The Waistband of the Blog is Expanding

That's right, readers. The blog is getting a little bigger. Time to loosen the belt a little bit. I've been meaning to put up some book reviews on my blog, and now I'm finally getting around to doing just that. I'm putting them in their own little section, entitled "George's Backlogged Book Reviews", because, well, I have a huge backlog of books I need to read, and I have a huge backlog of reviews I should get to. Prior to this, I was putting up book reviews on Goodreads, and you can see any of my old book reviews and ratings if you go here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4381462-george-kulz. So I'll see you all over there periodically to discuss some of the books I'm currently reading.

"Boring" Character Background (Insert Sarcasm Here)

Recently I read some reviews of a book I'm reading. One of them described the book as Stephen King's The Stand but without all the boring character back stories. I've seen this complaint about The Stand before - about how the book would be so much better if S.K. had just cut out all this unnecessary background on the characters.

The Stand happens to be my favorite book, and one of the major reasons why I love it so much is BECAUSE of the character back stories.

Now, I could go into a whole argument describing my point by telling everyone that the hero's/heroine's journey is partly an internal journey of the main character(s), and without that internal journey, there really IS no hero's/heroine's journey, blah blah blah. Instead, I'm going to take another approach to convince people the importance of character and their stories.

Suppose you suddenly got the opportunity to go on an awesome overseas trip to Europe. (Suppose also you live in the USA, so said overseas trip would make sense to you.) What is the first thing you would do? Before you even pack? That's right, if you're like me (or most people), you'd ask your significant other if he/she wants to come with you. Or you'd call up kids, parents, family members, friends, people you know, people who would appreciate such a trip. People you can relate to. People who relate to you. People without whom the experience wouldn't quite be the same. You know once you go with these people you'll have the time of your life, because you can share the experience, bounce the things you see and experience off them, making it so much better.

Now imagine the same trip, but you go alone. Or maybe you go with a group of total strangers as part of a tour. What's the difference? Companionship. Camaraderie. Relationship. Someone to bounce your experiences off of. Someone who appreciates them just the way you do.

Think of a story like a trip. The story may take you places you've always wanted to go. Places you've never seen before. Exciting places. Who would you rather go with on that journey? A character you really don't know? Or someone who you've come to know as someone like you? Someone who would appreciate the journey with you. Someone you can experience things with.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you agree? Disagree? What are those stories where you've enjoyed going on the journey? What characters were those stories populated with?

WriteOnCon

Hi all.

First. a quick update on the entry in Miss Snark's First Victim's Secret Agent contest. I wasn't selected. (Awwwwww!). However, you CAN see the winning entries on Miss Snark's First Victim's blog here: http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com! (Yaaaayyy!) Go check them out, and again, check out all the entries there. There are some amazing writers out there that I hope get their books published someday!

Second, not to be on the ground for too long, I got back up and submitted the same story opening to one of WriteOnCon's contests. For those of you who don't know what WriteOnCon is, it's an all-online writers' conference specially designed for those who either can't afford to attend a writers' conference or just can't seem to get out to one because they're all too far away. WriteOnCon is all the excitement of a writers' conference right at your keyboard. And it's all FREE! So go check out the live chats with authors and agents, specialized writing topics, contests, videos, and writing tips and news awaiting you there: http://writeoncon.com. Even if you can't participate in real time, the cool thing is that everything is archived there to view at your own convenience, even transcripts of live chats. Unfortunately it's only for 2 days, and Day 1 is just about over, but Day 2 is just about to begin. So enjoy!

Secret Agent Man

So just to show you I've still been working on the writing thing in my absence, here's a linky for ya:

http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com

The opening for my middle grade fantasy novel, Oliver and the Underlings, was selected by lottery to be looked at by an agent, who at the moment remains a secret, in Miss Snark's First Victim's Secret Agent contest. Go check out the first 250 words of Oliver and the Underlings. My entry is #23. And feel free to peruse that site for other contest entries, contest announcements, and valuable writing-related information.

Resurrection

To any/all readers still following along: changes are a'comin'! I'll be giving this blog a good swift kick soon, so stay tuned. My life has become a little less complicated recently, so I'll hopefully have more time to write, blog, review books, and, most importantly, get back in touch with you, the readers and writers out there.

Goodreads Review of The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling

First, an apology.

I apologize in advance for all J. K. Rowling fans everywhere, and to J. K. Rowling herself. I did give her new book a fighting chance, but in the end, I just didn't like it.

Here is my review over on Goodreads, where I discuss exactly what I thought worked and didn't work in J. K. Rowling's latest book, The Casual Vacancy:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/441514710

Has anyone else read the book? What were your thoughts on it? Feel free to leave your comments, as I'd love to discuss what everyone who's read it thought about it here.

Goodreads Review of The Vindico by Wesley King

I'm taking a break from writing reviews for the ARCs I received at BEA this year to bring you a review of The Vindico by Wesley King. I highly recommend this YA book about a team of supervillains known as the Vindico who take on 5 teens as they proteges and the hijinx that ensues afterwards.

Come check out my review on Goodreads, here:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/432130215

Stay tuned for reviews of the ARCs for Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer, Two or Three Things I Forgot to Tell You by Joyce Carol Oates, Clockwork Angels by Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart, and The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. I also need to review Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz and The Host by Stephenie Meyer, which I have also read recently. I'll get to all these eventually.