Bang For Your Book

Part of my TBRs

By Peg Brantley
Evocative Characters. Intriguing Crime. Compelling Stories.


I've read thousands of books in my lifetime. Probably tens of thousands. But I have never once—at least not on purpose—read one twice. (Except maybe The Stand by Stephen King, but I could be wrong about that.)

People gush over their favorite books and talk about how many times they've read them. People who do this make me feel unfaithful. Why can't I pick a book and stick with it the same way they do? I'm such a cheater. A hussy who's on to the next best thing. A book-slut.

I have a few all-time favorite books. What if I were to read one of them again and be disappointed in some way? I would then have one less all-time favorite book. I would be sad.

For example, what if the word-paintings Arthur Golden created (just for me I'm sure) in Memoirs of a Geisha disappeared the second time around? Missed the canvas? I'd be in mourning. I'd quit believing in anything good and even chocolate wouldn't be able to console me.

It's a good thing I don't reread books.

My reading preference only becomes a problem when it's my own story. By the time the book hits the shelves, literallly or figuratively, I've read the danged thing a gazillion times. It's part of the job, and I suffer through.

What about you? Are you faithful to a few books that you read over and over again? Or does your fear of loss put you in a constant hunt for a new relationship?

And finally, for those of you who reread books, what draws you?

Peg Brantley's newest release, THE SACRIFICE, takes readers from Aspen Falls, Colorado to Monterrey, Mexico and finally to New Orleans, Louisiana in a desperate bid to save a young girl who doesn't know she's in danger.

Writing Habits

by J.H. Brogran

 Space: In his book On Writing, Stephen King explains the basic writer’s necessity to have a place one call his or her own. More explicitly he advised about the ability to close a door. Okay, coming from a notorious horror writer, the advice stuck with me big time. Before I read On Writing, I used to write in the TV room, where we have the family computer against a corner. The room was so hot during the summer it could perfectly double as a sauna.

A couple of year ago we moved to another house, one that had a small room out in the back. I seized my opportunity and claimed that room. I managed to get a rusty old desk top; it ran on Windows Millennium Edition. (Yes, the one between ’98 and XP.) Still, the computer was big enough to run Word 2003 and handle more than a few research files. Most importantly, I was able to shut a door that would isolate me enough to delve into my characters, my plotting.

So, did I write the next greatest novel? Hardly. For a while, I barely wrote at all! I write in bursts: 4,000 words in one sit, then nothing for a couple of days. I lack the discipline to write every single day. This shows because I have several WIP in different stages. When I feel the urge to write, it can be anywhere, in the middle of a crowd, regardless of the noise. For example, I’m writing this in my living room, I can hear my wife and kids enjoying a show on TV. The sound is soothing. Then it hit me, old Stephen meant to shut down the mental door.  

Company: Besides the muse, of course. I’ve heard of authors who need complete quiet to get in the mood to write. Not me, I need music. Any kind of music would do. I’ve been a Winamp fan since their early versions. I have a few playlists: one with Jazz, one with classical instrumental music, and I have one titled “Some to Stay Awake.” That’s my last resort when tiredness is battling my muse. Among the ever favorites are Frank Sinatra, Michael Bublé, Amy Winehouse, Alejandro Sanz, Julio Iglesias, Juanes, and recently, Adele.

 One of the best pieces of advice is not to combine writing with bad habits; that means no drinking by the computer. I know a bottle of wine could spank spark the muse, but at least in my case, there will be plenty of typos to correct the next morning.  

Goals: If you can set yourself a daily goal, be it a chapter or word count, it is the best way to achieve constant results. I know, I already said I don’t work well on a daily basis. That doesn’t mean I can’t see its benefits. I’ve also discovered I work better against a deadline. So, my deadlines are not daily. I work in projects. I set a number of scenes that I need to have ready by a certain date. I can goof around for a couple of days, but then the urge to meet that goal settles in and the words begin to flow.

As with any sport or profession, you have to do what it works for you. There are many books, blogs and other information across the wide world web where you can get tips and tricks to help with a work-in-progress. In the end, like Barry Eisler says on his blog, finishing a manuscript is the only thing that is up to the author.  

J. H. Bográn, born and raised in Honduras, is the son of a journalist. He ironically prefers to write fiction rather than fact. José’s genre of choice is thrillers, but he likes to throw in a twist of romance into the mix. His works include novels and short stories in both English and Spanish. He’s a member of the International Thriller Writers where he also serves as the Thriller Roundtable Coordinator.

Connect with him at: The Tale Weaver
Facebook
Twitter: @JHBogran

In addition, J.H. has a great short story, The Assassin’s Mistress A random encounter leads to deception, love and murder. While vacationing at a ski resort, professional hitman Robert Prescott meets a strange and beautiful woman. They discover passion and embark into a dangerous game hiding their relationship from her powerful husband. Then a further twist of fate makes Robert’s occupation collide with his new found love.

Do you Want to be Rich or do You Want to be Happy?

By Andrew E. Kaufman

Confession time.

When I’m not busy being a control enthusiast, I tend to be a little suspicious of things. Well, not just a little, I guess. A lot.

So when my debut novel, While the Savage Sleeps, went to number one on Amazon, I thought something had to be wrong, that it was a mistake, that there was a ghost in the machine, that…well, something. I mean, passing up Nora Roberts and Stephen King didn’t just seem surreal—it seemed damned near impossible.

The truth was, it did all of those things, and in addition to that, the book remained on the bestsellers list for the year that followed, at which point I knew the machine wasn’t broken.

But something else was.

Because once the euphoria dissipated, I began to panic. It suddenly dawned on me that I needed to write another book, and fast. Not only that, but I needed to write a damned good book, one that was better than the first. After all, my readers were waiting, and I was scared they’d compare my next novel to the first. There were also the sales to consider. Could I keep the momentum going while I worked on the next one? Could I hold on to my readers? Would they forget about me? Being an author with only one book to my name, these seemed like valid concerns.

It appeared my dawning had blossomed into a full-blown obsess-fest, and it wasn’t the least bit pretty. I spent the next year second-guessing myself into a frenzy. Nothing I wrote seemed good enough, and it always came back to one central theme: that I was turning out crap, that the first book was better, that my success was a flash in the pan, a one-time fluke. The readers were anxiously awaiting my next book, and there I was, losing self confidence and beating myself to a pulp.

Then, a revelation—well, not really that, more of a self-initiated kick in the pants—and a question: Do you want to be rich, or do you want to be happy?

I realized I’d become so caught up in the success of my first book that in that process, I allowed my reality to become drastically skewed. My priorities got all mixed up.

See, here’s the thing: I don’t write just to make sales. It's not about the money. I write because I have to. I mean I really have to. For me, writing is like breathing, and life without it wouldn’t be life at all—it would be something less than. It’s all about the journey I begin each time I look at that fresh, blank page.

I'd somehow forgotten that.

Don’t get me wrong. I love sharing my work with the world, love connecting with my readers—and putting food on the table and gas in my tank are definitely priorities. But that's about survival, not about why I write. I write because it’s an essential part of who I am, because there’s this raging fire inside me that I can’t put out. I think if you follow your fire, your passion, then the rest will fall into place naturally. That’s what happened with my first book. There were no expectations at the time, just me and my words, and that, I believe, is why the novel found its own success. Because my passion came out through my words.

Once I got on track, I felt an enormous shift within me. The words began to flow, and—surprise—my second novel was born, one that I know is better than my first.

So tell me, gentle readers: What about you? Money? Happiness? Or a little bit of both?