Tampa Book Buzz

online book club review:lisey’s story by stephen king

Throughout Lisa (Lisey) Landon’s life, she was known merely as the wife of acclaimed author Scott Landon.  She accompanied him on his book tours, carried the gifts thrust upon him by well-wishers, and once found herself referred to as “gal pal” in a newspaper photo caption.  Stephen King’s Lisey’s Story is about the circumstances of Lisey’s life two years after her husband’s death, but she’s still only a secondary character.  Scott’s history is what’s important; his magical mysterious past holds the key to everything.

I’m torn.  I found Lisey’s struggle to move forward in her new life as a widow interesting and moving, but I’m tired of reading about troubled writers who live in Maine.  I enjoyed King’s use of flashbacks to reveal important parts of Scott’s dark past (piece by tantalizing piece), but felt like there was more to the backstory that could have been told.  King’s characters are fascinating, flawed and real, but the ominous evils in the story — both supernatural and human — seemed tame and somewhat familiar. 

What did you think?

Lisey’s Story by Stephen King is the TBB Online Book Club pick for this month.  The Tampa Book Buzz Online Book Club is housed at Target’s Bookmarked website.  Each month we pick a book to read and discuss on the Bookmarked site.  During the month, I’ll post tidbits about the author and/or the book here.  At the end of the month, I’ll tell you what I thought of the book and hopefully you’ll do the same.  Email me at tampafilmfan(at)aol.com for more info or to join.  

great opening lines:lisey’s story by stephen king

To the public eye, the spouses of well-known writers are all but invisible, and no one knew it better than Lisey Landon.  Her husband had won the Pulitzer and the National Book Award, but Lisey had given only one interview in her life.  This was for the well-known women’s magazine that publishes the column “Yes, I’m Married to Him!”  She spent roughly half of its five-hundred-word length explaining that her nickname rhymed with “CeeCee.”  Most of the other half had to do with her recipe for slow-cooked roast beef.  Lisey’s sister Amanda said that the picture accompanying the interview made Lisey look fat.

     –Lisey’s Story by Stephen King

Lisey’s Story by Stephen King is the TBB Online Book Club pick for this month.  The Tampa Book Buzz Online Book Club is housed at Target’s Bookmarked website.  Each month we pick a book to read and discuss on the Bookmarked site.  During the month, I’ll post tidbits about the author and/or the book here.  At the end of the month, I’ll tell you what I thought of the book and hopefully you’ll do the same.  Email me at tampafilmfan(at)aol.com for more info or to join. 

book and local author news:smith, brooksville’s booktown, llewellyn

• Joy V. Smith’s article Selling a Cool Book About the House That Joy Built is #2 in the 2006 Preditors and Editors poll (non-fiction category).  Her short story Pretty Pink Planet is tied for #13 in the their short story SF category.
• The St. Pete Times has an article about Brooksville possibly becoming a “booktown.”  Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?
• Local author Kimberly Llewellyn’s new book The Quest for the Holy Veil will be available March 6.  Visit www.kimberlyllewellyn.com to learn more.

first chapter writing competition on gather.com

Gather.com has a First Chapter Writing Competition that ends March 15.  It’s “a first-time author’s gateway to publication. One novelist will win a publishing contract with Touchstone/Simon and Schuster, a $5,000 cash prize and promotion by Borders.”

Joining Gather.com is simple, easy and free of charge.  Once you’ve signed up, visit the group First Chapter Competition to read the guidelines, rules and submission instructions. Here’s the link, which I think will work without having to join Gather.com first: http://firstchapters.gather.com/.

If you do sign up at the website, visit me at www.tampabookbuzz.gather.com to “connect” (it’s sort of like “friends” at MySpace).

(Thanks go to local author S.L. Juers for telling me about this competition.  I hope his story is posted on Gather.com soon.  I’m looking forward to reading it.)

blogs, books and book blogs

Publishing company iUniverse included an article about using blogs as book marketing tools in their latest newsletter. The Blog Squad (bloggers Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman) gives ten useful tips on book blogging and blogging about books.

(Thanks go to local author Skip Allen for sending this to me.)

florida voices book fair in gainesville april 27

This event is outside the Tampa Bay area, but book lovers are usually willing to go for a drive when a book fair is involved:

The Florida Voices Book Fair will be held in Gainesville on April 27 and 28, beginning with an evening appearance on April 27 with Tim Dorsey, author of the February release Hurricane Punch. Tim will be speaking Friday evening from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Thomas Center in Gainesville.  On Saturday, April 28, the book fair opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 4 p.m., also in the Thomas Center.

For more information, call 888-917-7001 and leave a message for Sarah Bewley or e-mail her at SarahBewley(at)sarahbewley.com.

(received via email)

Visit www.artsgaca.org/bookfair.htm to learn more or to download an author participation application.

tampa bay blogger meetup

Jim at the State of Sunshine blog has come up with something fun: 

Who: Bloggers and Podcasters, fans of them or even those who want to become one…

When: Tuesday, February 27, 6 p.m.

Where: Hawks Neighborhood Grill, 3114 Bay to Bay Boulevard, South Tampa

Why: Putting names and faces to the local blogging community, to share a beverage and to say hello

Everyone is invited to come out and participate. This is an Un-Meeting, with no agenda or specific purpose other than meeting and getting to know one another “offline.”  If you have any questions, you can contact Jim Johnson at the State of Sunshine blog. Also, if you plan to attend, send him an email at jim(at)stateofsunshine.com to let him know so we can get an estimated headcount for the restaurant. We hope you can make it!!

See you there!

writers in residence programs at clearwater main library march 1 and 2

Received via email: 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lauren Tarsi, (727) 562-4834

Best-selling author Connie May Fowler and Day of Author Critiques coming to Clearwater Main Library (free and open to the public) March 1 and 2

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Those interested in the art of writing are invited to use the Clearwater Main Library’s resources and participate in the following Writers in Residence programs at the Clearwater Main Library, 100 N. Osceola Ave.:

March 1, 7 p.m. — An Evening with Connie May Fowler — Fowler has established herself as an award winning Florida author, essayist, and screenwriter, whose works include Remembering Blue and River of Hidden Dreams. In 1996, she published Before Women Had Wings, which became an “Oprah Winfrey Presents” TV movie, winner of the 1996 Southern Book Critics Circle Award, and paperback bestseller. A book sale and signing will follow the lecture. Sponsored by the Friends of the Clearwater Library.

March 2, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. — Writing and Critique Day — Writers are invited to use the Main Library’s resources, then have a free critique of selected pages from their manuscripts. Well-known local authors Kathy Carmichael, Kimberly Llewellyn, Debby Mayne, and Tara Randel will also talk about the creative writing process as well.

Call (727) 562-4970, ext. 5284 for more information.

Visit the library’s website for more info.

(Thanks go to local author Kimberly Llewellyn for sending this to me.)

das boot author buchheim has died

From MSNBC:

Lothar-Guenther Buchheim, the German author and art collector best known for his autobiographical novel Das Boot, has died at the age of 89, his museum and the office of the governor of Bavaria said.

Buchheim died late Thursday from heart failure.

Read the full obit here.  I haven’t read Das Boot, but the film is excellent.

book buzz:remote control by cynthia polansky

When you pick up a new book and discover that the first sentence of Chapter One is “I died on a Tuesday when I was thirty-one years old,” you know that you’re in for an interesting read.  Cynthia Polansky’s Remote Control is that and more.  The main character Judith is an average, normal, happily-married woman with a best friend, two dogs and a good job — until her untimely death from hilariously embarrassing circumstances. 

After her death, Judith is anything but average.  Unable to fully concentrate on the afterlife lessons of her spirit guide Ashraf, she obsessively watches over her bereaved husband Saul and best friend Micaela.  Judith’s initial concern for Saul’s adjustment to widowerhood morphs into jealous anxiety after watching Saul become romantically involved with their gorgeous and greedy accountant.  Judith figures that she can fulfill her responsibilities in the afterlife and protect her husband at the same time.  She discovers, however, that meddling busybodies who show up late for work are just as annoying in the afterlife as in her past life, but with far more serious consequences.

Remote Control is one part humorous chick lit and one part clever paranormal fantasy, stirred with inspirational wisdom and served with some startling plot twists. The book you finish is not the same one you started, but you enjoy them both and learn a lot on the journey.

Visit Polansky’s website at www.cynthiapolansky.com. Remote Control will be available in November 2007. To reserve your copy, email echelonpress(at)comcast.net.