Literature the tie that binds - A guest post by Skid from skidsgig.weebly.com

Dear All,

Little more than 2 weeks after the success of my first guest blog by Marlon Hope (@hope_insight), I have found an absolute gem of a blogger for you all to enjoy. 

I introduced you all to Skid (@SkidsGig) from skidsgig.weebly.com in my last post. He is without doubt the leading light of post zombie apocalypse technology, and I'm delighted that he has written something for us all.

Enjoy!

David

***

Waking up to receive an invitation to be a guest blogger for David Brinson’s blog site was truly one of the most invigorating opportunities I have had in many a day.  I was, to say the least, ecstatic to prove positive my decision to become a professional blogger, and to also be recognized as the leading expert in “post-Zombie Apocalypse Technology applicability”.  Sure, I have many more months, perhaps years, to prove my competence as a professional blogger, but I think in a relatively short time I have validated that I am the leading expert in my field.  Perhaps the only expert in my field.  But, as experts go, it’s been an exhilarating ride to the top so far!


            My first act was to peruse David’s blog site at davidbrinson.blogspot.co.uk.  I have been reading his book for the past week, caught up in the action, suspense and dialogue.  I suspected I would find his postings equally as entertaining and I was not disappointed.  Imagine my exhilaration as I read through the opening paragraph to see that it would be about football!  One of my favorite discussions, this was going to be something I could sink my teeth into. 


            Okay.  Point of order.  Note that David’s blog site ends with “uk.”  And that his book is called “Dead South: The Zombie Apocalypse in London.”  And note that I write with an American accent.  Its safe to assume that UK doesn’t stand for University of Kansas.  All those facts put together add up to one undeniable fact.  It’s a different type of football.


            No worries, though.  I still read on.  And I was fascinated.  The concept of an entire country being behind a national team is foreign to me.  We Yanks do follow almost any and every sport (except cricket, can’t quite figure that one out)  and we will rally behind our teams in international competitions, but the concept of caring for them in the off season doesn’t resonate.  Shortly after any international sporting competition we return to the routine of our seasonal sports, cheering for our regional teams.  Marlon Hope penned a fantastic article, but to be honest my depth of understanding wasn’t enough to be conversant in the topic.  Obviously it will take the U.S. sometime to grasp English football.


            On to the next post!  The Changing Nature of Writing!  And I see quite quickly that Mr. Brinson is also a Lee Child fan!  Well, that makes sense, as Lee Child is a British Author, who has put together a great series of books with the hero Jack Reacher.  Instantly I bond with Mr. Brinson, understanding more about him because of the books he has read and the heroes that he has.  His love of reading good authors, and his effort to hone his own skill are kindred to my own.  As I continue to read, post after post, I am amazed by the parallels between my pursuits and Davids. 


            But I keep coming back to his post on The Changing Nature of Writing.  Something intrigues me.  My favorite author?  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Edgar Allen Poe.  Edgar Rice Burroughs.  (Two Edgars?  What are the odds.)  Lee Child.  John D. MacDonald (Travis McGee author) and a few others.  Some who will take the effort will begin to see that I favor the classics, with Lee Child being probably the most recent.  But, what makes them favorites?


            Very quickly I determined that David Brinson was my type of author.  The story picked up speed quickly, and there were several layers of characters and plot lines.  For me, being a Sherlock Holmes fan, it was quite enjoyable to find myself back in London, putting the places back in my imagination and watching the action unfold.  Each and every one of my favorite authors has created a hero on a quest to right a wrong or protect the innocent.


            But there is more.  The story of the author has always come into play.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s rumored practical joke of sending a note to five friends that simply stated, “We are discovered.  Flee now!” and the rumored result that one of his friends did indeed disappear forever, make anything and everything he wrote worth reading.  Before Sir Arthur was “The Father of the Detective Novel” Edgar Allen Poe.  Where did Mr. Poe go to school?  London.


            Edgar Rice Burroughs and John D. MacDonald wrote of amazing heroes.  Mr. Burroughs crafted Tarzan and John Carter.  He created Tarzan!  Lord Greystoke, a British Lord!  Amazing how so many of my literary heroes have had ties to London.


            John D. MacDonald is that exception.  But he followed in their literary footsteps, creating the hero Travis McGee, a “knight errant” who had his cerebral sidekick Meyer as they solved mysteries.  The similarities of him and Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson is not lost on me.


            These authors created heroes, they created environments, they created situations and they created solutions.  They blazed a path of literature that we must not lose.  History shows that these authors struggled to find their way.  John D. MacDonald typed 14 hours a day, losing twenty pounds as he began his career.  Edgar Rice Burroughs was a pencil sharpener wholesaler. A pencil sharpener wholesaler!  I don’t even know what that is!


            So David Brinson has accepted the challenge.  He has created a hero.  He has created an environment.  He has created the situations and their solutions.  But equally important to me his post has demonstrated he has a passion for the art, and I applaud that.


            My path is slightly different.  I will create for you, over time, an environment where when you purchase any bit of technology, you will think to yourself, “I wonder if this will be useful after the Zombie apocalypse.”  You might smile.  You might not buy it.  You might by two of some gadgets.  But it will be worth the laugh. 


            Maybe it will take us years to get together to watch football.  But, the tie that binds is our literature.  And apparently Zombies.  Apparently we have exactly the same views on Zombies. 

“We are discovered!  Flee now!”


Enjoy more from Skid at skidsgig.weebly.com and follow him on twitter @SkidsGig

The changing nature of writing...

Dear Everyone,

I love to read as much as I love to write and I have found that reading really fuels my writing. I love reading the works of Lee Child, Michael Connelly and John Grisham. Love them or hate them, the three of them are renowned for writing page turners. I love the way they let you inside the minds of the characters. They are experts at bringing the locations to life. I get enthralled by the action, tension and drama that they create and I enjoy the fast paced nature of their stories.

Now lots of the experts and commentators say that you write what you read and I hope that's true. I like to think that my book, Dead South, despite being a very different genre to the above best selling authors works, has those same characteristic. I wrote it to be fast paced and action packed and it's gratifying to see that lots of the book's readers think that it is. (Check out Dead South's reviews here.)

So, onto the changing nature of writing...

I just finished reading the 1899 novel Heart of Darkness by Anglo-Polish author Joseph Conrad. Not my usual fare, but I was really hoping to enjoy it, after all, in 1998 it was ranked by Modern Library as the 67th best novel (in English) of the 20th Century... However, I found it really hard going. Now, I don't think that it is because I'm a philistine, although that can't quite be refuted just yet! Or that the book wasn't any good. On the contrary, I think that it is simply because I am a child of my time.

The 21st Century reader and author are totally different beasts to their 19th and 20th Century counterparts. In fact, today's novel would be markedly different to something written 20 years ago. In short, the novel has evolved and it will continue to do so.

Conrad used intensely descriptive imagery, with very little conversation between characters - Heart of Darkness is essentially a story about a man telling a story. The reader is told everything by this man in sometimes excruciating detail, he gives you exact details of people and places, and it leaves little to no room to engage your own imagination. I found myself becoming passive in the reading process and as such I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped that I would. However, please don't let that diminish the truths of the book and what it was trying to communicate (The 1890s Ivory Trade is a both a harrowing and brutal subject). And anyway, it could be argued that it is unfair for a 21st Century reader to pass judgement on a 20th Century book.

However, the reality is that if written today, Heart of Darkness, would be a much different book. The themes would still be the same, but they would have been communicated in an entirely different way.

The best modern day authors work hard to keep the reader engaged throughout the story. They do not want you switching off or zoning out. They engage you by layering places and characters throughout a scene rather than in telling you everything about them in one hit. They allow you to use your own imagination and really become involved within the narrative.

If you have ever found yourself giving up on a book half way through, I would bet it was because you had become passive whilst reading it. You were probably spoon-fed everything and you had no way to engage with it and use your own imagination. We live in a time where TV and Film already do all of the work for us when we put the box on, so it is a real pleasure to be able read and conjure up our own images via a compelling novel.

Now as much as I love Child, Connelly and Grisham, I am not trying to say that they are the greatest authors ever. I'm not even saying that they are the greatest authors of our time. What I am saying is that they hook you with their stories and keep you coming back for more. Why else would they each have sold millions of books?

And if I am able to replicate what they do, whilst putting my own twist on it, then I will be a very happy man indeed.

Until next time.

David