Ryne Douglas Pearson's Blog, page 25

You know what I mean. Those people, be they fellow writers, vocal editors, snobbish agents, who spew the elitist canard that what you write must be (lift your nose a bit and say it in an airy, erudite tone) important.

Bull^&*%.

Every single thing that is written that entertains another person is important, if only to the writer and that person. And every self-important purveyor of supposed knowledge as to what is important serves only their own desire to be heralded as an arbiter of said...

First up today is a non-fiction recommendation, Landscape Turned Red, by Stephen W. Sears, an account of the battle at Antietam Creek, one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War.

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The fiction recommendation for today is Ordinary People, by Judith Guest, the wrenching story of a family on the verge of imploding after tragedy rips the fabric of their existence.

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Today's movie recommendation you should have already seen. If you have not, bad person. Bad person. Go see Take The Money And Run, Wood...

I had someone comment to me the other day that they were reading my newest novel, The Donzerly Light, and they were a bit shocked when they came to the first F-bomb. Point here being that, in my everyday interaction with people, I'm not a potty mouth.

But I'm not the same me when writing. And you are not you. We step out of the skin and the norms and the bland idiosyncrasies that define us to those who flit about us in 'the world', and we inhabit the characters and places of 'the other world' ...

Long ago, after my first novel, Cloudburst, was published, I received a thickish envelope through my publisher. Inside was another envelope addressed to me in care of them.

FAN MAIL! I have fans! I was overjoyed.

Full stop with that cartoon tire screeching sound. Wait...what is the return address? A prison in Florida? I quickly did some math--Ted Bundy had already been executed. Not him. Whew.

So, I open up the envelope and inside what do I find? The dust jacket to Cloudburst, neatly folded...

Very honest interview with Stephen King that gets it right--it's not about the delivery method, it's about the story.

 

CNN Interview With Stephen King

That's what an agent long ago thought. In her rejection of my very first novel manuscript, this agent said in her letter: 'I simply can't sell a thriller by a female author.'

It was that pesky first name of mine again. The unique spelling (unless you're Ryne Sandberg) which could be mispronounced as something feminine. Rene? Rhonda? I'm not sure.

Thus is the death of the author 'Ryne Pearson' and the birth of 'Ryne Douglas Pearson', with that uber masculine middle name. Douglas. Just drips...

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Some obscure facts about me:

I spent an entire summer during high school playing at least five games of Scrabble a day with a friend.

I've backpacked in Colorado.

I've been rear ended in Colorado.

I've been to Alaska three times.

My favorite camping food is chorizo and egg.

I prefer cold pizza to hot.

I have been chased by pit bulls while riding a bike.

My Jersey Shore name would be 'The Clarification'.

My favorite band is Fleetwood Mac.

I'm an awesome singer in Rock Band.

I've never been to Chicago, which is kind of odd considering I've set two novels there. Immersing myself in the city to effectively fake it consisted of reading a lot of travel guides and talking to people who had actually spent some time there. It worked well enough, I suppose, considering I had people comment on details I got so right they were certain I'd spent a great deal of time in the Windy City.

Then one person asked me about a particular scene in a book, and inquired how I knew that t...

I'm talking about that little twinge in your gut as you write that, hey, something just happened back there. What was that? Did something change without my brain giving the requisite three second notice?

You know. Something began. A turn of phrase by a character or a hint at something in description cracked open some door you didn't even know was there. Seriously, it could be a sign of literary brilliance, so turn around and go see what you did. Can that moment be exploited now? Later? Is it a...