Everything's broken

This last week has been one of those weeks.  Nothing important - just Technology doing its nut.  So much so that it's absurdly amusing.

• The food processor broke - beyond repair.
• The CD player died after a long illness.
• The microwave acted as if it had been taken over by a poltergeist: the number 4 randomly beeping onto the display, sometimes in quick succession and sometimes with a few hours between.
• The rechargeable batteries on the telephone gave up their ghost - during a phone call, of course.
• Yesterday, my laptop had a memory leak and couldn't open the Word document I wanted without spitting the dummy.
• Last night, at 2:27 am, one of the smoke alarms decided to go postal... until I ripped its guts out.

None of this stuff is essential.  Technology will turn me into a Luddite.

Tomorrow I will move into a cave, grind my own pigments and paint stories on the wall.

Here's Bob Dylan rehearsing Everything is Broken:

STEPHEN KING & “50 Famous Author Interviews That Shouldn’t Be Missed.”

What do we know about the author who is both acclaimed and dismissed by his critics? He has managed to amass one of the most loyal followings of any living contemporary writer across all genres.

I’m talking about the one and only ‘Stephen King,’ the famous author of contemporary horror, suspense and fantasy fiction novels. As famous as he is, Mr. King is a very low key individual and humble person in spite of his popularity.

A lot of articles have been written about Stephen King. Everyone knew of Mr. King’s novels and stories that have been adapted for films and TV. He has also written other books using other pen name such as Richard Bachman and John Swithen. He has been awarded the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters so, there’s no point of me doing anymore introduction about him.

In my view, and that of many others who admire Mr. King’s accomplishments, his success is a reflection of a man who has achieved mastery. To his credit, he seems to have done so with unassuming humility. Suffice it to say of Mr. King that character is sometimes measured best by what we choose not to say.

I lived until recently within a mile of Mr. King on the island thought to be the inspiration for his novel, ‘Duma Key’. The author would frequently walk by my home usually engrossed in thought with either a book or notepad in hand. He became somewhat of a fixture along the route… always quick to extend a friendly glance in mutual recognition the way neighbors do on a small island.

That said, he could have had a reputation for being aloof. If you were to ask a regular at the local fish house restaurant to point him out, he might admit that “he knew someone he thought looked like him.” With a smile he might go on to say that when he once asked the man if he was the author Stephen King after which the man looked up from his book replying only… “I get that a lot!”

I’m posting this announcement due to an email I received few weeks ago from Katina Solomon of “Online College Dot Org”. Ms. Solomon would like me to share the article that was posted on their college blog pertaining to “50 Famous Author Interviews That Shouldn’t Be Missed.”

Mr. King is one of the famous authors in the interview. I hope you find the interview with Stephen King as engaging as I do. Please check the link below and share it with others!

50 Famous Author Interview That Shouldn't Be Missed Click this link. If it doesn’t work, you can read the Online College Dot Org articles below:

ORIGINAL ARTICLES:
If you're interested in what makes authors tick, you'll love reading what they have to say in interviews. You can learn about how they got started writing, what they enjoy about books, and more. Here you'll find 50 interviews with famous authors that you just can't miss.

Bestsellers

Get a look into authors with celebrity status in these interviews.
1. Dan Brown: This interview with Dan Brown focuses on The Da Vinci Code.
2. JK Rowling: In this interview, JK Rowling sits down with Katie Couric to discuss saying goodbye to the Harry Potter saga.
3. John Grisham: You'll find 10 questions for John Grisham in this interview.
4. Stephen King: This Stephen King interview takes a look at Lisey's Story.
5. Mitch Albom: In this interview, Mitch Albom discusses his uncle Edward Beitchman.

Non Fiction

Cookbooks, social commentary, and more are discussed in these interviews.
6. Julie Powell: Check out this interview from Julie Powell, author of Julie and Julia.
7. Raj Patel: Raj Patel's interview discusses accurately viewing the world.
8. Eric Schlosser: Eric Schlosser is interviewed about the fast food industry here.
9. Lauren Weisberger: Lauren Weisberger covers her experience writing The Devil Wears Prada.
10. Anthony Bourdain: See what it's like to travel around the world for food in Anthony Bourdain's interview about A Cook's Tour.
11. Annie Leibovitz at Work: Annie Leibovitz takes you behind her work in this interview.

Novelists

These interviews cover romance, mystery, and beyond.
12. Kevin Sampsell: Kevin Sampsell's interview is about a big fish in a small-press pond.
13. James Frey: This interview rings in James Frey's return to the spotlight.
14. Fern Michaels: Fern Michaels claims she's a scribbler in this journal.
15. John Irving: John Irving's lecture looks into the author's list of recommended books.
16. Laurie Notaro: Check out Laurie Notaro's interview about her rise from humor columnist to novelist.
17. Orson Scott Card: Orson Scott Card's interview discusses Lost Boys and beyond.
18. Clive Barker: This interview discusses Clive Barker's return to writing with Galilee.
19. Nora Roberts: Nora Roberts covers her start as a romance novelist in this interview.
20. Jodi Picoult: Learn about the household name Jodi Picoult in this interview.
21. Jackie Collins: You'll learn about Jackie Collins' examination of sex, drugs, and Hollywood in this interview.
22. Amy Tan: Amy Tan's interview focuses on the spirit within.
23. Philippa Gregory: Philippa Gregory's interview crowns her the queen of historical fiction.
24. Hallie Ephron: Hallie Ephron's interview discusses finally giving in to becoming a famous writer.
25. Audrey Niffenegger: Audrey Niffenegger's interview discusses art, writing, and more.
26. Eoin Colfer: Sci-Fi author Eoin Colfer discusses Artemis Fowl, Hitchhiker's Guide, and more.
27. Neil Gaiman: Graphic novelist and writer Neil Gaiman discusses his diverse repertoire.
28. Janet Evanovich: Janet Evanovich opens up about Stephanie Plum and more in this interview.
29. Mark Haddon: Check out this interview about the literary debut of Mark Haddon.
30. Sue Grafton: Sue Grafton's interview covers a long career of successful mysteries.
31. Chelsea Cain: Learn about Chelsea Cain's infectious laugh and more in this interview.
32. Chuck Palahniuk: This author interview with Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, explains how he never pulls punches.
33. Eric Klinenberg: This interview with author Eric Klinenberg takes you into July of 1995 in the city of Chicago.
34. Malcolm Gladwell: Find a few thin slices of Malcolm Gladwell in this interview.
35. Mary Higgins Clark: Mary Higgins Clark discusses her Irish heritage's influence on her writing.
36. Isabel Allende: You'll learn about Chilean author Isabel Allende in this interview.
37. Jung Chang: Check out this interview about Jung Chang, the Chinese author.

Children's Books

Get a look into children's authors through these interviews.
38. Laurie Halse-Anderson: Check out this lecture from the author of Chains, Fight For Life, and more.
39. Joanna Cole: Joanna Cole's interview shares a look into the creator of Ms. Frizzle and the Magic School Bus.
40. John J. Muth: John J. Muth opens up about Stone Soup, Zen Shorts, and more.
41. Katherine Paterson: Watch this interview to learn about Newbery Medal award winning author Katherine Paterson.
42. Judy Blume: In this video interview, you'll learn about the classic children's book author, Judy Blume.
43. Tomie de Paola: This interview from Tomie de Paola covers a reflection on his career and encouragement of young readers.
44. Eric Carle: This interview shows you how Eric Carle goes beyond The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
45. Kate DiCamillo: Check out this interview from super-successful children's book author Kate DiCamillo.
46. Norman Bridwell: This interview offers a look into Norman Bridwell, author of Clifford the Big Red Dog.
47. Jon Scieszka: John Scieszka's interview is about his weird style and concern about boys and reading.
48. Beverly Cleary: In this interview, Beverly Cleary talks about teddy bears, the pleasures of writing, and beyond.
49. R.L. Stine: This interview covers young adult horror author RL Stine's life and career.
50. Chris Van Allsburg: Watch Chris Van Allsburg for insight into the author of The Polar Express and Jumanji.

Did you enjoy this article?

Coming up

Good to see the imminent release of The Grease Monkey's Tale announced on the Legend Press/PaperBooks website last week.  The current release date is June, although I know these things can change.  The next bit of excitement will be the cover designs, when they're ready.  And before long, all the anxieties will kick in.  Until it's on the shelves in book-stores and at least one person has read it and said they enjoyed it, I'll be like that shivering, old boat at the bottom of the sea: a nervous wreck.  But excited at the same time.

I'm working on Number Three and Number Four at the moment.  They're completely different to one another in mood and outcome - opposites in many ways, as The Grease Monkey's Tale is also opposite to The Snowing and Greening of Thomas Passmore - but I enjoy working that way: a couple of hours on one and then a couple of hours on the other.  It keeps me reasonably balanced, almost sane, and means there's always something I want to write.

Also working behind-the-scenes on The View From Here's Opportunities page.  Am enjoying getting in touch with publishers and literary agents, and getting a first-hand view of the "industry" from their perspective.  Interesting stuff.

Reading 8 Hours at the moment.  One of Legend Press' excellent anthologies of short stories.  Talking of which, it's only a few weeks before At the Rawlings' Place will appear in the next anthology of long-shorts: 10 Journeys.  Hmm, more excitement. 

UPCOMING INTERVIEW: Lauren Myracle - New York Times bestselling author of Internet Girls trilogy—ttyl, ttfn, and l8r, g8r

Lauren Myracle is a graduate of the Vermont College MFA program writing for children and young adults. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling Internet Girls trilogy—ttyl, ttfn (Ta-Ta for Now), and l8r, g8r (Later Gator) which was the first novel ever to be written entirely in instant messages.

For computer-savvy YA readers, the title TTLY focuses on instant messaging; "TTYL" is e-mail shorthand for "Talk to you later." In the novel tenth graders Angela, Zoe, and Maddie keep up with one another's adolescent ups and downs via IM's, and the novel is composed entirely of keyboarding dialogue, complete with typesetting characters such as smiley faces and other e-mail shorthand.

Ms. Myracle has written many novels: horror novels Bliss and Rhymes with Witches, and the coming-of-age trilogy, Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen.

Ms. Myracle considers writing for young people to be her life’s work, and with over a million copies of her books in print, she feels amazingly lucky to be able to reach such a large audience. Her realistic portrayal of the issues middle school and high school students deal with, however, brings Lauren negative attention as well as positive.

Her first novel, Kissing Kate, was selected an ALA Best Books for Young Adults for the year 2004. It was named by Booklist as one of the "Top Ten Youth Romances" of the year, as well as one of the "Top Ten Books by New Writers". Her middle-grade novel, Eleven, came out 2004, along with Twelve, which came out in 2007. Myracle published The Fashion Disaster that Changed My Life in 2005. Thirteen was released in March 2008.

Her novel Rhymes with Witches, was nominated for Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association. Bliss, which came out in 2008, is its prequel.

Ms Myracle has a book written entitled How to Be Bad with author E. Lockhart and Sarah Mlynowski. She also teamed up with four other favorite teen authors Stephanie Myers “Twilight”, Meg Cabot “Princess Diaries”, Kim Harrison & Michelle Jaffe) produce a book “Prom Nights From Hell” which is about proms gone supernaturally, horribly wrong. While regular girls are so concerned about shoes matching with their purse, the girls in these stories are worried about crossbows and vampires, zombie dates who've been dead for weeks, and a devil in a red dress who causes chaos by snapping high heels and breaking up couples.

Her latest novel ‘Luv Ya Bunches’ book one is about four elementary school girls who have little in common, but bond over the fact that they’re all named after flowers. Luv Ya Bunches is the first installment of a four-book series is now available in bookstores and one line. ‘Luv Ya Bunches: Violet in Bloom’ book two in the series will be out later this year.

Lauren Myracle was born on May 15, 1969 in Brevard, North Carolina, and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. She earned her BA in English and Psychology from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and worked for some time as a middle-school teacher in the US and Japan. She later earned an MA in English from Colorado State University and a graduate of the Vermont College MFA program in writing for children and young adults.

She currently resides in Fort Collins, Colorado, with her husband and their children. Most of Ms. Myracle's novels take place in Atlanta, Georgia.

To learn more about Lauren Myracle, please visit her website

To purchase her books, please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

Time out

Have taken the last week off from writing projects.  It's been a sociable time this Easter break, but has also given me a chance to catch up on a couple of jobs.  Mainly, the building of another set of bookshelves - before we have an avalanche of stacked books - and developing my new website.

I've been tinkering away with the new website for months and don't bother linking to the existing site any more because it looks way too clunky.  The new one has involved learning Flash, Fireworks, Dreamweaver and improving my poor understanding of Photoshop.  Anyway, the last week has given me a chance to hunker over the PC, develop some serious neck strain and bring out the inner nerd in me.  Yesterday, I got very excited at discovering how to create an animated button in Flash.  Whoopy-doo!

It'll still be a few weeks (at least) before I complete the site, I reckon, because I want to get it just right, but I'll have my own geeky launch and a party in digital wonderland when I do.

Painting (as in painting and decorating) isn't a job I enjoy.  I get bored.  And hate the smell of oil-based paints.  Whenever I can't put this off any longer, I find that I listen to the same 2 or 3 albums over and over again as I brush away (drips running down my arm), and that eventually they become associated in my head with a particular wall colour or room or, in this case, a set of bookshelves. Have put on a couple of coats of a stinky tint called 'Bounding Main' and have ended up listening to a good deal of Regina Spektor (Begin to Hope), Sarah Blasko (As Day Follows Night) and Charlie Parr (1922).  Lovely stuff.  Here's a sample.

Jaunting with The Stars My Destination

I don't often read Sci-fi, but Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination was recommended to me last year (by someone who doesn't often read Sci-fi) and so I tracked a copy down.  Again, for one reason or another, I ended up ordering it from a second-hand bookshop in America, and was delighted I did because it has a wonderful smell to it.

The moment I removed the first layer of packaging, a rich aroma of pipe tobacco wafted out.  And with each layer that I peeled off, the smell got stronger.  It's not that I smoke, but there's something about the smell that reminds me of my grandad and all the tins of Old Flake and Golden Virginia in which he stored nails, screws, bolts, rivets, washers and so on when he was alive.  Every now and then I pick up The Stars My Destination and sniff it, and I travel back through time to his work-shed and I watch him at his band saw or at his lathe.  Sometimes the smell transports me across the Pacific to the bookshop I bought it from.  I imagine the owner sitting at a counter with a pipe in his mouth, surrounded by eccentrically stacked books, or the house of the original owner surrounded by a fug of smoke.

That aside, it is a lovely read.  One of those books I was keen to return to each day.  (Thank goodness, as I've had a couple of duds recently that didn't even make the page 40 mark.)  First published in 1956, it doesn't feel dated in any sense, which perhaps indicates that it will endure for a good time to come.  I hope so.

'In this pulse-quickening novel, Alfred Bester imagines a future in which people "jaunte" a thousand miles with a single thought, where the rich barricade themselves in labyrinths and protect themselves with radioactive hit men - and where an inarticulate outcast is the most valuable and dangerous man alive.'

Gully Foyle is a wonderful character and his quest for vengeance is a compelling story.

In other news, I put the finishing touches to the final edit of The Grease Monkey's Tale today.  Phew!  Off to the printers before long, I imagine.  This certainly isn't Sci-fi.  And quite different to The Snowing and Greening of Thomas Passmore.  More of a Romance-Thriller this time.

Have been listening to Leonard Cohen recently.  Enough to transport me back to undergraduate days at Kingston Polytechnic: staying up through the night, drinking and smoking too much (but never a pipe), walking along the banks of the Thames at sunrise, not having to go to work in the day... and thought I'd track down a 1970's version of Suzanne on YouTube for a little more nostalgia.