S'up Saturday

We'll be reviewing, Don Brown's, Hostage at the end of this post.


Okay, by popular demand, is "S'up Saturday". So The Weekend Wire is out. Give 'em what they want, I say.

We've got a lot that's up this weekend. First of all, I want to mention our line-up for next week. And a contest!

We've got a two part interview with Karen Wiesner. On Halloween we'll air Part I. This interview will be our fiction author questions.

Part II on Nov.1st, she gives us a lesson from her exciting new non-fiction book put out by Writer's Digest, First Draft in 30 Days.

We will randomly draw a name from those who log on and comment to win a autographed copy of First Draft in 30 Days.

Next week we also have a couple of authors you may have heard of:

Robin Lee Hatcher and Alton Gansky. The following week we've got Robert Liparulo (Comes a Horseman), Colleen Coble, and new author Ginny Smith.

We'll have a few guest bloggers coming up. Talented writers I've invited to write commentary on some of the issues writer's deal with. Great subjects I think you'll enjoy.

Other news: Alton Gansky launches a blog on his web-site: www.altongansky.com He calls it Blogtopia. Funny guy. He's not sure yet where he's going with it, but for now it's a place to interact, ask him questions, etc. Pretty cool.

Brandilyn Collins is running a contest you may be interested in:
You can win one of her novels by signing up for her newsletter. You get extra entries by referring others. You put the person who told you about it in the e-mail. Her books are awesome. Go to her web-site for further details. http://www.brandilyncollins.com/wol_arc_contest.html


This is from fellow Penwright, Rob McClain:

I'm not certain y'all have this link, but I came across it and have been tinkering with it. Seems to be quite a tool. [from Gina: you gotta check it out, pretty neat. Who needs a critique group when you have auto crit. Not really but it's interesting]

http://www.autocrit.com/Processtext.cfm?

And a short book review:

I just finished Don Brown's second novel, Hostage. I read it in a day and a half and it kept me from writing my own book. So, that says something.

If you liked his first novel, Treason, you'll like this one too.

I personally, loved Treason, put it on my list of favorites.

Don writes in short, action packed chapters. The premise of the book is:
"A kidnapping, an ultimatum...and suddenly, Zack faces an impossible choice. If he loses this case, the world could explode into war. If he wins, the woman he loves will die."

As a woman, I found myself wanting to skim some of the legal discussions and terrorist interaction and get back to Zack's pov. To delve into his soul and connect with him. The love story, though not able to be on stage much in this book, was still very satisfying and sweet. Made me cry, actually.

Don is an excellent writer and the thing I love best about his work is that it's not formula. I thought this book was going to be, but as is always the case with Don's writing, I guessed wrong. We talk about edgy not getting through the publishing boards in CBA, let me tell you, Don's stuff is edgy.

I'd love to see this hero have a wart in the future. Something a little quirky, but that may just be me. Though the character did suffer from a bit of depression for good reason, so that was a nice, realistic touch.

The book will surprise you. I can pretty much guarantee it. I'm annoyingly good at guessing how a story will work out. I can tell you the ending of the movie in the first five minutes, usually. I try to do that with Don's novels and neither in Treason, nor this one, was I right. And that's delightful!

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Don's, both as a writer and as a person. Don is one of the nicest men I've ever met. Smart, very, very, kind, funny and humble. He's also one of my mentors. He's encouraged me maybe more than anyone else. Though my mom runs a close second.

I highly recommend Hostage. Everyone I've given his work to read has said the same thing, "This guy's really good."

Yes, I say, I know. He really is. Check it out.