SHARK WEEK: PUN ATTACK!!!

-Happy Shark Week, Everyone-

Sometimes Random House does these really funny Tweet challenges where the have a theme and challenge you to have some pun with book titles.

 For example. 

They did #conspiracybooks as the theme and people revised titles to the likes of:

'Goodnight Moonlanding'
'Everything is Illuminati'
'Where The Wild Things Are Secretly Held Until Further Notice'

And so on.

So in honor of SHARK WEEK, I thought #sharklit might be in order. Here's what I've come up with so far.....

#SHARKLIT

'Megalodon Quioxte'


'His Shark Materials'

'The Adventures of Huckleberry Sharkfinn,' by Shark Twain


'Noah's Shark'


'Great White Oleander'


'The Twibite Saga'


'The Old Man and The Deep Blue Sea'


'Mansfield Shark'


'Wuthering Bites'


'Great White Fang'

I've been Tweeting them out from @hipsomedia (where I work) so if you have any #sharklit ideas to add, please comment below or tweet them to me there! 

Review: "Rainey Royal," by Dylan Landis

Expected pub date: 9/9/14

Publisher: Soho Press

Source: BEA

Genre: Lit Fic

Rating: 4.5/5

I was fortunate enough to pick up a signed galley at BEA.

This year's goal is to read outside of my comfort zone. I normally geek out over sci-fi/ fantasy/magical realism/ genre fiction, so starting off my BEA haul with a piece of literary fiction I knew nothing about was a leap. I devoured RAINEY ROYAL in a few sittings and couldn't have been more pleased with my choice.

This book is filled with that sort of complex emotional yearning I often find in the best short stories; but it also has a fulfilling narrative that leads the reader into a powerful relationship with the characters. Rainey, Leah, and Tina are all so fleshed out I felt like the book was 'Pearl Dropping' me through the pages. It surpassed want: I NEEDED to know where the story was gong and how the characters would react. The story was tense and unpredictable. The wordplay was seductive and elusive and every temporal change made perfect sense.

I can't recommend this book enough, although I will certainly try!

ALSO...

Goodreads is having a galley giveaway. Enter here: 

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/102446-rainey-royal

REVIEW: "THE BOOK OF STRANGE NEW THINGS," by Michel Faber

Expected pub date: 10/28/14

Publisher: Hogarth

Source: BEA 2014

Genre: Literary Sci-Fi

RATING: 5/5

One of the best books I've ever had the pleasure (and anxiety) of reading.

I was lucky enough to come across a galley of this at the BEA. An attractive cover and even more attractive page tips (gold!) caught my attention. The synopsis didn't sound like something I'd normally read, but thanks to my motto this year 'read (live) outside my comfort zone' I dove into this one with open expectations.

The introductory letter written by Molly Stern, SVP and Publisher at Hogarth, mentions in its summation 'emotional complexity'. I know trying capture a 500-page masterpiece in any two-word net is usually tough to do but yes; just yes. Emotional complexity.

Besides a fantastic premise with VERY believable characters (even the Oasans [i.e. aliens]), this novel whips your emotions around with enough human complication to make you dig your nails into the earth both to keep grounded and to check our planet's temperature. In 'The Book Of Strange New Things,' I felt the boiling mayhem of our planet from light-years away. An impressive tour-de-G-Force by Michel Faber.

I try not to talk to much about plot for spoilers sake, so I'll just say that although the story follows an evangelist in space, bringing the word of the Bible to a group of aliens, this book is not particularly religious. Basically, one does not have to be an Christian to find unbelievable meaning from this book. If my last name didn't give it away, I am not Christian; and I promise this book resonated in a big way. This book is about crisis and yearning and faith and the longest-distance relationship ever. It's about freedom and hard choices and... and... ugh, EMOTIONAL COMPLEXITY. Gah, this book squeezed my heart.

Anyway, put this book on your TBR list. I'll put in on my TBRR list (to be reread) and lets all hope this makes the bestseller lists; as I think this novel will hit home (whatever solar system that may be in) with a lot of people. 

THE RETURN

SO...

It's been a while, Why Fiction.

 Why so long, you ask? 

(I must shake off dumb jokes before getting back into the meat of this blog. Bare with me. They'll stop soon*)

((*I hope))

A lot has happened, a lot has not happened, but all in all I'm excited to be back. I'll pepper the upcoming posts with fill-the-time-gap stories, but the main thing that has led me back here were the words 'THE END' on page 572 of a manuscript I didn't think I'd ever finish.

It's entitled 'The Inventor In The Sands' and I am so very proud of how it turned out... but I'll get there another day.

First, feature your eyes on the extremely bald saxophone player in the picture above. Bald saxophone players are obviously cool, you might be saying, but why picture one on a blog about books?

Well I wouldn't have, if I hadn't lost so much darn hair. 

Yes, that stunningly smooth sax-man is your truly. I've spent the last few years focusing on my music career and amazing things gave come out of it. I live in Austin, Texas (the live music capitol of the world) and play out almost every night. 

If y'all (I can say that now since I live in Texas) want to hear a tune I wrote/played on for the band WAKING FABLE, here's a link that'll take y'all to it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECiI7RCab5A

Anyway, this is just me saying 'hey' after a long hiatus. I have a broken ring finger right now so I'll keep this short, but it's good to be back.

 I look forward to tackling the Y's with you once again