vodkafan Posted September 17, 2011 Author Share Posted September 17, 2011 Is this a re-read, or first-time read? This is my second favorite King book, and I wish I could re-capture the excitement of reading it for the first time. Hi bobblybear, It is a first-time read for me, not a huge King fanboy but am enjoying the slow build up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted September 17, 2011 Author Share Posted September 17, 2011 (edited) Review: The Drought by Steve Scaffardi Have to say I am not a fan of lad-lit. This book was on a par with the last one in the genre I read (William Rudd's First Year of Marriage ) with almost identical sense of humour and similar rather unlikely, contrived situations. Writers of lad-lit, it seems to me, view the events of the story as if it is a film they are seeing in their head; if directed well this could indeed make a basis for a funny film. Or a stinker. Mr Scaffardi sits on a dangerous knife edge here; the subject matter is about a guys search for sex, which is not going to be to every readers taste. It comes across a sort of updated Confessions of a Window Cleaner type story. One failing in my opinion of the first half of the book is that because we already know the protagonist is on a drought, we already know that every attempt is going to end in failure, and the episodes become a bit repetitious. I got to the half way mark and was thinking oh dear, there is a lot of book to go yet. However, his hero is not a bad sort and the book picks up dramatically in the second half when a new element is introduced. The story (and the hero) really redeem themselves in the second half, the ending is well crafted and made me laugh. I have to admit there were several Moments Of Male Truth in the book which men will recognise: for instance the true horror of shopping; and a certain event that happens once a year on a Monday. It is priced very reasonably for the kindle at £1.14 Edited September 17, 2011 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 1, 2011 Author Share Posted October 1, 2011 I finished reading It by Steven King yesterday. I thought it was OK. Redaing Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard but I might get sidetracked by some SciFi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 1, 2011 Author Share Posted October 1, 2011 Just been shopping in the kindle store....I had some money put aside for the launch of the Gollancz SF Gateway. A lot of the books I wanted are not there yet....but I managed to find some old favourites and took a chance on a couple I didn't know. I have bought: The Primitive EC Tubb The Jester At Scar EC Tubb The Cloud Walker Edmund Cooper The Seedling Stars James Blish Meeting At Infinity John Brunner The Margarets Sheri S. Tepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Happy reading vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 1, 2011 Author Share Posted October 1, 2011 Happy reading vodkafan Thanks Paula I been meaning to ask what does "PCOS " mean in your avatar (woman of PCOS)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Thanks Paula I been meaning to ask what does "PCOS " mean in your avatar (woman of PCOS)? Hi Vodkafan, how are you? it means Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycystic_ovary_syndrome and September was PCOS month, thanks for asking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 2, 2011 Author Share Posted October 2, 2011 Hi Vodkafan, how are you? it means Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycystic_ovary_syndrome and September was PCOS month, thanks for asking I looked at the link- it seems like a horrible set of symptoms to have to live with Paula hope you don't suffer too bad with it. Sounds like the doctors can't agree how to treat it either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 (edited) I looked at the link- it seems like a horrible set of symptoms to have to live with Paula hope you don't suffer too bad with it. Sounds like the doctors can't agree how to treat it either. Thanks VF, not to go into too much detail but I get most of the symptoms but I've learned to live with them and yeah you are totally right, I have three doctors and none of them can agree. but in all seriousness, there is a lot of discussion on how to treat it and GPs certainly seem more knowledgeable about it, which is a good sign. Edited October 2, 2011 by Weave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 2, 2011 Author Share Posted October 2, 2011 Thanks VF, not to go into too much detail but I get most of the symptoms but I've learned to live with them and yeah you are totally right, I have three doctors and none of them can agree. but in all seriousness, there is a lot of discussion on how to treat it and GPs certainly seem more knowledgeable about it, which is a good sign. sigh wouldn't it be great if National PCOS week meant that you only had it for that one week every year then you were OK all the other weeks ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 I just finished Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard I will review it later. Got to read some Sci Fi next or I will burst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 6, 2011 Author Share Posted October 6, 2011 Review: Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard I had been curious about this one for some time before I read it. It is a quick pleasant read. I would class this as a romance and more appealing to women readers than men, but that's just my opinion, please feel free to argue with me! The writing was good. When the writing is good you don't always "notice" it when you are reading, but I took notice because Linda is one the few writers who takes time to come on here and talk to us. I liked the plot construction, it was not any more complicated than it need to be to tell the story. The characterisation I also liked; I felt that if I wanted to I could have looked at a background character like Donald or Megan or even little Kenny and there would be a story there too, if the author had wanted to tell it. The bit I didn't get was why the main male character was interested in the heroine (for want of a better word) in the first place. The more she revealed of herself, and the more she messed him about, I kept thinking "why?" what's the appeal? Run away NOW. One other thing, which is not intended to be a criticism, it is just something I have noted in some other books by women authors, is the dialogue; specifically the way a man talks. Calum talks as if the conversation is a living thing, like a ball in a co-operative game of throw and catch, and his eye is on the ball the whole time. I am sure this is because this is how women wish that we did talk with them in real life. I mean, I wish I did have that ability all the time. Unfortunately, not many of us do. I am also aware of the reverse in books written by men. I have given some of my favourite books to my wife to read and after a few pages she has handed them back saying that she could not get into them "because the men all talk like robots." Anyway, I enjoyed this OK and I would read another book by this author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladymacbeth Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 I totally agree with your comments on male and female dialogue. I hadn't thought about it before but it's so true. In real life, when I met a guy I could have a good conversation with, I married him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveScaffardi Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Review: The Drought by Steve Scaffardi Have to say I am not a fan of lad-lit. This book was on a par with the last one in the genre I read (William Rudd's First Year of Marriage ) with almost identical sense of humour and similar rather unlikely, contrived situations. Writers of lad-lit, it seems to me, view the events of the story as if it is a film they are seeing in their head; if directed well this could indeed make a basis for a funny film. Or a stinker. Mr Scaffardi sits on a dangerous knife edge here; the subject matter is about a guys search for sex, which is not going to be to every readers taste. It comes across a sort of updated Confessions of a Window Cleaner type story. One failing in my opinion of the first half of the book is that because we already know the protagonist is on a drought, we already know that every attempt is going to end in failure, and the episodes become a bit repetitious. I got to the half way mark and was thinking oh dear, there is a lot of book to go yet. However, his hero is not a bad sort and the book picks up dramatically in the second half when a new element is introduced. The story (and the hero) really redeem themselves in the second half, the ending is well crafted and made me laugh. I have to admit there were several Moments Of Male Truth in the book which men will recognise: for instance the true horror of shopping; and a certain event that happens once a year on a Monday. It is priced very reasonably for the kindle at £1.14 Hey, thanks for the review! Really appreciate you taking the time to read the book and for posting your comments on Amazon too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Great review VF, and like LadyM I totally agree with what you say about the dialogue between men and women. But then I've always found that men are that little bit more interested (conversationally speaking) when the relationship is new .. just don't ask them to sustain it. I do have great conversations with hubby but, for the most part, with the little mundane everyday things, he only answers in monosyllables and often he's too distracted to reply. Also (this is getting to be a long list of complaints now ) he sometimes starts speaking about something entirely different in the middle of one of my sentences .. like he hasn't heard a word. Now, I know I yak on .. I'm doing it now .. but really, you wouldn't think he'd be brave enough! He tried to get me to read a Lee Child's book once, and I know he's hugely popular but I couldn't take it seriously, it was so full of testosterone and stuff like 'there was ten of them and one of me .. you had to feel sorry for them'. I admit I didn't get far with it, it seemed like the sort of fiction Ross Kemp might write. Linda's book has had some good reviews on here, I must get around to reading it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 The Drought by Steve Scaffardi I have to admit there were several Moments Of Male Truth in the book which men will recognise: for instance the true horror of shopping; and a certain event that happens once a year on a Monday. OK VF, what is the 'certain event'? I am baffled through long pondering of this...certain event? Only a Monday? Once a year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 I'm baffled too VF - spill pls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Gillard Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 (edited) Thanks, Vodkafan, for the interesting and thoughtful review of EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY. It's a real treat and a novelty to have a review written by a man. I'll respond to a couple of the points you raise.... Review: Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard The bit I didn't get was why the main male character was interested in the heroine (for want of a better word) in the first place. The more she revealed of herself, and the more she messed him about, I kept thinking "why?" what's the appeal? Run away NOW. One other thing, which is not intended to be a criticism, it is just something I have noted in some other books by women authors, is the dialogue; specifically the way a man talks. Calum talks as if the conversation is a living thing, like a ball in a co-operative game of throw and catch, and his eye is on the ball the whole time. I am sure this is because this is how women wish that we did talk with them in real life. I mean, I wish I did have that ability all the time. Unfortunately, not many of us do. Calum and Rose experience an immediate and powerful sexual attraction - that's one reason why things take off for them and that soon becomes love. The other reason is, they're both artists of different kinds and so they find they have an immediate rapport when they get talking about their work. I think as a teacher of some rough kids in Glasgow, Calum wouldn't have been particularly fazed by Rose's mental illness. He's also an experienced climber and there are some strange people in the climbing fraternity! Calum has also experienced mental fragility himself (he is a functional alcoholic) and so Rose doesn't scare him off. On the contrary, I think he wants to look after her. Your point about dialogue is very interesting. Calum's a teacher and teachers are gabby! (I used to be a teacher, so I can say that.) There are plenty of Scots who talk like Calum and since I've lived in Scotland (since 2000) I've noticed there's a certain type of Highland guy who's chatty and witty in quite a self-consciously entertaining way. (This is quite hard to describe but I think it comes from the fact that Scots seem to love language and have more fun with it than the English do.) So I think Calum convinces as a Highlander (well, that's what I've been told by Highlanders & islanders!) but I don't expect him to be a type that southerners would recognise. I've always wondered if my heroes convince as men... I've always feared they don't, that they're just female fantasies. But in fact my books have had a few reviews over the years written by men and the guys said they did find the heroes convincing and appealing because they're vulnerable and flawed, not fantasy alpha males. But if a reviewer were to say my heroes were just female minds inside attractive male bodies, I'd be prepared to say "guilty as charged", because I think for many female readers, the ideal fictional hero isn't just a guy you think you could fall in love with, he's someone you want to talk to and who will understand and accept you, and those are qualities that women often look for in their female friends. I think my books are about friendships between men and women, just as much as they are about love and sexual attraction. Edited October 8, 2011 by Linda Gillard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 8, 2011 Author Share Posted October 8, 2011 (edited) Hi Linda sorry I don't know how to do the multiquote thing: >Calum and Rose experience an immediate and powerful sexual attraction - that's one reason why things take off for them and that soon becomes love. The other reason is, they're both artists of different kinds and so they find they have an immediate rapport when they get talking about their work. I think as a teacher of some rough kids in Glasgow, Calum wouldn't have been particularly fazed by Rose's mental illness. He's also an experienced climber and there are some strange people in the climbing fraternity! Calum has also experienced mental fragility himself (he is a functional alcoholic) and so Rose doesn't scare him off. On the contrary, I think he wants to look after her.< Yes I think perhaps I was being a little mean in my review about Rose. The attraction between them did make sense. I enjoyed the descriptions of Rose's artistic processes and could identify. Especially when she placed the collected stones and was trying to see relationships of shapes, colours and patterns but something wasn't quite right and she had to leave it and let it stew. It is exactly like that! Another bit I keep remembering was when Rose could feel when she was inside the stone circle. I like very much that this is not explained-it just is. The moment of sudden artistic rapport when they see the possibilities of collaborating and everything else is pushed in the background is authentic. Calum and Rose are lucky because artistic temperaments can repel as well as attract! I will take your word about there being plenty of Scotsmen like Calum as I only know (or knew) one scotsman and he was an actor and he could certainly talk and enjoyed language . >I've always wondered if my heroes convince as men... I've always feared they don't, that they're just female fantasies. But in fact my books have had a few reviews over the years written by men and the guys said they did find the heroes convincing and appealing because they're vulnerable and flawed, not fantasy alpha males.< To me there was quite a bit of the fantasy character to Calum, (handsome, single, good with kids, good in bed, understanding, artistic, rugged, dependable, capable but sensitive...the b .....d ) (he is after all your character, so that's fine)...He convinced me in the way that he did at times get a little irritated with Rose, he did not have endless patience..men can be all those things but we really hate when we get conflicting signals or if we feel messed around. >I think my books are about friendships between men and women, just as much as they are about love and sexual attraction.< A question springs to mind Linda about your process of concocting the story. Obviously every story in every writer starts off in the beginning as a sort of fantasy...I wondered if once you thought of the characters of Rose and Calum you played all their meetings and encounters through your head many times, trying them out to see if they work and seem plausible? Do you often discard or change bits before you start writing? Or does it develop on the page? Thanks for replying. Edited October 9, 2011 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Gillard Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 (Ooh, I'm enjoying this dialogue about the writing process. You really shouldn't indulge me. I shall go on for too long and in too much detail...) EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY was totally fantasy to begin with. I was a cracked-up broken down teacher, recuperating after a mental breakdown and a surprise diagnosis of mild bi-polar affective disorder (aka manic depression.) I was looking for an upside to mental illness and I thought it might have some positive connection with artistic temperament/creativity. The more I found out about my own condition, the more this seemed to be true. I'd had to give up teaching, I had no other way of earning a living, I was 47 and on the scrap-heap (or so I thought), so to occupy myself I started writing a novel about an "alternative" life in a place I loved, rather than the boring Norfolk suburb I was actually living in. The novel was pure self-indulgence, so naturally the hero was gorgeous! (Calum is my fantasy man and to judge from the fan mail he gets, he's many women's fantasy man.) I wrote about all my issues - creativity, teaching, being 47, being a mother, madness & depression... The novel was just a depository for all my thoughts on these subjects, hung on a frame of interior monologues and dialogues. It was therapeutic writing to a large extent and I had no thought of trying to get it published. It wasn't until I joined a writers' e-group and they started to nag me about approaching an agent that I thought I might have produced something that spoke to someone other than me. As for constructing the novel, I didn't plan anything at all. When I started, I didn't even know whether Megan existed. I thought she might be an imaginary child, the baby Rose had never had or who'd died. I knew nothing much about Calum's past, certainly nothing about what had driven him to drink. I didn't know what had driven Megan and Rose apart, just that they didn't get on. Writing the book was an excavation, digging down through layers of time and the characters' memories. That's why I eventually thought EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY was a good title. (My working title had been SCRAPBOOK because that's how I wrote the book - in short snapshot scenes, randomly, covering a wide expanse of time.) So, no, I didn't play things through in my head before writing. My characters sort of talk in my head as I write. It's as if they tell me what to write (and they say some pretty surprising things sometimes - not at all what I had in mind.) Then when I have a draft, I edit and edit until I'm completely happy with it. (I recently e-published EMO GEO and I was changing a few tiny things for that, so I now think of the e-book as the "director's cut". ) I hardly ever discard stuff and an awful lot of what you see on the page in my books is first draft - things that I just scribbled down in a trance-like state and never changed much. Sometimes I feel as if the stories already exist, as if they are "out there" and I just channel them on to the page. Writing my books is for me as much a process of revelation as reading them is for the reader! Hope that was of interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 9, 2011 Author Share Posted October 9, 2011 (edited) That was a fantastic insight Linda thanks for sharing that! It was much more than I expected. I never realised there was so much of yourself in the book. Can I ask about the physical discipline of writing, do you have set hours of work? Also do you write on a laptop or do you hand write on refill pads with a favourite pen? (I read Steven King does the latter) Do you stress about your word count? "Trance like state" and being a "channel"....interesting. Edited October 9, 2011 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Gillard Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 EMO GEO is autobiographical only up to a point. Rose's condition was very serious, mine isn't. I was never hospitalised, but a friend was and she was much iller than me so I was able to combine my own experience, hers and a lot of research to write Rose. A lot of me went into Calum, actually. He was my valediction to teaching and his creative writing class is my class. I wanted him to represent all that was good about teachers & teaching. Getting all that down in a book is one of the ways I was able to let go of what I regarded as my vocation. I don't have set hours for work but I work most days, including weekends. I put in a lot of time promoting my books, especially the e-books as I've indie-published those on KIndle without the back-up of a publisher. (Not that either of my publishers ever did much to promote me and the 2nd one eventually dropped me.) No one will know about the e-books unless I spread the word, so some of my writing will be guest blogs (I do a lot of those) or joining in on book forums. (UNTYING THE KNOT is being discussed on a Diana Gabaldon discussion forum at the moment. They've done most of my books now as a Book of the Month.) I respond to all reviews of my books that I come across on blogs and forums. I respond - often at length - to all fan mail. (People contact me via my website.) And that's before I start writing fiction. It takes a lot of time but my readers are a loyal and enthusiastic bunch and many have become friends, so I like to respond. Feedback from readers, being able to chat about the stories & characters is undoubtedly the best thing about being published. Some reviews of my books have just reduced me to tears, they're so wonderful. I can tell that the reader has really "got" the book. Stephen KIng says writing is telepathy and when you get reviews like that, it certainly feels like some sort of telepathy. As for my writing process... When a book is going well I will write every day and probably produce a polished chapter in a week. I can draft for only a couple of hours a day but I can edit for many more. I'm a workaholic, I love what I do, I've published 5 novels since 2005 and am just about to complete another. I work very hard, write pretty fast and don't have much of a life! It's not unknown for me to put in a 12-hour stint at the PC with breaks for meals and checking Facebook. I draft almost always by hand on lined A4 in pencil or biro. (I only use one particular kind of pencil and biro. I'm not fussy about the A4. ) I'm a slow 2-finger typist, so the copy-typing is laborious, but that's the beginning of the editing process. I can write straight on to a keyboard but I found I write better (and more bravely) if I write by hand. I also like the physical process. I like the scratching sound of the words as they cover the paper - and covering the paper is what I aim to do. I try not to think about the quality of what I write while I write. I just "spread the ink" and think about quality when I start the editorial process. Drafting is just about getting my ideas down and telling the story (or listening to my characters' dictation!) I don't write fiction every day, but if someone was starting out and wanted my advice, I'd say try to write every day. You need to develop a writing habit. You can't wait for inspiration to strike before you start writing and you have to get used to writing rubbish - or what you fear might be rubbish. I advise people to just "spread the ink". The prolific author Nora Roberts said, "I can fix a bad page. I can't fix a blank page." I long ago reconciled myself to the fact that a lot of trees have to be sacrificed and a lot of waste paper bins filled in order to produce a novel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 ( EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY was totally fantasy to begin with. I was a cracked-up broken down teacher, recuperating after a mental breakdown and a surprise diagnosis of mild bi-polar affective disorder (aka manic depression.) I was looking for an upside to mental illness and I thought it might have some positive connection with artistic temperament/creativity. The more I found out about my own condition, the more this seemed to be true. Hope you don't mind me popping this in here VF and Linda, but read a very interesting book which supports your theory, in fact he states that creative people frequently have a crisis in making meaning of the world and their creativity leading to depression.The Van Gogh Blues by Eric Maisel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 Hope you don't mind me popping this in here VF and Linda, but read a very interesting book which supports your theory, in fact he states that creative people frequently have a crisis in making meaning of the world and their creativity leading to depression.The Van Gogh Blues by Eric Maisel Hi poppy no I don't mind a bit that book sounds interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Gillard Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Hope you don't mind me popping this in here VF and Linda Not at all, Poppy! I feel as if I've hijacked VF's thread anyway. Thanks for the book title. I shall definitely check that out. TOUCHED WITH FIRE by Kay Redfield Jamieson also deals with this subject, but it's a bit of an academic read. A good one to dip into if you're interested in why so many poets, composers, authors were bipolar and suffered with suicidal depression. Her memoir, AN UNQUIET MIND (about her own bipolar and the problems of "coming out" as bipolar when she herself was a practising psychiatrist) is not at all academic, but really readable and makes a good companion read with EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY. That book played a large part in helping me come to terms with my own condition. In an attempt to be upbeat about the issue, I have a Mental Health section on my website which includes, Famous Manic Depressives - A Celebration, a long list of famous people (mostly creatives) who have made a positive contribution to the world despite the fact that they are/were (or were thought to be) bipolar. Go to http://www.lindagillard.co.uk/mental-health.php and scroll down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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