I'm often asked what books/authors I would recommend
from readers who have read all of my books and are looking for more good
reads. If you're one of those folks and are looking for a good read, I
have provided my top 40 picks for novels by some of my favorite
authors. Enjoy.
What do you picture when you think about islands? Most people imagine white sand beaches, grass huts (with satellite TV), hammocks, and rendezvous in pristine waterfall-fed lagoons. But not everyone has such a pleasant outlook when it comes to nature’s gift to introverts. Take me for example. My newest book, Island 731, is based on the heinous human experimentation carried out during World War II by the Imperial Japanese Army’s R&D group, Unit 731, and it asks the question, “What would be the result if Unit 731 was never stopped?” Limb replacements. Rapid Freezing. Vivisections. Cannibalism. Fun stuff like that.
As you can see, not every imagined island getaway is a destination worth spending your vacation—or even ten minutes—unless being eaten by a crocodile with tentacles is your idea of fun. So, in celebration of Island 731’s release, I’d like to take a look at the five freakiest fictional islands that continue to inspire (read: give nightmares to) authors like me.
I’ve seen a good number of blog posts recently from fellow authors focusing on the issue of reviews, which can be, and often are, posted by folks with rude dispositions, grudges, agendas, etc. For a new author, even an honest negative review can be soul crushing. To the experienced author, with thicker skin, negative reviews can be a distraction. So the advice being given is generally this: don’t read reviews for your books. Sounds good on the surface. By not exposing yourself to these negative opinions, you are protecting yourself from the pain delivered by Internet trolls with nothing better to do than harass an author. The troll might be angry after reading the first line of a book sample, or might disagree with the pricing, or might be annoyed that Harriet Klausner gave your book 4 stars, or any number of silly reasons for an anonymous rant. And YES, these people should be ignored. They’ve likely taken to the Internet for attention, because the people in their real lives have begun ignoring their sour mood.
I was recently asked, on Facebook, what advice I had for self-publishers. The answer I gave was unconventional and not at all helpful in the short-run, but I believe it is the best advice I can give. Before I give it here, let me give you some background information.
Making a movie about a pop-culture icon is always tricky business. On one hand, you have the diehard fans to appease. In this case, the majority of those fans are between the ages of 35 and 45—basically the same group of mostly men who have witnessed the brutal pillaging of their childhoods through movies like Transformers, Smurfs, Land of the Lost, G.I. Joe and most recently, and strangely, Battleship. While some of these movies have tanked, others have been financial giants, but few have pleased the original fan base.
Last year I published something like 17 books. I honestly can’t remember the exact number off the top of my head. I think part of my brain is trying to forget the mad rush that was 2011. Out of those books, five were backlist (already written), seven were co-authored (I didn’t do all the work). But five of them were written in 2011. The average author writes one, maybe two novels in a year. When readers and other authors hear that I write more than double that amount, the next thing out of their mouth is, “How do you write so many books?”
Making a movie about a pop-culture icon is always tricky business. On one hand, you have the diehard fans to appease. In this case, the majority of those fans are between the ages of 35 and 45—basically the same group of mostly men who have witnessed the brutal pillaging of their childhoods through movies like Transformers, Smurfs, Land of the Lost, G.I. Joe and most recently, and strangely, Battleship. While some of these movies have tanked, others have been financial giants, but few have pleased the original fan base.
