Slideshow is from the St. Louis NaNoWriMo Kick-off party on October 24th. Jennifer, @etoiline, organized, while a couple dozen of us showed up to hang out, get some good eats, and chat about our novels-to-be.

Signup was more than just jotting down our names. After recording our names, and forum IDs, Jennifer asked us to create “plot ninjas”. A plot ninja is basically a sentence or idea recorded on an index card. These will be used later to help folks through writer’s block. In exchange for filling out a plot ninja card, novelists received a gift bag.

Conversation wasn’t just about novels. We talked about jobs, current and past. People shared past NaNoWriMo experiences, including what helped and what didn’t. Personal histories were shared as well, such as trips to foreign countries, family stories, and music they love to write to.

A quick survey netted a range of novel themes, from horror, to chic lit, and several folks planning a sci-fi novel. Me? I’m leaning towards horror/thriller. Dean Koontz will be a heavy influence either way.

Next up is the Halloween Pre-Party leading into the first write-in, at midnight.

Can’t wait to get writing!
Cheers,
Todd
Find me on NaNoWriMo and friend me.

New imprint, Angry Robots. It’s genres span from science fiction to fantasy, with swashbuckling along side space travel.

Introduced are various authors; they go beyond merely talking about their titles though. The authors are excited to share but at the end of the video there’s a section about e-book signing.

Kindle, Sony E-Reader, iPhone – they all let you buy and read books without purchasing a hard copy. Many folks still enjoy though getting the author to sign their copy of a book. What happens though when most content is downloaded.

Amazon and Sony should create an e-signature standard for digital content. Imagine the author sitting at their workstation and having a queue of requests for digital signatures for their works.

Requests organized by book or song title could be browsed. Each requester allowed one sentence or so many words to describe their signature request. This could even get more fun with creators able to add additional digital content beyond signing the work. How wonderful would it be to get an autographed photo alongside that new album or book.

Solutions are left to the audience and e-reader manufacturers.

Cheers,
Todd or @tojosan

Odd Thomas is the main character in a series of books by Dean Koontz. He’s young, he’s a fry cook, and he’s got powers.

Odd is a young man that’s been gifted with prophetic dreams, the ability to see ghosts, and the heart of a paladin. This fourth book sees him taking real ownership of what his actions mean. He ponders if he’s crossing a line as he steps into situations of violence and death.

In this latest book in the series, Odd Hours, we find Odd in a small sea side town, playing cook and attendant to Hutch, an aging actor. Odd has come to the town because of a vivid dream of catastrophe. Unfortunately he’s gotten no clues so far in his month long stay save one, the mysterious girl on the boardwalk.

The book moves a bit slow at first but quickly becomes a page turner. Honestly I finished this is one afternoon. Pacing is good considering the story takes place over basically two days. It helps that there are chases, gunfights, and plenty of unique characters for us to enjoy.

An interesting aspect of this book is the unusual people Odd encounters. The woman with the twinge, the young pregnant lady with the zen type conversations, and the Happy Monster. I read into this story that being such a potential catastrophe that a convergence happened of others with gifts and insights.

Odd Hours is the best of he sequels to date. Action, mystery, wisdom, gun play, sadness, and sainthood, this book has it all.

Bonus in this book, and really in the series, is a lack of swearing, death isn’t overly gory, and people worry about doing the right thing.

Anxiously awaiting the next in the series.

(oh yeah, Mystery Train)

** spoiler alert **

Seize the Night is the sequel to Fear Nothing. The characters you loved from the first one are here but in even more detail and narrative. And that’s a problem.

The story in this book takes place over an even shorter span than the first one. in this follow up it’s months later and things are still strange in Christopher Snow’s little sea-side town. People are still becoming. Intelligent and malevolent monkeys roam the town at night, and to make it worse, even hordes of birds are killing themselves.

What’s happening in this story is two-fold. Firstly the inevitable dark downside of the retrovirus. The gift of intelligence is a curse more than a blessing for most of the animals affected by the experiments at Wyvern. Chris runs across swarming birds, packs of wolves, and more marching to their doom. Not being chased by cursed by spiraling depression.

The other plot is the kidnapping of children. Of course the police aren’t going to do much, and honestly, Chris doesn’t even wait to see if they will. He immediately suspects it’s related to the base in some way. So off into the night he goes, glock and flashlight and faithful dog.

Koontz gives us rich detail, a fantastic first person viewpoint, and lovable characters. The only problem is that he compresses a week worth of story into basically two evenings. Amazing amounts of dialogue, internal monologue and animal communication takes place during that time. This is my biggest complaint. The book seems to take forever to get through those couple of days.

On another note, this becoming issue really could have been left out of this entirely. There is a whole other mystery going on here worthy of a book all by its self. Another strike against a book that still has some really enjoyable writing in it.

All in all, it’s not a bad read if you’re a Koontz addict and enjoyed the Chris Snow character. Sadly it left me wanting a follow up book with this rather interesting family of characters. Apparently Koontz didn’t enjoy these folks enough to follow up. Likely due to lackluster response to this long winded second in the series.

This will appeal to those that like a bit of psychology mixed with their sci-fi.

If you enjoyed this review, you can read more of my reviews on Amazon.

Chris Snow may have a genetic disorder and a deadly one at that, but nothing keeps him from being the master of Moonlight Bay at night. Fear Nothing is the story of Chris Snow, his dog, Orson, and their friends as two dramatic days pass in Moonlight Bay.

The story begins with the death of Chris’s father at the local hospital. Chris soon discovers bodies going unexpected places ad well as an unexpected extra body. Of course he takes off on adventure into the night to uncover this mystery.

In spite of being a story that takes place over two days, it doesn’t move very fast. Oh, there is action, including chases, gun fights, and a few deaths, there is a much more in the way of inner conversation. The narrative takes place mainly inside Chris’s head. We see all other characters’ actions through his eyes.

The actions taken by Chris in this story are definitely unbelievable. He may have a genetic issue, but he’s managed to become a successful author, an accomplished surfer, and find a hot lady for a girlfriend. We find he also has an affinity for animals. All of those take him from one act in this novel to the next with him surviving relatively unscathed.

It turns out Chris is not just a bystander either. He’s central in several ways to the plot of the story, not just as the random guy caught up, though until later in the book he doesn’t get that. It seems his friends don’t get it either until the end.

In my opinion, not one of Dean Koontz’s best novels, but still not a bad read. The narrative is slow, and some of the characterization, though wordy, is shallow. The characters leave possibilities open but the way the book ends you’d think things wouldn’t end up well for Chris or his friends.

If you’re a die hard Koontz fan, pick this up. If not, skip this one.

This was my first Brent Weeks novel. I’m not sure it was the best introduction to his work. It was a decent plot overall, with plenty of twists and turns. But before I go into more detail, the book was too slow.

Brent Weeks takes us to a place where life is dark, dreary, and deadly. Our main character begins his life on the streets, and the book constantly revisits them. Death abounds even upon children, innocents, royalty and the homeless. This world is one where everyone you befriend is a liability, every love a potential loss.

The darkness is not just around the characters but in them as well. Our protagonist has to make tough choices and does. Though at what cost? Can a young boy, even a tough one, take the leap from struggling in poverty to a powerful assassin and not lose part of his soul?

One thing I loved included the action scenes. The detail and flow of these was quite entertaining and drew me in fully. Sheer variety in weapons, attacks, and how each character approached the fights was worth the price of admission. Eric Lustbader eat your heart out. True ninja style stuff here.

Another strong point to this book is the depth of characterization. Weeks spared no amount of words making sure we understood each character, not just as their job or profession, but who they are inside and how they came to be there. He lets us peer into the mind of a prostitute turned leader, and a man who sold his soul for immortality.

Lastly a compliment to the author for making no one black and white. Not even characters as simple as some of the guards were entirely simple.

Though the book was long in the tooth at points, if you love tails of assassins, ninjas and the like, then this is a good read. Young adult is almost an unfair category for this as it will more likely appeal to a slightly older reader.

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• The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks (nethspace.blogspot.com)

Sookie Stackhouse, in Dead Until Dark, is not your typical protagonist. She’s a telepathic waitress. Nope, no gun toting [...] kicking vampire slayer here. Not only that, but she’s destined for more and rougher vampire encounters than any waitress deserves to have.

Into a quiet town with no paranormal goings on moves a public vampire. Shortly after that the murders start piling up. Obviously the locals figure the vampire at first, but soon another suspect becomes likely. Sookie is not only caught up with these two but between them as well. It doesn’t get easier for her either as the book progresses.

From unlikely heroine to confidant and brash goes this young lady is transformed. Transformed by her experiences and by a little…oh that would be telling. Let’s just say that folks begin to notice and that just adds to the confusion.

This book is not aimed at the preteens, and probably not the younger teens either. Though it’s a softer read than other vampire novels, there is murder, bloodshed, rough sex and death a plenty in this book. Surprisingly though very little language.

A fun read and not your typical vampire story, Dead Until Dark will be one vampire story that lets you laugh.

This book, Bad Monkeys: A Novel (P.S.), is a mix of science fiction, action thriller, and mystery novel rolled into one. The protagonist is a lady who has lived a life without purpose for many years and finally finds herself living for a purpose but not happy about the choices.

From rough child hood to the life of a killer disposing of Bad Monkeys, our heroine struggles with family, job, and the enemies from both.

This book will keep you captivated through out. Though the story is told as if being told in the past, it has a feel of immediacy to it. Even knowing part of what happens doesn’t diminish the tension at key points.

The gadgets are interesting but really a side bit to the overall plot. Things aren’t quite what they seem either, and you’ll be guessing until the end.

I recommend if you like a bit of scifi in your thriller, and don’t mind a bit of wackiness that you pick this paperback up and enjoy.

One of my favorite contacts on Twitter, @Zachflauaus, would be a great person for Cory Doctorow to write about in a book.

Zach has a crazy sense about him for a small town guy. You can tell he’ll break out of there and be the one that got away to be something.

Cheers Zach,

Todd

@tojosan