My Favorite Books Are Becoming Movies! (Part One)

Not many know this, but in the early spring of 2012, when I was working on my third draft of Seeing, I began to have serious second thoughts regarding the manuscript.

While I was in love with the redemptive story overall, here was also a contemporary tale about a teen boy facing numerous present day struggles that were neither magic-based, nor set in motion by the zombie apocalypse - very popular devices still to this day. In Seeing, Jake Sheppard (the protagonist), a simple boy (not The Chosen One) was missing his father who took off (never to be heard from again), was dealing with a bully, was struggling with his feelings for a girl, and who was about to be thrown another curve-ball in which someone he adored would die. The kid was being put through the wringer.

And despite how good I felt it all was, as I kept reviewing pages, I often asked myself the question: Who would want to read this? It didn't have that mystical flare of the supernatural (outside of the ending), and was just an everyday story about an everyday boy. I wondered if the book would ever find an audience and heavily considered jotting down a layout to begin a new novel from scratch.

Then I came across A Monster Calls.

I'd seen a list of annual Best Book winners for 2011 on Goodreads, and among them - among the YA section, specifically - was a black-and-white cover showing a tall creature approaching a house sitting back in a field with only one lit window. The image, in all its simplicity, was so enticing, I clicked to find out more. I read the summary, which began (as does the book): The monster arrived just after midnight. As they do. Terrific opening line.

I remember getting right on my Nook and downloading the sample. Needless to say, it wasn't long before I ordered the full book, and even ordered the hardback so as to see and appreciate the gorgeously macabre illustrations by artist Jim Kay.

The author of A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness, earned himself a fan for life in me with this book, which is darkly funny and devastatingly heartbreaking. A game-changer for sure in the world of YA.

It was this book - my now and all-time favorite book - that let me know it was OK to write touching stories that were more emotionally visceral and dependent on strong characters than they were anything else. A Monster Calls inspired me to work as hard as it would take to get my own novel a home with a publisher, and then a home in the hands of readers who would experience sadness in Jake's coming-of-age journey, but also internally cheer when they witnessed him finding that glimmer of hope.

A Monster Calls is a very special story to me, not only because of how it impacted me as a writer, and a reader, but also because of how lovely it is at its core, as well as the message it carries with it. It also doesn't try to have that happy ending. Despite the monster itself, it tries to be real.

And now, it's going to be a movie.

Initially, I was reluctant to judge the trailer against the book. It has the emotional feel of the book, the right..."flavor" shall we say, the right beats, but the movie also appears more "high fantasy" than the book is. The novel is very down-to-earth, with the exception of the vision-inducing stories the monster shares with Conor, but, at the same time, I understand that the movie is meant to be the visual experience. What is only alluded to or imagined or explained in Ness' writing, will play out in full detail for viewers to see - that's the takeaway difference. And I'm OK with that. My only hope is that this isn't some special effects spectacle that misses out on the heart of the story.

And the ending. The movie needs to keep the book's ending. I don't want the movie to elaborate, or extend beyond where the book goes in the last pages. It should end leaving viewers with the same feeling the readers get. The wind should be knocked out of you.

It does speaks volumes that Patrick Ness wrote the screenplay, so the film version of A Monster Calls would be exactly what he wants it to be. I trust in that.

A Monster Calls opens in October.

Next up, in Part Two of this blog series: Stephen King's Cell.

Straight Outta Deadlines

It's Sunday afternoon; Maddie's napping, my wife's at the grocery store, I've finished my final draft for An Unexpected Visit (which will be out in October), I've decided on the design for Visit's cover (can NOT wait to share that with you all), and I'm all caught up on my e-mails. I can actually do a "fun" blog for once.

This is unprecedented.

I know I've mentioned before that once Visit was finished I would be taking some time off from writing. I only reiterate that now because I wanted to share how it felt when I had hit SEND and that e-mail with the attached manuscript went off to my publisher. Honestly, I sat back in my black leather desk chair and just...felt...free. I could breathe.

As an aside, I want to mention that no one at my wonderful publisher, Winter Goose Publishing, has ever imposed deadlines on me, or pressured me to have anything in at any time - they are, simply, the best to work with. It is I, and I alone, that has put all the strain on myself, and I do enough that no one else anywhere ever has to do it for me. Ask my wife.

In regards to my writing "sabbatical:" I've taken a month or two off between drafts before, but, as it pertains to my future plans, this break will be much different. Time is so precious anymore that, having worked myself from one project to the next over the last six years (in which I've written nine novels, published two, and put together one novella with a helping of short stories that'll be released later this year), it's time to do a serious - and lengthy - recharging of the batteries. It's time to sit back and enjoy what I've accomplished - three books in three years is nothing to scoff at. Or so I'm told.

This break doesn't mean I won't write - I've already got the first draft of an urban fantasy-style, modern western, post apocalyptic short novel called The Long Road Home penned, which may be the first in a series; I'm plotting a zombie thriller - 815 Cherrydale Road - that's been long overdue (considering my love for zombies); I'm also outlining another YA novel, this one from a female perspective, titled Among the Lights and Sounds of the Carousel, however I plan to write freely, at a leisure, and with no plans to release anything in 2017. The earliest you'll see anything from me - I'm about 90% sure on this - will be in 2018, at the earliest. It takes me two years on whatever project I'm focused on, and I'm not about to rush anything just to have something out next year. I do plan, though, to write more fun blogs, find some additional outlets for my writing - maybe podcasting, perhaps? - and push what books are already in my arsenal. Anything else, well, we'll see.

For now, though, it's feet up, catching up on the books in my To-Read pile with warmer weather coming in on longer days, taking a long sigh of relief that I've done the best I can, and whatever comes next has no current deadline.

Doughnuts For Amy by John Malik - a review and interview

Ever since learning Doughnuts for Amy was going to be released (there's a reason I didn't say published - I'll get to that in a moment), I've been bugging author (and chef extraordinaire) John Malik to read it. Winter Goose Publishing (my own publisher, I should mention - though that in no way sways my opinions) announced the title back in 2014, but then followed a long stretch when there was no news on the book. Still, I continued dropping mentions to Mister Malik about reading his novel. Then, last year, a delectable-looking cover for Doughnuts was dropped, and quite the tease it was. The book's summary promised a mix of culinary prose along with a love story. Further temptation.

Then, finally, at the end of January this year, I received an advance copy of the book direct from the author himself.

Now, full disclosure here, Doughnuts for Amy was once self-published. I could have gotten my hands on the title beforehand, however I wanted to afford the author some respect and wait until he felt the book was truly finished. I was just fortunate enough he sent me a copy before it was released, otherwise I would have had no problem purchasing a copy. But for the sake of review...

In short: the long wait was worth it.

Summary: With the death of his wife taking an enormous emotional toll, Nick St. Germaine is forced to sell his successful restaurant to deal with his loss, his son, and the remains of their family. A year later Nick is called on to take over the executive chef position at Woodmont Retirement Community, where he buries himself in his work and attempts to move forward one day at a time. When a change in management brings new Community Director Amy Sommers into his life, Nick abruptly shows his disdain for her. Convinced to give him a chance, Amy soon finds Nick to be an effective manager, a brilliant cook, and a man worth knowing on a deeper level. Surrounded by quirky cooks, World War II vets, and cranky widows, they set about mending Nick’s broken heart together through understanding, compassion, and a few delectable fried pastries.

Review: What Chef John Malik has created with Doughnuts for Amy is a metaphorical piece of cake, in that it's an easy read that's wonderful on the senses, and, in the end, wholly satisfying.

In particular what struck me most about the novel was how much I was able to devour in a single sitting without realizing it - the characters are incredibly enjoyable, witty, their situations and circumstances surrounding new struggles (Chef St. Germaine with thinking he's going to be let go under the new management, and director Amy Sommers with trying to fit in effectively at Woodmont - both doing a dance around love) are easy to identify with. They're two people you're rooting for the whole way. And yes, there are plenty of descriptions regarding meals that'll keep your tummy interested along with your heart.

Being a writer myself (and currently in the homestretch of a long work period), I admire Malik's ability to create such a memorable cast of characters that, when I wasn't able to read for long stretches while working, I was easily able to catch-up with and continue on as if I never left. That is a testament to Malik's taste of writing.

In prep for this review I reached out to John Malik to ask a few questions regarding his process and the journey of getting Doughnuts for Amy into the hands of a publisher.

So, Doughnuts For Amy existed before being published by Winter Goose - tell me about why you initially wrote the book, how you went about publishing it, and then why did you go with WGP?

I wrote DFA in 2010 thru 2011 and was chasing agents at that time. But that's when they were literally throwing themselves out of windows. So I got discouraged and did [the] self pub route.

In 2013, after I had some moderate success I started chasing agents/publishers again and was very methodical. I got the offer from WG about four months later.

While Chef at The Cascades my boss Karen asked her executive team to do rounds daily, just like a doctor. We were asked to get out of our department and meet someone new then she asked for a weekly email with one memorable report. A few weeks in my reports bloomed into 500 word essays. There's a lot of drama in a retirement community. Death, dementia, old family wounds, lots of government oversight. There was never a dull moment. Death was tough. We had folks in the twilight of their lives. One night we had someone pass away in the dining room. He was a great guy and the staff loved him. That was tough on all of us, but we had lots of other folks to care for so we had to soldier on.

After a month or so of my boss reading my weekly reports, she started egging me to write a book. So I took that to heart and started working on an outline. I wrote DFA because I had a story to tell.

The process of a writer always interests me. Did you keep a writing schedule? What about writing do you love/loathe? What input did you have with the eye-catching cover for DFA?

Once I made the commitment, I wrote three days a week in the a.m. I kept a journal and constantly fiddled with the outline. As I wrote I also made sketches of Woodmont so as characters moved through the campus, it all jived.

About writing: If you're treating it like drudgery and you're not enjoying the process, the reader won't enjoy the writing either.

I had little input into the final cover, that was all Jessica Kristie.

***In the midst of our conversation, John dropped a question on me:

Did I ever tell you my goal of being a guest on Ellen DeGeneres' show for National Doughnut Day?

Does she typically do something special for that occasion?

She might if it's me.

I hit on her in college.

...

I...uh...may have some bad news for you, John.

Doughnuts for Amy is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and where all books are sold.

2018?

The following post comes from my Facebook Author page:

I've been getting a lot of notifications lately about having views on this [my Facebook] page, so I figured it was time to add some new (and exclusive) content. 

First, welcome to those who've "liked" this page to follow me. And thank you. I appreciate all of you who have given me and my work even a moment of your time.

Next, a short intro: I'm an author of two novels - SEEING (a YA novel), and THE PAINTED LADY (an adult mystery/supernatural thriller). I have a third book coming this October - another thriller - titled AN UNEXPECTED VISIT (which I haven't dropped too many details about. Yet.).

Now for something I haven't yet mentioned, but due to some wonderful progress, I feel ready to discuss. 

I'm about three-quarters of the way through a story, currently titled THE LONG ROAD HOME, that just may become Part One in a series. I never really thought I'd pen a series (for many reasons), and so I'm excited to see where this current project goes. It may end up indeed being a Part One; it could just end up being a stand-alone, or it could become what writers have dubbed a "trunk novel" (one that never gets published). I can say that I'll work very hard so that it never gets trunked (but no guarantees). An idea for a strange tale popped in my head one day and I just started writing it longhand without plotting. The story doesn't fit the style of my current catalogue, which is why I think I love it so much. 

Like I said, I'm three-quarters in on a first draft and the end is in sight. Maybe, just maybe, this will be my novel for 2018. Maybe. I have a very specific vision for how I'd like to see the final form.

Again, maybe.

Resolutions

The house is quiet. My wife is out to dinner with some old work friends who wanted her to bring Maddie along. I just finished my own dinner (a toasted chicken and bacon ranch on the Italian herbs and cheese bread from Subway) while watching some episodes of Star Wars Rebels (an incredibly good and addictive show - I'm very impressed at how adult it is and how dark it can get), and thought I'd take advantage of the time to listen to the soundtrack for The Force Awakens (scores are my absolute favorite type of music, and already I'm loving the minute changes to the Main Title - quickened pace with the horns and trumpets) while I update the blog.

Resolutions are cliche - I don't think anyone will raise a hand to deny that - however they also serve as a guide towards self-betterment. For the last couple of years I've kept mine simple - eating better, exercising more to be in better shape (not with any specific body goals in mind), and staying on top of my writing work. The goals heading into 2016 don't change much, with the exception of one: I won't be stressing too much on my writing for the New Year. In place, I want to focus more on family.

My daughter is at the stage where she's ready to play and interact, rather than just be entertained by toys that make sounds, shine lights, or have different textures (as she was a year ago). Today I was home with her and we played all day with almost all the new toys she got for Christmas - watching how quickly she picks up using these toys the way they were intended is quite amazing. I'm taken aback, but also very much proud, at how quick of a learner she is. And now that we're in this stage, I find myself strangled with guilt when it comes to any work that might get in the way of time spent with her, not to mention getting in the way of time with my wife. As adults, we always have work to be done, whether it's work around the house or a story I need to finish or something she has to bring home that couldn't be finished during the day. It happens. It's also unavoidable. But I want to do less of it when I can, especially when it comes to my own work. Right now, I'm writing during my lunch break and after Maddie goes to bed. When I feel up to it, that is.

Tonight I'll finish my second draft of An Unexpected Visit (out in October from Winter Goose Publishing), then I'll take a month off and won't touch it again until February, where I'll work on the draft that'll be proofread by my wife and a select group of close friends. Draft three will be complete by the end of March. I'll then take April off, and use the following two months to completely finish the book. The way it looks now, Visit will hover confidently in the novella realm, and I'm happy about that. Like I said in a previous post, this book will have no subplots - the whole thing is the main event.

Once Visit is finished, I really don't have any pressing work. I want to take a bit of time before working on what will be my fourth book, which will be a novel, and which is already titled, outlined, and prepared (just not written).

In addition to focusing more on my family in 2016, I also want to read more. In 2013 I read twenty books. Respectable. In 2014 I read fifteen. Not bad. This year I read nine. Whoa... I'm hoping to get that number way back up.

I also want to blog more, so here's hoping I can keep to that.

Before I call it a post, I want to share these, as I discovered I hadn't yet here on the blog: these are two professional reviews for The Painted Lady, one by fellow author Kathryn Mattingly (Journey), and one by Chef John Malik of The Huffington Post. I am incredibly thankful to them for the words of praise they used toward my work.

Kathryn's review: "An Emotionally Haunting Tale"

John's review: "The Painted Lady"

To all of you that read this blog, thank you for following me on this incredible journey. Have a wonderful, and safe, new year. See ya in '16.

An Update

For those of you that follow this blog, I don't have to tell you it's been well over a month since my last post (even longer when it concerns my own writing). What I can do is explain that my absence has been for a good reason.

I haven't had anything to say.

Which is not to say I haven't been keeping busy. In fact, being busy seems to be what my days are all about now. And that's a good thing. A very good thing.

After The Painted Lady came out back in August, so to began the back-end of my summer vacation at home with my daughter. It was around this time that came a dawning thought: From the moment I began writing Seeing back in the fall of 2010, I've taken very few breaks, and even then nothing too extended. At most I've put my pen down for a couple of days at max to recharge the batteries.

With Maddie (my daughter) being more active, and my desire to spend as much time with both my girls as I can during the week when my wife and I are working, it really comes down to priorities, and my family (and thus quality time with them) will always come first.

Not that I feel I need to explain myself but just know my reasons for the lapse in content here.

Now for a writing update.

In what spare time I can manage to find these days I'm scratching away at the latest draft of the next book, titled An Unexpected Visit, which will see release next October. Visit will be a hybrid between thriller and family drama, much in the way The Painted Lady was, however the new book is a bit more intense, and comes from the rare pessimistic side of me. It is also a bit darker. It'll be a shorter story - possibly a novella or short novel - which means no subplots; the entire book is the main event, and that excites me to share this story with you, my readers.

After next October...well, to be quite honest, it's going to be a long while before another release. I really want to take my time and enjoy the accomplishments I've already achieved with having three books out in three years. No easy feat, I assure you. I also plan to spend more time with my girls, and, when it comes back around to writing, I've always wanted to completely hand write a novel. There's just something so romantic about filling entire notebooks with the next tale. And seeing as I'm in no rush to complete anything post-Visit, what better time to begin at my leisure.

In the meantime, when it comes to this blog, I'll try to come up with more things to say :)

The Journey of Journey, An Interview with Author Kathryn Mattingly

Journey, a novel by Kathryn Mattingly, author of Benjamin, and Fractured Hearts, is out today in paperback and e-book.

I had the immense pleasure of reading Mattingly's Journey a few months ago and interviewing her regarding the genesis and process of creating her latest tale. What you'll read first is my Q & A with Kathryn followed by my thoughts on Journey.

**

Tell me about the journey of Journey – from how the idea struck you, your process of writing it, any research, struggles along the way, beta-readers, all the way to the finished book. How many drafts did it take? Did anything change drastically (avoiding spoilers) from first draft to final?

This story has evolved quite a bit from conception. When the idea first came to me it was because of all the press about runaway teens. Like all writers with runaway imaginations I wondered about different scenarios and what-ifs surrounding circumstances that would cause a teen to runaway. That gave me my basic plot. What I really write about in all my books is what makes people tick, what drives them to do what they do leading up to and well beyond one action such as running away from home. The plot is just the glue to hold all those intricate psychological and emotional fibers together.

My writing process is simply spilling out the guts of the story onto paper. Then I slowly transform and finesse that raw unfiltered thinking and emotion into something (hopefully) refined. To me refinement is when it sings and dances on the page instead of trudging along clunkily amid too many adjectives and over-thinking. There should be an easy rhythm that allows the reader to seamlessly follow one scene and thought to another without ever getting confused, bored, or bogged down by bad mechanics, inconsistencies, and repetitions. This is not to say a reader will never take pause to ponder what has affected them along the way in terms of a new perspective or overwhelming emotion.

I have been fortunate enough to spend a fair amount of time in Maui and on The Big Island, which is where Journey takes place. My locations are always somewhere I have lived or travelled, and whatever my characters thought processes or emotions are, I have also experienced. This is not to say I have experienced everything my characters have, but only to say I have experienced something similar which allows me to relate to them. This keeps research about everything in my books to a minimum. Rule number one is to write what you know, and so I do.

I don’t use Beta-readers. Once I believe that the manuscript has evolved all that it can I send it to a few trusted colleagues for reader input. These are long time author friends whom I respect for their work, intuitiveness and insight regarding all written work. I soak up their suggestions for how the story may still need to evolve or could be made tighter, clearer, better. After I rework it using their input, I send it to a couple excellent line editors that I know and respect personally for their expertise in this area. This whole process from start to finish can take a year or 10 years depending on that particular story.

I have to be honest: In the beginning I felt a little frustration with Kylie – out of nowhere she became incredibly hell-bent on finding her niece and making this child she never knew a part of her life, even though she knew nothing of Alana outside of the letter she reads from her recently-deceased sister. My question is was I supposed to feel that way? You write complex characters and they’re not black and white, which makes me think I was supposed to wonder why she acts the way she does – of course through the book we gain a much greater understanding of Kylie and her marriage and life. Give me your take on Kylie, and what was her life like before the book begins?

All of my heroines have a Scarlet O’Hara from Gone With The Wind angst about them. You love to hate my protagonist for her need to control and manipulate the ‘floor has fallen out from under me’ environment she suddenly finds herself in. But then again, underneath your frustration with her obsessive-compulsive behavior toward a seemingly contrived outcome you find yourself loving her for the motives she displays, which are always about saving someone (or several someone’s) from what she perceives to be a disastrous fate and future for that particular individual.

Most of us can also relate to the bad choices made before good decision making, but we fully understand how this is the process to success- learning from our poorly executed and impulsive, short sighted plans. Watching and wondering how this process will unfold, I believe, is what draws you in and makes you turn the page.

As for what Kylie’s life and marriage is like before the start of the book and for that matter, after the last written page is up to the reader. I would take it one step further and say that everything Kylie was and is and can ever hope to be is something each of us must determine for ourselves based on our own personal relationships, world view, aspirations, frustrations, achievements and failures.

We writers all have piles of work that no one will ever read – it’s a sad truth that we spend a lot of time (months, years even) on work that doesn’t get beyond the first draft and ends up being a “trunk novel.” Tell me about one of your “trunk novels” and would you ever consider revisiting/revising it?

My ‘trunk novel’ is my first novel on which I cut my teeth… ALL of my teeth – one painful day at a time for what seemed like forever. After being consumed by a whirlwind of passion to pen the story so vivid in my mind, I soon realized it was a muddled mess. This realization came after taking it to writing conferences filled with best-selling novel speakers, and attending retreats where I had icon authors, masters at their trade, teach me what I thought I knew and yet didn’t have a clue about. I rewrote it numerous times and finally, a compassionate editor at a conference gently informed me that my plot was as uninteresting and ordinary as my characters and scenery were fascinating and extraordinary.

It was like a light went on in my head as he spoke. He was absolutely right. I had lost the forest for the trees. I put it on a shelf and never looked back, and immediately wrote a brand new novel that had been simmering in the back of my head. The very next year I won an award for that manuscript and landed a New York agent with the JC Literary Agency. That book was Benjamin – my debut novel.

I know writers don’t like the “what’s next” question, but do you have ideas down already, saved in a journal or notebook, or do you wait and let the ideas come organically?

I have a file of plots and characters, written when they come to mind- usually after just enough wine, but not too much wine. It’s a magical place where the imagination knows no limits – and for that matter, life has no limits in that moment of not completely sober but not inebriated either. I think every creative person on earth has been to the sweet spot of which I speak. It’s fleeting, but the mind does take flight in that space, where all my novels have been birthed. My next two projects are completed books that I will perfect before publication at one a year, and then my new work will see the light of day- a dark and scary thought, because like all good fiction- the truth is in the lie. Most nonfiction I read is more fictitious than the sobering truth of courageously crafted fiction.

That knowledge alone is reason enough for a fiction writer to keep a well-stocked wine cellar.

**

My review:

To be frank, Kathryn Mattingly is far more eloquent with words than I. Journey is simply, and profoundly, damn good writing. A tragedy early on, along with a letter, provides the springboard into an emotional page-turner that finds our heroine, Kylie, challenging the life she’s been occupying against a life she could have – one she wants. Mattingly’s story of a woman refusing to be denied her chance at experiencing some semblance of motherhood draws you in and forces you to think, to feel.

This is no easy-breeze beach novel you can just flip casually through unaffected. Mattingly makes you pause, makes you wonder, makes your heart clench up, and challenges you with her characters. We feel their pain, their anger, their surprise, and can sympathize in one way or another. With Journey, Mattingly proves herself an extremely gifted storyteller fully capable of weaving difficult choices, complex emotions, and painful secrets all against the beautiful backdrops of sunny Maui.

Journey is available now at all major booksellers.

Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble