Fiction Features: Fiction to Film

By Kayla Curry

What are your favorite fiction books that have made the leap from paperback books to plastic DVD cases?

Some of mine are Fight Club, Atonement, The Shining, Carrie, The Help, and so many more. I didn't read the Harry Potter series, so I can't comment on that. I also haven't read all the Lord of the Rings books, but I did watch the movies. Don't hate me. And I'm a Twilight fan, so I'll throw that in too.

I know that books don't always translate to the big screen perfectly. Some things are better in the written world and some things, even if they seem important to the reader, have to be cut. In the movie world, time is essential. Movies longer than 2 hours are frowned upon and screen plays that are too thick don't get opened by any major movie producers.

Some upcoming adaptations I'm REALLY looking forward to are The Great Gatsby, The Mortal Instruments, and Much Ado About Nothing.

Books are also making their way on to the small screen with shows like Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Pretty Little Liars, and The Lying Game.

It seems that the story line strays even more from the books when adapted for the small screen, but that makes a little sense. They need to keep it fresh and unpredictable on TV.

If we were talking non-fiction, I'd say Girl, Interrupted is my favorite book to film adaptation. How about you guys? Any faves I left out? Fiction or otherwise?

Fiction Features: The New Adult Genre

There is an up and coming genre that has recently had some major advances in the world of publishing. That genre is New Adult.

New Adult books appeal to the mature YA audience and the Adult audience. The characters are usually college aged and are starting to expand their view of the world.

This genre is important to me because it represents the important transition stage from teen to adult. I tend to write in this genre, because that transition took place in my own life not too long ago. I also feel that college age students are beginning to read for fun more and more with the e-reader age dominating right now.

People say that there is no place for New Adult in the bookstores. I love book stores and I love real books, but we have to face the facts. And the facts are:

1. Genres like "New Adult" are here to stay. With bold indies breaking into the market, there is no one to tell them that they "can't" market their book as a New Adult book. Indies don't have rules like that.

2. Publishers are having to change their game due to the indie revolution. If only indies have books listed as New Adult and the genre keeps gaining popularity, publishers will need to make sure they have books listed in that genre too.

3. Once the publishers realize they need to make the change, the book stores will have to change too. All it takes is adding a new section between YA and Adult. That's it. Moving around some shelves isn't too bad. They may have to order a new sign or two, but really, it's not a huge change.

Check out this awesome site all about New Adult, NA Alley, to learn more!

Fiction Features: Anti-heroes

By Jacob Donley

Anti-heroes provide an alternative to the run of the mill heroes in fiction. While your typical hero grows and changes throughout the course of the story, anti-heroes are flawed, and the flaws are usually permanent within the story. Anti-heroes are usually defined by their flaws while the typical hero must overcome their flaws. The anti-hero provides a hero that can overcome obstacles in their story by means that would typically demean or lower the status of a regular hero. It allows the anti-hero to straddle the line that separates the light from the darkside. Riddick, in the movie Pitch Black, is a perfect example of an anti-hero. An imperfect hero is always more interesting, add the hero that has a far more loose moral compass, and you have a hero that possibly has no barriers to prevent him from succeeding.

Anti-heroes are always more fun.

Fiction Features: There's a Nook Gase in my Bookcase

By Laura A. Lords

It’s 2012; our world revolves around the computer, our phone, tablets, or
whatever other handheld electronic equipment we are using to stay plugged in. So in this
world of the quick connection and the immediate response, where do actual, hold-in-
your-hand books come in?

There is something about the feelings that sweep through you, fellow book
junkies will get it, the second you walk into a library. The smell of the paper and ink
around you, the feel of the book in your hands, flipping the page and transporting
yourself into a different time or place…it really is a magical moment. If I’ve lost you
already, you’re not one of the library fanatics I’m talking about, but keep reading. This
book junkie is about to get all technical on you.

It’s a whole new technologically advanced world, a world that I fail in repeatedly.
I’m 26 years old and within the last month got my first touch screen cell phone. I can
only imagine the look of disbelief on your faces right now. That’s right. In this holy
land of Angry Birds (something else I fail at), downloadable books, and Google search
engines available at any time with the tap of a finger…I am only now becoming involved.

Naturally, I did the only thing I could think of to help improve my complete lack
of technological skill. I bought a Nook. To be specific, I bought the Nook Simple Touch
(the cheapo of the bunch). I sat, not-so-patiently, waiting for two days until the little box
showed up in the mail. It was an amazing experience. Take it from someone who still
looks at her boyfriend’s smart phone and goes, “Wow, it can do that?”

Within three hours it was completely charged and I was online happily
downloading all of the free books I could (fair warning: most of the free books available
are smut. Good smut, bad smut, but 99% of it is all smut). Now I know I said I bought the
cheap version of the Nook, but that wasn’t the reason for the free books. I didn’t want to
spend a ton of money on books yet when I wasn’t sure how I was going to like the reader.

Begin testing phase. Let me explain my room to you. I have an entire wall that my
wonderful father covered in shelves for all my books. It’s full. In the same manner, under
my bed is also full, the space by the wall under the window is loaded, the Man’s Xbox
sits on a pile of books…I have a slight problem. Needless to say, I downloaded a lot to
the Nook in those first few moments as well, totaling out at about 20 free books (with
a smut-smut here and a smut-smut there, but also a bit of free poetry I found and H.G.
Well’s The Time Machine).

The nitty-gritty of it, it really is a great product. With the Nook Simple Touch
the screen isn’t lit, but it is very easy to read, and you can purchase a Nook light pretty
cheap. The words are sharp and clear and I never found myself getting that headache
that seeps into the back of my brain after too many hours reading off the computer. It’s
easy to change the text size and font, something that comes in handy to make reading
even easier for different users. Pages are turned with the simple push of a button or the
tap of the screen, whichever you prefer. I’m a button person myself, but hey, we already
discussed my touch screen experience, or lack-there-of.

I think the biggest bonus though is the battery life. I left it unplugged, on, and
read it every evening for ten days before I was down to 25% battery life. To say I was
wow-ed is the understatement of the century. I fully expected this thing to konk out on me after a few days.
I’m relatively positive now that the Energizer Bunny has been
squished flat and shoved inside this light-weight little machine. Poor thing.

Everything’s not all peachy with the Nook though. Checking out the prices, I
really didn’t find a lot of difference between the prices of buying the book out of the
store and getting it for my Nook. Barnes and Nobles does offer some great sales and it’s
entirely possible to find some awesome classics on the freebie list, or at least the cheap
list of books. However, I ordered George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire: Clash of
Kings and paid $8.99 for it. Not much a steal when I can get the paperback at Wal-Mart
for $7.99.

All that aside, there really is something about the feel of a book in your hands.
Imagine your dream house, a nice library with the fireplace going, and a bunch of empty
shelves because your library is a bunch of pixilated words floating around in cyber space.
That is so sad, I can’t even think about it anymore. So I’m old school, I want my books.
If you think the only chance you’ll ever pick up a good book is if you can get it through
an awesome product like this, then go for the Nook Simple Touch. It doesn’t have all the
fancy gadgets that the others include (like the tablet applications or the backlight), but it’s
a lot of bang for your buck. As for me…I’ll be the chick in the library with the paperback
in her hands, curled up in the corner of the couch.

Fiction Features: Book Releases: January 2013

By Jacob Donley and Kayla Curry

BLESSED BY A DEMON’S MARK by E.S. Moore ebook release January 1, 2013
Amazon touts this book to be released, 12/31/2012, but I’m putting it in for the first of January, 2013 to start off the new year. So, if you are anxiously awaiting the arrival of this third installment in the Kat Redding Series, head to amazon on the 31st of December to grab, E.S. Moore’s BLESSED BY A DEMON’S MARK.

A MEMORY OF LIGHT by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson, January 8, 2013
The much anticipated final novel in The Wheel of Time series is almost here. Brandon Sanderson will conclude the series that was created by Robert Jordan before his passing in 2007. The many plot lines in this fantasy epic including Rand, Mat, and Perrin will be wrapped up in A MEMORY OF LIGHT. Rand's story will come to a close, but how will it end, with joy or sadness?

ICE FORGED by Gail Z. Martin ebook release January 8, 2013
The overwhelming ratings on Goodreads shows that Gail Z. Martin writes novels that keep an audience coming back for more. While reviewers tend to take issue with some under developed characters and lacking dialogue, there appears to be no lack of support. I intend to buy some of these novels to get firsthand knowledge. Check out her upcoming book, ICE FORGED, releasing on 01/08/2013.

SEVEN KINGS by John R. Fultz ebook releases January 15, 2013
After reading multiple reviews on the book SEVEN PRINCES, indicating that the story was predictable, I also found just as many reviews and comments stating that they loved the series and eagerly await the sequel. As it so happens, the sequel, SEVEN KINGS, will be available 01/15/2013.

THE KEY INHERITANCE by Jen McConnel releases January 15, 2013
 Ten years ago, a trip to Scotland taught Lou more about herself than she could have imagined. Now, at 36, she’s returned to the rainy land to settle accounts. She struggles to pick up the broken pieces of her life, and nothing is what she remembers. Something dark waits in Scotland for Lou, and this time, she’s not sure who to turn to. Lou must settle her own accounts before she can take on the malicious spirit who is targeting her family, but is she already too late? THE KEY INHERITANCE is a companion novella to THE BURNING OF ISOBEL KEY, continuing the story a decade later.

Fiction Features: What is Steampunk?

By Jacob Donley

Five years ago, I’d never heard of Steampunk. As the sub-genre has increased dramatically over the years, I've heard more and more, and all of it has been positive.. While listening to The Dead Robots' Society  podcast, in episode 175 with author Philippa (Pip) Ballantine  as a guest, the DRS crew talk with Pip about "What is Steam punk?" I have the book STEAMPUNK , edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer. I haven't been able to wrangle the time to sit down and read it quite yet, but while doing a homework assignment for school, I took the time to open a new tab on my browser and steer to one of her sites, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences . One of the pages on the site leads you to one titled, What is Steampunk ? , which has all kinds of information for anyone who is interested in learning more about this genre of writing. I've always been interested in the ways that cultures are built, and it appears, according the website already mentioned, that a lot revolves around what if all of the devices that we enjoy today were powered by steam?  This includes airplanes, whatever they would look like if powered by some kind of steam engine, all the way down to a child's toy that in our society might run off batteries. That covers the steam portion in perhaps the broadest sense of the notion. To me, that is a great and interesting take on an amalgam of science fiction and fantasy. It's a steam powered world and the writer has control of the vent release mechanism. Brilliant!
 
But...where does the punk come into this equation? According to The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences  view on the "punk" in Steampunk, punk is going against the convention of that society’s norms. "That makes sense," you might say, but apparently, people have different views on this since the genres emerging popularity. It's becoming commercialized and much of the punk attitude that made it appealing in the first place is beginning to be washed out. In a sense, it is much the same as what happened to punk music as it became more popular. In the music scene, there is the "original punk" that arose in the late '70's and into the 80's and there is today's punk, which some bands were able to keep that edge of "going against THE MAN". However, a growing number of bands, many people believe, have gone commercial  and would be better labeled as pop-punk. Many original writers in the Steampunk movement have probably seen this and would like to label these writers into a different genre I like to call, Steampop. Of course that is my opinion as an outsider to the movement itself.
 
If you would like more information on Steampunk, I would recommend going to the "What is Steampunk?" link listed above.

Fiction Features: Wave Goodbye: Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs

By Jacob Donley

Creatures such as Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs have been popular characters and races since the dawn of the modern fantasy movement. When I mention these races, I mean Tolkien Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs. Tolkien began the era of these magnificent and sometimes terrible races. However, like any trope in any genre, they often enough become overused and begin to flood the genre. It is in times like these when they begin to fade and make their epic journey to Valinor or wherever they soon call home. It is becoming more and more visible that the races in the Tolkien tradition are making this journey.

Authors such as R.A. Salvatore have done an excellent job in reinventing the elves. The dark elves were a great addition to the fantasy genre, and characters like Drizz’t Do’Urden and Bruenor Battlehammer won’t soon be forgotten. However, other auhors like Patrick Rothfuss are using supernatural or other worldly creatures like those of the Fae that seem to be replacing the commonly seen races of the fantasy genre. Robert Jordan skipped the tradition altogether when he created Trollucs and (Ogere). Steven Erikson did the same thing, creating many new races with their own complicated politics, histories, and strange and powerful species-wide natures.

With all of these new races and elements in fantasy, it is no wonder that these more traditional fantasy races are no longer being used in such great numbers.  Their reign in the genre was a long and glorious one, but now it seems, that they must pass the torch on to their descendants, to the newcomers to the genre, much like those that came before them in the Pre-Tolkien era.

Fiction Features: Blogger Book Fair

By Kayla Curry

February 7-10, 2013 is the second semiannual Blogger Book Fair!

The BBF is open to ALL authors and books. Fiction or non-fiction, short story or full-length novel, and everything in-between! Genres of all sorts and even poetry are accepted. There are no limits to what can be featured at Blogger Book Fair.

Here’s what you will have to do to participate as a blog booth: Post at least two fair-related posts promoting books and authors of your choice (please collaborate with the author) and run at least one giveaway or discount.

If you are a blogger in need of an author to host, or an author in need of a blog, you can connect with participants on the Blogger Book Fair Goodreads Group . Cross promoting is encouraged, authors can be featured on as many blogs as they are able and bloggers can host as many authors as they are able.
Even if your work isn’t published yet, the BBF is a great way to let people know about your upcoming work.

Reviews, interviews, excerpts and any other type of post are perfect for Blogger Book Fair. You can come up with your own unique posts too. You can also come up with an event you’d like to host and email bloggerbookfair@gmail.com.

Each book entered is also entered in the Blogger Book Fair Reader’s Choice Awards, hosted by the Shut Up and Read blog run by Sheri. Books are entered in up to three categories to be voted on by readers. Campaigning is allowed. Categories must have at least 2 competitors.

To find out how to sign up or to learn more about the fair, please go to the Blogger Book Fair Blog . This blog will act as the directory for events, participating blogs, and other fun stuff.

The first BBF had over 40 participating authors/bloggers representing over 80 books in July 2012.