Books

I picked up a couple of new books from Utah author Paul Genesse. Of course Paul has short stories in each one.

Sail enchanted seas and cross swords with a crew of award-winning fantasy authors in this first book of the exciting new Blue Kingdoms™ world! Within these pages, you’ll find enchanted islands, angry sea gods, mysterious magic, and pirates galore in a treasure trove of tales by Robert E. Vardeman, J. Robert King, Lorelei Shannon, Lester Smith, Marc Tassin, Kathleen Watness, James M. Ward, Paul Genesse, Brandie Tarvin, Steve Winter, Dean Leggett, Jason Mical, Kelly Swails, and Jean Rabe & Stephen D. Sullivan.

Between twilight and dawn, half-glimpsed things lurk in the swirling sea mist, long-dead things that have clawed their way out of the darkest abyss, things that were better left entombed.

In this second volume of Blue Kingdoms™ stories, you’ll find a host of specters, ghosts, monsters, and more… guaranteed to shiver your timbers.

Sail the Azure Sea with our ghoulish crew of tale-spinners: Robert Verdeman, Paul Genesse, Lorelei Shannon, James M. Ward, Dean Leggett, Jason Mical, Kelly Swails, Marc Tassin, Brandie Tarvin, Kathy Watness and Jean Rabe & Stepehen D. Sullivan

I’m excited to announce that on January 12, 2008, Rebecca Shelley will host a release party for her new book Red Dragon Codex. Here is an excerpt of the email I received from Utah author Ken Rand:

You’re invited to the launch party for Red Dragon Codex by West Valley City writer Rebecca Shelley (writing as R.D. Henham), Saturday, January 12, 4-6 p.m. at the West Valley Fitness Center, 5415 West 3100 South, West Valley City. This delightful YA fantasy in the Dragonlance world (Wizard’s of the Coast) is Rebecca’s first book. Party plans include fun, prizes, and games for kids—bring the whole family. Details and more information: www.rebeccashelley.com or www.reddragoncodex.com.

Come by and meet a great local author. You might even get a discount on the book if you’re lucky. See you there.

Amazon.com has paid £1,950,000 at an auction, approximately 4 million US dollars, for a hand written book from the Harry Potter series Author J.K. Rowling. The book, entitled “The Tales of Beedle the Bard”, also includes original hand drawn illustrations, leather cover and sterling latches. Ms. Rowling donated the money to a children’s charity in the U.K.

The only thing I can say about paying 4 million for a book is I’m glad the proceeds went to charity.

With the recent stamp of approval J.K Rowling gave to fan fiction writers, there will continue to be a large number of spin off story arcs coming out. Harry Potter fans are fiercely loyal but want more. I think fan written stories will give readers what they are looking for. There is a huge Wizard world waiting to be written.

A few weeks ago I met a really great Writer named Ken Rand. Ken has been a writer for a very long time. He’s written everything from newspaper articles to short stories to novels. One of the really cools things about Ken’s writing is he covers a broad range of genres. If you want to learn from a writer who has done it all, Ken is your man.

While I was at Mountain Con III I bought a book from Ken called The 10% Solution. One of the panels Ken was on he talked about how you can self edit your writing using several passes to cut out all the fluff, or as he called it, the 10% reduction. Every time you read through your manuscript find areas that can be compressed using smaller or fewer words or removing entire paragraphs. When you’re done you will have a more concise story and something more pleasing for Editors to read.

You can apply this same solution to writing blog posts. I try to reduce what I write by 10%. Some times its just not possible to reduce what you’ve written but I would at least try.

Side note here. Ken didn’t ask me or pay me to say anything about this book. I have truly gotten a lot out of it and just wanted to share it with all of you.

A movie that I have been excited to see opens today. The Bourne Ultimatum, the 3rd and final chapter in the series, opens in theaters across the US today. I’m a huge fan of the trilogy, both the books and the movies. I realize the books and the movies are considerably different, but for some reason I don’t mind it. Matt Damon has done an excellent job in the role as Jason Bourne.