by Jason Joyner | Nov 21, 2007 | Blog, fiction, reviews
I promised a review of the book To Dance in the Desert by Kathleen Popa. It was part of the CFBA Tour at the end of July, and my wife gave me her thoughts on it. I don’t typically read this type of book, but I’d had contact with Katy through the forum at Faith in Fiction, and wanted to check it out for myself.
Reviewing this book makes me want to pull out all the pretty adjectives I know! The book is sparkling, airy, and heartfelt all at the same time. The writing was a real treat away from the suspense and mayhem I usually read.
Dara is a young woman who has moved to the desert to get away from the world. She thought that no one would interfere in her life, and she could have security. Like her late father always said, “It’s not a safe world.”
However, her seclusion is shattered when a mysterious older woman named Jane dances out in the desert and shocks Dara out of her cocoon. The two unlikely friends develop a friendship and move to a small town to help revive Jane’s brother’s struggling restaurant. All this time Dara is fighting against the call to join in with life rather than running away from it.
Ms. Popa’s prose truly is sparkling and inventive. She has a way with words to catch beauty in mundane things, and to make the remarkable even more poingnant. She keeps the pace moving along nicely – none of the literary belly-button contemplation that can be found in some books. Smaller points like scrambled eggs and a furry cat become significant in her hands.
The book struggles a little toward the end. It’s almost like the author only had so much room to put things in, and the lyrical pace gets hurried with rapid plot developments and resolution. As this is her first book, that this is the only significant complaint actually speaks a lot about her talent. I’m sure that there will be a lot more beauty coming from the pen (or keyboard) of Kathleen Popa, and for those who like contemporary women’s fiction will not want to miss out.
by Jason Joyner | Nov 16, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, fiction, reviews
This week’s CFBA Tour features the book Try Dying by James Scott Bell. It is the first book of his that I’ve read. I’ve always heard glowing things about his writing. He is also a regular contributor to Writer’s Digest magazine, so my impression was that he must know his craft.
And how.
Try Dying is a great tale of suspense. Bell’s past experience as a lawyer gives this legal thriller the type of authenticity that immerses the reader in the story. The opening chapter fully captures your attention, and the plot rarely gives you time to put the book down for mildly important things, such as sleep, work, and eating.
The story is told in first person view, from the perspective of Ty Buchanan, an up-and-coming lawyer in Los Angeles. The tragic loss of his fiancee in a freak accident sets his world on its edge. Then a startling revelation from a stranger loitering at the graveside service puts his life in a tailspin that will envelope the high-profile case he’s working on, a prominent service organization, and the gang scene in Southern California.
The characterization of Buchanan and the people he encounters are tremendous. The motivations and actions make sense and drive the thrilling tale along. There are surprises along the way that have you second-guessing the plot and where it seems to be going the whole time.
This book has moved Bell into an author that I definitely want to check out more. So far Try Dying has moved into position as one of my favorite books of the year.
See Bell’s bio and teaser below for more information. Also, Brandilyn Collins had an interview with him recently on her blog, so be sure to check it out.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
James Scott Bell is a former trial lawyer who now writes full time. He is also the fiction columnist for Writers Digest magazine and adjunct professor of writing at Pepperdine University.
His book on writing, Plot and Structure is one of the most popular writing books available today. The national bestselling author of several novels of suspense, he grew up and still lives in Los Angeles, where he is at work on his next Buchanan thriller.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
On a wet Tuesday morning in December, Ernesto Bonilla, twenty-eight, shot his twenty-three-year-old wife, Alejandra, in the backyard of their West 45th Street home in South Los Angeles. As Alejandra lay bleeding to death, Ernesto drove their Ford Explorer to the westbound Century Freeway connector where it crossed over the Harbor Freeway and pulled to a stop on the shoulder.
Bonilla stepped around the back of the SUV, ignoring the rain and the afternoon drivers on their way to LAX and the west side, placed the barrel of his .38 caliber pistol into his mouth, and fired.
His body fell over the shoulder and plunged one hundred feet, hitting the roof of a Toyota Camry heading northbound on the harbor Freeway. The impact crushed the roof of the Camry. The driver, Jacqueline Dwyer, twenty-seven, an elementary schoolteacher from Reseda, died at the scene.
This would have been simply another dark and strange coincidence, the sort of thing that shows up for a two-minute report on the local news–with live remote from the scene–and maybe gets a follow-up the next day. Eventually the story would go away, fading from the city’s collective memory.
But this story did not go away. Not for me. Because Jacqueline Dwyer was the woman I was going to marry.
In Try Dying, this fast-paced thriller, lawyer Ty Buchanan must enter a world of evil to uncover the cause of his fiancee’s death–even if he has to kill for the truth.
“Bell is one of the best writers out there…he creates characters readers care about…a story worth telling.”
~Library Review~
by Jason Joyner | Nov 16, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, fiction, reviews
This week’s CFBA Tour features the book Try Dying by James Scott Bell. It is the first book of his that I’ve read. I’ve always heard glowing things about his writing. He is also a regular contributor to Writer’s Digest magazine, so my impression was that he must know his craft.
And how.
Try Dying is a great tale of suspense. Bell’s past experience as a lawyer gives this legal thriller the type of authenticity that immerses the reader in the story. The opening chapter fully captures your attention, and the plot rarely gives you time to put the book down for mildly important things, such as sleep, work, and eating.
The story is told in first person view, from the perspective of Ty Buchanan, an up-and-coming lawyer in Los Angeles. The tragic loss of his fiancee in a freak accident sets his world on its edge. Then a startling revelation from a stranger loitering at the graveside service puts his life in a tailspin that will envelope the high-profile case he’s working on, a prominent service organization, and the gang scene in Southern California.
The characterization of Buchanan and the people he encounters are tremendous. The motivations and actions make sense and drive the thrilling tale along. There are surprises along the way that have you second-guessing the plot and where it seems to be going the whole time.
This book has moved Bell into an author that I definitely want to check out more. So far Try Dying has moved into position as one of my favorite books of the year.
See Bell’s bio and teaser below for more information. Also, Brandilyn Collins had an interview with him recently on her blog, so be sure to check it out.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
James Scott Bell is a former trial lawyer who now writes full time. He is also the fiction columnist for Writers Digest magazine and adjunct professor of writing at Pepperdine University.
His book on writing, Plot and Structure is one of the most popular writing books available today. The national bestselling author of several novels of suspense, he grew up and still lives in Los Angeles, where he is at work on his next Buchanan thriller.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
On a wet Tuesday morning in December, Ernesto Bonilla, twenty-eight, shot his twenty-three-year-old wife, Alejandra, in the backyard of their West 45th Street home in South Los Angeles. As Alejandra lay bleeding to death, Ernesto drove their Ford Explorer to the westbound Century Freeway connector where it crossed over the Harbor Freeway and pulled to a stop on the shoulder.
Bonilla stepped around the back of the SUV, ignoring the rain and the afternoon drivers on their way to LAX and the west side, placed the barrel of his .38 caliber pistol into his mouth, and fired.
His body fell over the shoulder and plunged one hundred feet, hitting the roof of a Toyota Camry heading northbound on the harbor Freeway. The impact crushed the roof of the Camry. The driver, Jacqueline Dwyer, twenty-seven, an elementary schoolteacher from Reseda, died at the scene.
This would have been simply another dark and strange coincidence, the sort of thing that shows up for a two-minute report on the local news–with live remote from the scene–and maybe gets a follow-up the next day. Eventually the story would go away, fading from the city’s collective memory.
But this story did not go away. Not for me. Because Jacqueline Dwyer was the woman I was going to marry.
In Try Dying, this fast-paced thriller, lawyer Ty Buchanan must enter a world of evil to uncover the cause of his fiancee’s death–even if he has to kill for the truth.
“Bell is one of the best writers out there…he creates characters readers care about…a story worth telling.”
~Library Review~
by Jason Joyner | Nov 13, 2007 | Blog, fiction, miscellaneous, writing craft
Okay, so how dated does the title make me?
Anyway, I’m sure most of my writing buddies out there know about NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. The goal of writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days must seem like self-flagellation to some people. I don’t think I could ever do it.
However, I did, for some strange reason unknown to me now, sign up for it two years ago. Because of that I am still listed as a NaNo participant for Idaho. So before November 1st, I got an email discussing a write-in being held in Idaho Falls. I considered going, and when I mentioned it to my wife that I was thinking about it, she announced, “Great! I can go shopping while you’re doing that.”
Not quite the response I was anticipating.
I ended up going to the write-in the first Saturday in November at a little coffeeshop called The Villa. Nice place with good atmosphere. When I first arrived there were a couple of ladies in line for coffee with obvious notebook bags. Holding my trusty writing folder, I found that they were there to NaNo. We ordered and adjourned to a separate room to don our quills and write away.
I was the only guy initially, but soon a couple of other brave masculine souls showed up. We had nice introductions. “Hi, I’m Jason, and I write action/suspense. Who are you, and what do you write?” I was the lone computer-less person, although another gal had problems with her connection and had to switch to old-fashioned paper.
We had a good time connecting with other crazy writer-type people. We decided to meet again the following Saturday. There was a little attrition, which should be expected. Gained another guy (yeah guys!) and got some more writing done. I’m not going to vouch for the quality of writing, but there is official ink on paper documented.
I’m not officially trying to do the whole NaNo 50,000 word thing. It has just been nice for a little accountability to sit down and write with like-minded folks. Also, shutting off the internal editor and just doing it is another benefit. I know there’s a lot of crap in what I wrote, but it also is helping me plot and see how the scenes should go.
Anyway, that’s my writing life the last few weeks. I’m grateful for the camaraderie and accountability. So if any of you haven’t been writing lately, close the web browser now, and open up your file and WRITE!
by Jason Joyner | Nov 13, 2007 | Blog, fiction, miscellaneous, writing craft
Okay, so how dated does the title make me?
Anyway, I’m sure most of my writing buddies out there know about NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. The goal of writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days must seem like self-flagellation to some people. I don’t think I could ever do it.
However, I did, for some strange reason unknown to me now, sign up for it two years ago. Because of that I am still listed as a NaNo participant for Idaho. So before November 1st, I got an email discussing a write-in being held in Idaho Falls. I considered going, and when I mentioned it to my wife that I was thinking about it, she announced, “Great! I can go shopping while you’re doing that.”
Not quite the response I was anticipating.
I ended up going to the write-in the first Saturday in November at a little coffeeshop called The Villa. Nice place with good atmosphere. When I first arrived there were a couple of ladies in line for coffee with obvious notebook bags. Holding my trusty writing folder, I found that they were there to NaNo. We ordered and adjourned to a separate room to don our quills and write away.
I was the only guy initially, but soon a couple of other brave masculine souls showed up. We had nice introductions. “Hi, I’m Jason, and I write action/suspense. Who are you, and what do you write?” I was the lone computer-less person, although another gal had problems with her connection and had to switch to old-fashioned paper.
We had a good time connecting with other crazy writer-type people. We decided to meet again the following Saturday. There was a little attrition, which should be expected. Gained another guy (yeah guys!) and got some more writing done. I’m not going to vouch for the quality of writing, but there is official ink on paper documented.
I’m not officially trying to do the whole NaNo 50,000 word thing. It has just been nice for a little accountability to sit down and write with like-minded folks. Also, shutting off the internal editor and just doing it is another benefit. I know there’s a lot of crap in what I wrote, but it also is helping me plot and see how the scenes should go.
Anyway, that’s my writing life the last few weeks. I’m grateful for the camaraderie and accountability. So if any of you haven’t been writing lately, close the web browser now, and open up your file and WRITE!
by Jason Joyner | Nov 8, 2007 | Blog, fiction, interviews, suspense
Last week Novel Journey put up a great interview with suspense master Dean Koontz. I really don’t know very much about him, to my chagrin, but it was a very good interview. If you didn’t catch it, go here and read it. It has especially good comments regarding using metaphors and similies, something my writing can definitely use work on.
I’m going to take a little pause from reviewing books over December so I can catch up on some other books, including reading some Koontz!
