Mailbox Monday

Am I becoming a memeophile?  Last week, I did three memes, Mailbox Monday, Wondrous Words Wednesday, and the Book Blogger Hop.  That's a lot of memes for me to do in one week!  I won't participate in as many memes this week, but I am starting the week with Mailbox Monday, which is hosted this month by Kim from Metroreader.

Three books arrived in my mailbox recently.  I won Ros by Dee DeTarsio on Dizzy C's Little Book Blog.  Although the book I won was an eBook, the author kindly sent me a paperback copy of her book when I told her that I didn't have an eReader.  I received Whole Latte Life from the author,  Joanne DeMaio, along with a very nice, coffee-themed card, as I'll be part of the virtual tour for this novel in May (equipped with my own cup of coffee or tea).  Lastly, I purchased It by Stephen King for a steal of a price from a used book seller on Amazon (a great way to get used books in good condition), which I plan on reading for The Stephen King Project, a challenge hosted by Natalie from Coffee and a Book Chick and Kathleen from Boarding in My Forties.  Each of these books is enticing to me in a different way, and I look forward to beginning them.

What new books arrived in your mailbox recently?  Have you read any of these books?  As always, I welcome your comments.

Crazy for the Hop

I'm crazy for the Hop! To my knowledge, and correct me please if I'm wrong, this is the original Hop, which has inspired others to pop up in the great, wide blogosphere. Hosted by Jennifer from Crazy-for-Books, this brilliant BOOK PARTY lasts from January 14 until January 17, and is a fun way for book bloggers to socialize, connect with other book lovers, and discover new book blogs. I discovered a wonderful blog in this manner a few months ago, Leslie's blog, Under My Apple Tree. If you'd like me to visit your blog, please leave a comment and I will try to stop (or hop) by.

Each week, Jennifer chooses a question from those submitted by book bloggers for discussion. This week's question hails from Barb from Sugarbeat's Books: Why do you read the genre that you do? What draws you to it?

Another good question! Mostly I read fiction, classic, older novels as well as more contemporary works (some before they are even published). I suppose I'm drawn to fiction because I like a good story, and find a lot of truth in fiction. However, I also read other genres, including non-fiction. To read only one genre would be too limiting. My interests determine what I read. Every once in a while, I will purposely read something outside of my "comfort zone", outside of the the usual types of books I read. For example, I read (and reviewed) Duma Key by Stephen King and Drowned Sorrow by Vanessa Morgan; both of these are horror fiction, a genre I do not often read; this departure from my normal reading was refreshing and exciting. What about you?

Ghoulish Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Laura of Laura's Reviews!

Laura, you've won Stephen King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes and two sheets of Ghoulish Glam and Mistress of Darkness face and body tattoos. I will contact you by email and send these to you very soon.

Thanks to all who participated in this giveaway. I often post giveaways on the right side of my blog, so try your luck again--you just might win a book!

A Ghoulish Giveaway: Nightmares and Dreamscapes

I scream,
you scream,
we all scream
for . . .

Stephen King. And Stephen King, the king of horror fiction, makes us scream. In honor of Carl V.'s R.I.P. IV, I'm giving away a new copy of Stephen King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes, a collection of haunting stories guaranteed to inspire more than a few goosebumps. Along with this paperback book, the winner will also win two sheets of Ghoulish Glam and Mistress of Darkness face and body tattoos, perfect for Halloween time.



To enter this ghoulish giveaway, simply leave a comment. Please include your email address. For an additional chance, become a follower of this blog and let me know. For a third chance, post about this giveaway on your blog or Twitter.

Contest ends on Sunday, October 11, at 5 PM PDT. The winner will be announced on Monday, October 12.

On Writing: Are You Serious?

"I'll tell you right now that every aspiring writer should read The Elements of Style."
~On Writing, Stephen King

Once again, I have a confession. Like many writers, I receive books about writing as gifts, among them the original edition published in 1920 of The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr.. Unfortunately, it stayed up in the bookcase unread until recently. I'd opened it up once or twice and read parts of it, but not very much. I didn't really appreciate its value until I read Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (a gift I gave myself) which frequently mentions Strunk's book. In fact, the two books belong together, and will be shelved next to each other in my home, near my writing desk.

Published in 2000, the first part of On Writing is autobiographical, although the whole book is sprinkled liberally with facts from King's own life, pertaining to his childhood, long marriage to novelist Tabitha, struggles with drugs and alcohol, near-fatal accident, and career as a writer. The second half of the book is entitled On Writing and centers on how to write fiction (although much of it applies to other kinds of writing as well). With over 300 million copies of his novels sold, and many stories adapted for film and television, I think King is well qualified to write about writing.

Although King says that there's no magic formula for becoming a good writer, he offers solid, down-to-earth advice in an entertaining way. His friendly style and honesty drew me in as I discovered that On Writing is filled with practical advice. One thing King says, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone who aspires to write, is to "read a lot and write a lot". By this King means four to six hours daily. That's a large portion of the day (or night, if you're more nocturnal). But a serious writer needs to have discipline and work at the craft.

King's book reinforced what I learned in school by emphasizing the basics. From the book, here are some ideas about what good writing is:

• Active and purposeful
• Adverse to adverbs
• Free of clichés and hackneyed phrases
• Clear and concise (cut out extraneous words)
• Courageous (take some risks)
  
• Follows grammatical rules, but breaks a few rules once in a while
• Honest, plain, and direct
  
• Offers the right amount of description

Mr. King, if I've left anything crucial off this list, please let me know.

Read this book if you're serious about your writing. It may even count towards the daily requirement of four to six hours of reading and writing!

Duma Key

Updated January 26, 2012:   I posted the following review in the early days of my blog,  before I had discovered the rich community of book bloggers; in those days I had many lonely posts.  I've changed the review only slightly, and just added it to The Stephen King Project, a new reading challenge hosted by Natalie from Coffee and a Book Chick and Kathleen from Boarding in My Forties. Although this review is probably best understood by others who have read Duma Key  (I use words and phrases employed by the author in the book, in an attempt to be humorous),  if you haven't read the book,  I hope it will stimulate your desire to do so.  At the end of this post,  I mention Lisey's Story, a chunkster I have on my shelf but have not yet read.  I also plan on ordering It very soon from Amazon,  and will read and review it in 2012.   After this review posted originally, I read a non-fiction work by Stephen King, and aspiring writers may wish to stop by my review of his book about writing,  On Writing: Are You Serious?

********************

"I can do this," I told myself. I can end the year with a book by Stephen King. Believe it or not, I've never read a single book by the King of Horror Fiction (I wonder what Stephen King thinks of that title), although I've seen at least two Stephen King movies, The Shining and The Shawshank Redemption. Horror fiction is not my usual reading choice--not by a long shot--but we'd been given the thick paperback Duma Key as a Christmas gift and I picked it up, read a few pages, and thought, "I can do this". I could always stop reading it if I didn't care to finish it, as I do with other books which fail to engage me. But it did engage me--and quickly. Stephen King is a good storyteller, a master. His friendly, familiar style drew me in, mi amigo; his informal tone seems to balance the menacing events, liberal use of profanity, and gore of his books, muchacho.  He's also quite funny, and characters exhibit a droll sense of humor at times.  Edgar, the protagonist of Duma Key,  who's lost an arm in a horrific accident, makes jokes about his missing arm such as, "I was going to say I'd cut my own arm off first, but all at once that seemed like a really bad idea."

Quite briefly, here's the basic storyline of Duma Key, a bestselling horror novel published in 2008. Edgar Freemantle, a wealthy, 57-year-old contractor, suffers a traumatic brain injury and loses his right arm in a horrendous accident at a job site. Edgar also battle bouts of rage and forgetfulness during his recovery, and to make matters even worse, his wife wants a divorce. Depressed and suicidal, Edgar follows the advice of Dr. Kamen, his therapist, to "change his scenery", and moves from Minnesota to Duma Key, a small, nearly deserted island off Florida's gulf coast. Edgar rents Salmon Point--which he calls "Big Pink" due to its pink color--a unique house on the northern part of the island, where Edgar feels compelled to draw and paint, a compulsion he relates to the phantom limb sensations he has in his right arm, the itching and burning. His paintings, which are quite good, have a sinister side to them, and seem to foretell horrific future events. They are also somehow connected to the past, and to Elizabeth Eastlake, an elderly resident of Duma Key.

Duma Key was a good introduction to the novels of Stephen King,  and an auspicious way to end my year of reading, with a new-to-me author.  I enjoyed this story,  which is an inventive blend of the creepy and the "ordinary".

The author was born in Portland, Maine on September 21, 1947, the son of Donald King and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury.  Extremely imaginative and prolific, Stephen Edwin King wrote over 40 books, including a 7-part series of novels, a 6-part serial novel, and countless short stories, and is one of the world's most popular writers.  Obviously, he's heeded his true calling as a writer.  Here's a fascinating interview from Lilja's Library with Stephen King about Duma Key, before the book was published.  At least to me it's fascinating--I enjoy reading what writers have to say about their work and writing. Would I read another book by Stephen King?  Yes. While I can't say that I'll join a Stephen King fan club, I am interested in reading Lisey's Story, which King has called his best book.  I'm particularly interested in what writers deem as their best work.

As always, your comments are welcomed.