Emme Cross's Blog - Posts Tagged "fiction"

Bridget Jones is back. The third novel "Mad About the Boy" will be published this October. I greet the news with trepidation. Mostly because the first novel was so utterly of its time and the sophomoric sequel was disappointing. Second, because in order to write a trilogy or a series, you have to lay the groundwork early. In the first book. If you don't, it just feels like you are cashing in. That's why the Hunger Games and even Twilight work--the authors did the tough stuff in book one with the end in mind. I wrote the end of my series The St. Bart's novels after book two. I knew where I was going and that helped me plot how to get there. I can't imagine finishing book one and fourteen years later having to pick up the thread again. It's not just the characters and the times that have changed, it's the writer. Sure, Helen Fielding is more proficient than before, but she's also older. Yes, so's her heroine you may argue, but it was Bridget's wide-eyed enthusiasm that made her so engaging.I don't want her saddled with kids. Nor do I want her, a decade and a half later, trying to decide between Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver. The first scenario would be boring; the second would be pitiful. No, I want her madly in love, kissing her Mr. Darcy in a snowstorm in her underwear. I don't need the wedding. I need the promise.

As a writer, I keep hearing the importance of a good editor. Not just someone who can add a personalized touch to the typical Autocorrect, but somebody who can take a dispassionate look at the book as a whole--point out problems with the timeline, characterization and plot. And then, tell you very gently so your fragile ego doesn't shatter. Too bad Dan Brown doesn't have an editor. I have just finished Inferno. I listened to it as an audiobook, perfect while driving or walking the dog. First off, he made me want to visit Florence, so that's good. I've been to Venice and he captured the main bits there well. The plot isn't horrible...but could somebody send him a box of red pencils for Christmas? Do we really have to hear five times what's on the darned videotape? The repetition drives me crazy! It's as if he thinks the reader is really, really stupid so he has to point out stuff to us a number of times before we get it through our thick skulls. In fact, the entire book feels like a Harvard Prof is slumming and teaching the special ed class. He is condescending to the point of rudeness. I also get the feeling he's paid by the word. And the data dumps! That's what my editor says it's called when a writer stops a story in mid-flight to pass on facts and history. The entire novel is a data dump with the plot of a bad action/Logan's Run rip off mixed in. (In fact, the original Star Trek series handled the whole bit about population growth better on one of their episodes.) Don't get me started on the dialogue. And why, oh why, does he refer to the hero by his last name? More distance between the reader and author? And please don't allow him to write any more female characters ever again. Or humans. Or people who live in the modern world.

I've just started this novel and I am in love. This is so, so, so good. We've been to Hong Kong and Singapore and the author captures everything from the food snobbery to the culture to the history to the petty politics to the language. Wow! Wow! Wow!

The new Iron/Superman super hero is coming to big screens near you next August!. This guy's super power is to be the lead character in a series of three novels that sold nine gajillion copies despite having less depth than a puddle of...water. I will safe word out and say no to this trash. But it's funny coz no cast has been announced yet and the book will be a movie by next August, so a year. That's quicker turn-around time than Christian himself. (Sorry, this is too easy.) But seriously, I guess they've already figured out how to CGI the naughty bits and film in 3D to make it even more quease-worthy than the novels. I thinking with Sam directing, her husband has a lock on the lead.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/06/fifty...

‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Gets August 1, 2014 Release Date
www.deadline.com
NEW YORK, June 27th, 2013 – The global release of Fifty Shades of Grey will start in North America on Friday, August 1st, 2014 with opening dates around

If you liked the book, check out my Pinterest page. (Under Emme Cross) I have posted photos of places mentioned in the novel and also started a board with casting suggestions for the main characters. If you have any ideas, feel free to post them or pass them on. I'm always interested in how my characters appear to my readers versus in my own head.

Also, I'm on Facebook and have all kinds of articles about love and sex and relationships.

http://www.bookcountry.com/ReadAndRev...

This is a link to bookcountry which is a website for authors to test their material. I posted the first chapter to book three in the St. Barts series for some feedback. I never figured it would be in their top ranked category of titles. Cool! If you want a sneak peak at what happens to Sunny and Sven---check it out and let me know what you think!

E-books, hardcover, softcover. Pulp fiction, literature. It doesn't matter. I love to read. Here are some of the reasons why.


http://www.buzzfeed.com/alannaokun/co...

This is a great article about tearjerkers...or weepies. I used to love my mom's favourite old movies with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. They were my first weepies and helped me write novels that will make you cry.


http://online.wsj.com/articles/tearje...

I have just binge read the Outlander novels. It was an incredible commitment of time but well worth it. Kudos to Diana for her research and diligence. I love writers who take the time in the first book to set the stage for what's too come. Too many authors score big on book one and next thing you know there are sequels that just don't work. You need to do the groundwork and decide where you're going early on. Diana has done that beautifully.
I did find the hero Jaime to be a little too perfect and Superman but hey, I got the same complaints about my heroine Sunny. You can't please everyone.
To me, the secret to a good series is seeing how characters and relationships grow and evolve. I loved Jilly Cooper's Riders series. Outlander. Any others? Dungeons and Mercenaries is fun and very sexy. The Mitford series works. Any others? Let me know. I'm always up for a good series and writers from whom I can steal ideas on keeping my 6 books fresh.

The big screen adaptation of Gone Girl has premiered in New York and the reviews are universally good. Congrats to Gillian Flynn who wrote for EW for a while. She's making a living as a writer---a good living. Thats amazing.

I have problems with this novel. (SPOILER ALERT!!!) It is too much like Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow. There is the crazy like a fox incredibly intelligent wife. There is the weak, preoccupied, unworthy unfaithful husband. She frames him for murder and there's even the same plot point of frozen sperm which results in a pregnancy that saves the evil doer's life.

I know there are only so many plots and so many twists and turns but this was just too similar for me. I will see the movie on Netflix or something--David Fincher is good and the casting should work---but that's it.

I know this is some people's favorite book. I urge you to go back and read the original. I enjoyed that even more.