"On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century" by Timothy Snyder

Publisher:New York : Tim Duggan Books, [2017]

Edition:First edition.

ISBN:9780804190114 

Characteristics:126 pages

A very good overview of humans passion for inflicting suffering on other humans. Timothy Snyder is a professor of History at Yale, and this book is geared specifically at all the fun and games the American people are being put through by their new president. When Dr. Snyder writes it is really obvious about whom he is speaking about. The links he makes to other historical figures are quite chilling to say the least.

While this book may seem small (it's only 128 pages) each story is packed with references to all the bad stuff you learned in your world history courses in school. Most of which you have probably forgotten or suppressed if you've been out of school for any length of time.

The parallels that Mr. Snyder draws between the Trump administration, and some of his predecessors in other countries such as WW II Germany, Stalinist Russia, etc.

Many people might dismiss the comparisons that Mr. Snyder uses for his examples, but I personally find them chilling and having studied a fair amount of history (as well as taught it in school) I find them quite accurate.

Mr Snyder gives his readers 20 important lessons, that are easy to implement and designed to prevent or at the very least open the minds of the American public how the freedom they famously boast about  could easily be taken from them.

This is a book that I believe all peoples should read (especially those living in the United States). Here's hoping that what could happen, never does!

Create You Writer Platform by Chuck Sambuchino

I recently stumbled upon a book by Chuck Sambuchino, who works for Writers' Digest.

This is an excellent book that will help you get on your way to promoting your book. It is mainly geared towards non-fiction writing, but with a little adaptation all the information is completely transferrable to fiction.

Publisher:    Writer's Digest Books 2012
ISBN:          9781599635750

The review on the Edmonton Public Library website says:

"Creating a platform isn't just beneficial--it's essential ! In today's world of blogging, websites, Twitter feeds, and Facebook updates, building a writer platform from the ground up can seem a daunting task. Never fear--author and editor Chuck Sambuchino provides expert, practical advice for increasing your visibility, selling more books, and launching a successful career. In Create Your Writer Platform , you'll learn: The definition of a platform--and why you should start building one now . How to harness the 12 Fundamental Principles of Platform. "Old School" and "New School" approaches to platform, from article writing and conference speaking to website development, blog posts, and social media avenues. How to develop a platform for nonfiction, fiction, and memoir. In addition to Chuck's invaluable insights, you'll also find 12 case studies from authors with effective platforms, as well as professional advice from literary agents. If you're serious about building a platform tailored to you and your writing --a platform that's going to help you succeed as a writer--look no further than Create Your Writer Platform ."

I found this to be a very helpful book, and can't wait to implement some of Mr. Sambuchino's suggestion when I redesign my website.

Happy Reading!

The Fantasy Dilemma - Is There A Solution?

I originally posted this on the Edmonton Writers' Group Blog way back in January 2012. And while a couple of members (Natasha and Simon) were kind enough to comment on it, I still believe it is a question that needs solving. I haven't posted to this blog in a year, as nothing much has happened, and  I find writing about day-to-day events rather boring, after all this is Twitter.

So anyway here is my question ...

Having just finished the fourth book in the series by Chris Paolini I must say it was an interesting read. I found the world to be fairly well designed, but for the most part the story was way too long. Which brings to mind a bit of a curious question, that has been bugging me for many years and that so far nobody has ever been able to adequately answer. So now that our group has this little blog running, I thought I try once again to solve this little mystery.

Now I realize we don't have a whole lot of fantasy authors in the group, and while this message is directed at this genre, I trust that others will chime in.

So here it is:

"Why is it that fantasy authors (in general) seem to feel the need to create multivolume stories when just about every other genre seems to be able to tell a story in one book?"

Now I know the first thing your going to say is "because they are creating a whole new world" - okay fair enough, but so does every science fiction author, most mystery, adventure, and romance authors. In fact with the exception of historically based novels every author creates a new world to some extent. So why aren't these all multivolume tomes? Are they all trying to emulate J.R.R. Tolkien, or is it something else?

I agree that the Asimov's Foundation Trilogy; A. C. Clarke's 2001, 2010, 2060, & 3001; as well as the series by Ben Bova (one book for each planet) exist. However these are the exception, and I'm not whining about books set in the same universe (like those I just mentioned), I'm talking about those 3+ book series that are essentially one continuous story, sometimes with little or no break between volumes. Virtually every fantasy author seems to churn out multivolume sets - some to ridiculous lengths such as those by David Eddings and his ilk.

So why? Is it a bad case of authorial diarrhea?

Anyway getting back to Chris P. there are numerous examples in this last book where he spent inordinate amounts of time (writing wise that is) detailing each and every movement, that each person made during a fight sequence. This was unnecessary, and at times downright boring to read. In fact it reminds me somewhat of when I used to play Dungeon and Dragons and the rules say that during a fight sequence each round is 10 seconds long - think of life going in slow motion.

So that's my question. Anybody got any words of wisdom that'll solve it?

TTFN