5 posts tagged “carol goodman”

Show us your favorite writer.

Christopher Pike

I always have to list this man first, Christopher Pike. This picture isn't actually of the author Christopher Pike, whose real name is Kevin McFadden, however I cannot find a picture of Christopher Pike/Kevin McFadden on the internet so I'm going to just do the best I can. I have to list this man first because even though I no longer read his stuff as often as I used to - for a myriad of reasons - he is the author that made me a reader and made me want to become a writer. His books influenced my state of mind and my creativity. He was a teacher and a mentor and so much more by doing nothing more than entertaining me.

He is my favorite writer.

DianaGabaldon

Second I'm listing Diana Gabaldon because her series was the first series that sparked my fascination with history, Scottish heritage, plant life - and so much more. Her writing is so full, complete & well rounded that I never felt hungry for more information in regards to her stories. Though I haven't finished her most recent book - "A Breath of Snow & Ashes" - I still call myself a great admirer & fan. She inspires me to keep working towards my writing because one day I'll run across those characters and that one story that will change my life and hopefully the lives of others that read it. I don't have to have a million ideas in order to become a writer or even a published author - I just have to have that one. It'll hit me one day, I know it.

Sylvia

Third, we have Sylvia Plath. I picked up her slim "The Bell Jar" while working as a bookseller at Barnes & Noble. I thought, "Its small - even if I don't like it I can finish it." I liked it though, I loved it. I remember lying in bed, my heart pounding and my mind racing as I began to read this short book which spoke to me more than a dictionary-sized novel ever could. There was a lyrical flow to her sentences - so much so I wanted to read the words out loud. Her ideas rang so clear to me and her character's moments of insanity mixed with rational thought was so kin to my life at the time. As I've probably said before - every time I read this book I get a different perspective and different experience from it. It changes with me. I sometimes hate knowing that a person so emotionally & mentally shaken has so much impact on my life and mind - but it's true. I read her works and my mind and body stills.

Carol Goodman

Fourth, I list Carol Goodman. Her work has really inspired me as well. But in a different way. Yes, her work makes me want to write but it more makes me want to learn. She the type of author who's main character is usually well educated in a creative field and her plots weave such great interest in so many genres. After reading "The Drowning Tree" I wanted to submerse myself in Greek mythology. It was the same with most of her other books. I love that when I read her books I'm sure to learn something and in such an easy, thriving way. Sometimes authors are technically correct to a bleeding heart - and I get bored and usually close the book. I'm looking for a story - not an autopsy report.

Audrey Niffenegger

I list Audrey Niffenegger last because she is a fantastic, inspiring author - yet I've only read her book "The Time Traveler's Wife" and I don't know how well one can gauge an author on one book. I know she has released a few illustrated novels, but I haven't seen them so I can't say. The single book I have read, however, puts her on my list because it isn't often that a single-book-author can stay with me as long as she has. I hope that she does write again, I hope that I enjoy it and I hope that I can place her on my list for awhile :) Her writing style if fluid and captivating and her dialogue is strong and yet not over-bearing. I hate speed reading a book - concentrating on the dialogue or vice versa. I read her book slow and steady and I remember not wanting to put it down. Very rare these days, very rare.

PSST! All you neighbors out there! If you're reading this and can suggest books based on my favorite authors - SUGGEST! I'm so lacking proper reading material as of late :( I picked up a book by Kathy Reichs - but I'm not enjoying it as much as everyone ravingly said I would...

Show us what the weekend has in store for you.

Sleep

Book: What book would you like to see made into a movie? 
Submitted by Felipe Anuel.

The Time Traveler's Wife

Audrey Niffenegger

Well, I am always afraid of movies made from books because novelists & movie production companies have different agendas. The movie I'm waiting for that is based on a book is the Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I hear that Rachel McAdams is going to be starring it in and I think she'd be perfect for the role of Clare, so far so good. I'm worried that they're going to cut the book down a lot though - because it's a very long book - time wise. It goes back and forth between a good forty years, sometimes more than once. I'm also worried that they're going to be focusing on too much of one theme of the book - can't really speculate which one - and that will cause them to loose sight of some of the other themes. Either way, I'm still going to go see it. It's very rare that I don't see movies made from books I've read. The rarity of it is that I enjoy it and recommend it to others who have read the book.

The Drowning Tree: A Novel

Carol Goodman

The other book I'd like to see into a movie - and I think it would be enjoyable and simple - would be The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman. The movie would not be difficult to film because it doesn't involve any supernatural events and the imagery could potentially be very gorgeous. It takes place in the States, it has few main characters, a good mystery and a lot of great myths and history intertwined. It even has a love story - so Hollywood could exploit the sex as they usually do. As you can tell, I've thought about this.

Other notable books would be She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb, any other book by Carol Goodman, and the Outlander series (or at least the first!) by Diana Gabaldon.

PS: Congrats to Felipe Anuel for having your Vox Hunt chosen! My neighbors rock :)

If you could write like one fiction author, who would it be?
Submitted by Marilyn.

Carol Goodman. Her first book, Lake of Dead Languages, really inspired me and got me reading again after a hump. Plus, whenever I read her books I learn something new - I'm encouraged to learn and research everything that I'm curious about when it comes to her books. The only thing I don't like about her books - is that the plots change - but the characters stay the same. It always is near the Hudson river, it's usually always about women revisiting their teen or college experience, and history is a big factor. But then I keep reading them - so they can't be bothering me that much :)

I feel strange today. I really couldn’t explain it…just strange. I feel like my mind is running over every thought at least a hundred times when one is certainly enough. Today is defiantly not a day for concentrating on a computer, trying to code out problems. Today is a day for lounging on one’s bed and sleeping until one can’t sleep anymore.

I think is has a lot to do with a book I’m reading called “The Lake of Dead Languages”. It’s about a woman who attends a private high school and after tragic events, graduates and then returns nearly twenty years later to be a teacher. At first it was very intriguing, the author has an interesting sense of description and yet at points her descriptions are consuming and make the reader feel like their drowning in the sense of being told but not seeing.

It was intriguing until she began to talk about what happened while she went to the private school twenty years back, and she began to explain about her two room mates. It became extremely unintriguing, almost frustrating to me because I felt like I had lived through an experience similar to the main character’s before. She speaks of having two room mates, and being close friends with one of them long before the third joined the team. Then she begins to tell this story of lies and betrayal and deceit and how her once close friend was now trading her company for both the other room mate and a boy. Despite the fact that it’s a pretty common scenario I still had problems reading it because I knew what it felt like to be the odd one out, to one day see something between your two friends that proved they were in fact leaving you out of much more than a homework study.

Perhaps the reason I feel so strange is because I simply feel sad. This book has dredged up many high school memories I had gladly stuffed away and soaked with gas with the intention of burning them to the ground, if only I could.

It’s also made me realize the kind of person I am.
>I don’t like being left out of the loop.
>I don’t like being lied to.
>I don’t like people who assume they know how I’d react and so therefore keep secrets from me.
>I don’t like hypocrites, people who say one thing and then do another.

I can’t imagine too many people who can refrain from doing all these things, and so I suppose I should just count my blessings with the couple of close friends I have and leave it at that. I mean I’m not perfect. I don’t think I leave my friends out of the loop, but then again the only friend I talk to on a pretty regular basis is Jane – and she usually starts the loop with me. I usually don’t lie – I like to see people’s reaction to the truth – plus if I lie once I’ll have to lie twice. I don’t assume anything, and I think that’s what kept me from committing most of the acts on my list. I mean a good example is that if I kept Jane out of the loop, I’d then have to lie about the loop, and then keep the loop a secret and then I’d be a hypocrite.

I should just go home and finish the book tonight – then I’d be rid of it and all the memories it resurfaced.