907 Model 35 Thomas Flyer, as well as a Packard Grey Wolf, a turn of the century Rolls Royce, Isaac Bell’s Locomobile, and a Bugatti Type 41 Royale.

Although Clive Cussler may be best known for his love of diving and sea exploration, both through his fictional stories and non-fictional enterprises, he obviously also cherishes the rugged landscapes of the American West. Why else would he have chosen to live in the mountains of Colorado, as far from the sea as you can get in the United States?

Through The Wrecker, we get a glimpse of this other side of Cussler, the one that loves the arid mountainous landscapes of the American West. And it’s an enthusiasm that shines through with unmitigated contagiousness. The new Isaac Bell series may well help give birth to a whole new generation of Western enthusiasts, as well as spark great excitement in many old ones. With all due respect to the previous Clive Cussler series, his Isaac Bell stories may top them all.

Britt Hellman resides in Western North Carolina with her husband and three sons, working as a copywriter. She writes book review as a hobby. Visit her site to order The Wrecker, or the latest Dirk Pitt novel, Arctic Drift, Clive Cussler.

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Book Review: Arctic Drift, by Clive and Dirk Cussler

Posted by Britt Hellman on January 21, 2010

As usual, Clive Cussler stays right on top of current world events in his latest Dirk Pitt novel, Arctic Drift. This time, not surprisingly, the book set in the year 2011 revolves around the financial crisis and global warming.

The villain this time around is a Canadian billionaire named Mitchell Goyette who is publicly admired for his green industry empire. However, covertly he is heavily invested in the dirty oil and gas industries.

South of the Canadian border, the United States faces a financial crisis of unequaled of proportions, a crisis intensified by the looming boycott of the U.S. by the international community if the country does not cut its greenhouse gas emissions from coal burning and automobiles.

The American president in 2011, when the story takes place, plans to use natural gas from Canada to replace both coal and automobile gasoline, thereby killing two birds with one stone. The nation would make huge savings by cutting down on expensive oil imports, and simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions by burning a cleaner fuel.

However, Goyette is in a perfect position to take advantage of the United State’s desperate gamble, and he does so without conscience. To the Canadian public, Goyette is an environmental hero who invests millions in wind power and carbon sequestration. Unbeknownst to the masses, he’s unscrupulously involved in every dirty industry that will make him more money, in particular the oil sands of Athabasca, Alberta, and the Melville natural gas fields of the Canadian Arctic, over which he has full control.

Promising the U.S. government a nearly unlimited supply of the Melville natural gas to help solve the American energy crisis, and consequently also the financial crisis brought on by soaring oil prices, Goyette underhandedly signs a secret deal with the Chinese to instead sell them the gas at 10% above market value, with no intention of keeping his word to the U.S.

(In reality, it seems a little farfetched that the American government would not have had an iron-clad, legally binding, written contract in place for a deal of this magnitude and importance. But it makes for a good story.)

Even so, the backstabbing of the United States as a business-partner is the least of Mitchell Goyette’s shenanigans. He also bribes high ranking Canadian officials, creates toxic waste that kills wildlife and people, pays to have property stolen or vandalized, and for his opposition to be assassinated.

What Goyette does not count on, of course, is Dirk Pitt, the hero of 20 Clive Cussler books, including this latest installment. In the end, good prevails over evil.

Arctic Drift is an excellent and seamless co-authorship between Clive Cussler and his son, Dirk Cussler. It is hard to tell the penmanship of one apart from the other throughout the book. Whatever sections Dirk Cussler wrote, he did an excellent job of adopting Clive’s inimitable style. (That’s an intentional oxymoron.)

Arctic Drift is a thrilling read in classic Clive Cussler style. You will not be disappointed. It may not be the edge-of-your-seat non-stop action from cover-to-cover as in some of the older Cussler works, but it’s still an exciting, intriguing and brilliantly written story that keeps your attention and makes you want to keep reading. The thugs are as smart as they are sinister, and the heroes as pure as Arctic ice.

Britt Hellman resides in North Carolina with her spouse and three children. She operates her own copywriting business from her house. Clive Cussler has been one of her favorite writers since reading his Trojan Odyssey in 2003. She writes reviews like this one on Arctic Drift for the fun of sharing that excitement.

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Book Review: Spartan Gold

Posted by Britt Hellman on January 1, 2010

New York Times bestselling author Clive Cussler launches a fifth parallel action series with the publication of Spartan Gold, co-authored by up and coming novelist Grant Blackwood.

The books of this new series are called “Fargo Adventures,” so named after the book’s heroes, married couple Sam and Remi Fargo.

After a few years of entrepreneurship early in life which made them a fortune, the Fargos have been able to devote their new lives to their main passion, archeological treasure hunting. And they generally let nothing and no one deter them from finding their prize.

The Fargo Adventures feature a new set of characters and a new approach in the form of archeological treasure hunting. (New in terms of being the main focus.) But as with any Cussler-novel, we can still expect a lot of the action to take place in and around water, as well as plenty of exotic cars, foods and drinks.

Through Spartan Gold we follow Sam and Remi Fargo as they pursue a trail of clues left behind by Napoleon Bonaparte on the back of wine-bottle labels from his lost wine cellar. Not only are the clues written as riddles but they are also in code, which they must first crack.

Of course there are also adversaries to be faced and dealt with. A former Soviet freedom fighter turned mafia billionaire sends his hired hooligans to interfere with the Fargos’ investigation, several times imperiling their very lives.

At the end of the trail await two ancient Greek statues of pure gold, which were looted from Greece by Persian conqueror Xerxes the Great. Bondaruk has discovered through genealogy research that he is a direct descendant of Xerxes, and believes the treasure is his rightful inheritance, never mind that is was stolen from Greece.

The riddles on the wine-bottles lead the Fargos and their adversaries from a WWII German submarine in the Great Pocomoke Swamp of Maryland to the Bahamas and through much of Europe including Monaco, Croatia, Italy, Germany, and Ukraine: not necessarily in that sequence.

Spartan Gold is a solid, action-filled treasure hunting novel in the spirit of The Da Vinci Code. It is also distinctly a Clive Cussler novel with all of what that entails. Another guaranteed New York Times bestseller, in other words.

Britt Hellman lives in Western North Carolina with her spouse and three children. She runs her own copywriting business out of her home. Clive Cussler has been long time favorite author. Visit her Cussler book site to order Spartan Gold or read her review of the most recent Dirk Pitt novel, Arctic Drift.

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• What Book Related Job Would You Rather Do? by Captain Lyaf Yarr Have you ever thought of the process of writing a book, getting it published, and making a movie out of it? Well, if you have (or haven't) then I have another question for you. What job in the process would you want to do? You......
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The Story in History: Writing Your Way Into the Experience (Paperback)

Posted by qpen on October 28, 2009

The Story in History gives students and teachers an entirely new way to learn about American history by re-experiencing it from the vantage point of the imaginative writer. In over twenty exercises using sources as various as early maps of the Americans, Walt Whitman’s accounts of the Civil War, Sioux oral histories, diaries of the women on the Oregon Trail, ads in 1940s issues of Life, and poetry by Gwendolyn Brooks and Pablo Neruda, students combine research, imagination, and per (more…)

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