Interview Re-caps

Since this blog has been running for 5 years, I thought I'd give everbody a look back on all the interviews I had the privelage of doing. Some are short and quick, others are long and in depth. Originally, when I first created this blog, it was going to be nothing but a journal to log my woes as I tackled writing on a daily basis.

But that all changed. Soon I was going to author events and actively seeking out writers for interviews so that you, the reader, could learn more about the craft of writing, how everyone does it differently.

I hope some of these interviews inspired you.

They sure inspired me.

And a special thanks to all the authors who agreed to participate.



2009

1. The Rustle of Wings:  I happened by this first author event by chance. This was the one that started it all. Aprilynne Pike.
2. A Bunch of Maloney: Went into the city for this one. Thankfully, traffic was light and I even had a chance to snap a few pics. Michael Malone.
3. A Crowded Connelly Packed with Pelacanos: This was the first author event/interview where the seats were packed. Some people had to stand against the bookshelves. Afterward, a line formed for people to get their books signed. Two very different writers with two very different methods. Michael Connelly and George Pelacanos.
4. A Double Dose of Roberts: In where I bump into an author I've already met at Printer's Row in Chicago. Robert Goldsborough.
5. Locke and Key: Another trip to the city, this time I invited my girlfriend. Such a nice author, she even invited us to drinks afterward but we were on a tight schedule. Attica Locke.
6. A Kitchen Caper: After driving into the city and walking into the library that Goodreads claims is a book event, I find out that it was incorrect on the website and that, in fact, it is actually several blocks away. I jogged to the actual event and was able to catch half of it. Thankfully made it for the Q and A section. Monica Ali.
7. Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: I had known this author on Podiobooks and decided to reach out and invite him onto the blog. Matthew Wayne Selznick.
8. Clawing Your Way To The Top: Not only is Stacey very prolific, and also a podiobooks contributer, but he also hosts an author interview show in Raleigh, North Carolina. Stacey Cochran.
9. Faking It: Found this book on Lulu.com, bought it, read it, loved it. Emailed the author and this interview happened. She now has four books available on Amazon. Elisa Lorello.
10. The Blog With No Name: Same deal. Saw a book on Lulu.com, bought it, read it and emailed the author. This guy has been my longest running supporter. Kinda like pen pals. Anonymous.
11. Scratching The Surface: I first saw this author on Stacey Cochran's show. His non fiction book about surviving with just the clothes on his back and 25 dollars was very compelling. Adam Shepard.
12. Playing For Keeps: Not only is she the host of "I Should Be Writing", an award-winning podcast for writers, she also caught my attention with her hilarious and poignant essays. Mur Lafferty.
13. When The Waiter Rants, The Readers Rave: Funny enough, this is the first phone interview I had ever conducted with another author. I was in my car, in a parking lot with a tape recorder. Had a really nice chat and walked away learning something new. Steve Dublanica.

2010

1. Tuesday Tells it Slant: This author describes how she outlines in reverse. Quite interesting. Holly Christine.
2. Publish This Book: This was my second phone interview. He's a pretty funny guy. His book has many laugh-out-loud moments. Every writer needs this book on there shelf. He's also a writer for The Chicago Red Eye newspaper. Stephen Markley.

2011

These are what I call Mini-Interviews. They are basically five questions and a sample of the author's latest Kindle title. Thanks to all who participated:

1. Final Justice
2. These Hellish Happenings
3. The Outsider
4. Formed in Clay
5. A Heart in Sun and Shadow
6. The Russian Renaissance
7. Drachar's Demons
8. The Bayman's Bride
9. The CameoTrilogy
10. Crystal Tomb
11. Black Diamond Death
12. Expert Assistance
13. Lawyers, Guns and Money
14. Catier's Ring
15. Some River's End on the Day of The Dead
16. Slade's Destiny
17. Flamingo's

2012

1. Solitary Tales: I first met this prolific author in a Barnes and Noble in Naperville. He gave me some advice when I told him I had problems with writer's block. He said, "They're just words." We had a good chat and I bought two of his books. 40, in paperback. Solitary Tales, on Kindle. Thought it was time to interview him after I finished reading Solitary Tales. Thankfully, he agreed. Travis Thrasher.
2. Clifford Makes a Comeback: I had always heard of this author and was fascinated by his story. While researching one day I found out that he was publishing all of his works to kindle. It was a shot in the dark, but I figured I'd email him and ask if he would like to be interviewed. We traded emails back and forth and eventually this interview happened. Also bought 6 of his books. Clifford Irving. 

So it looks like, all told, I've interview 34 separate writers. They range from Bestsellers to First-timers and they were all a blast to interview on this site.

If there is ever anyone you would like me to interview on this blog, just email me at:

Robertoscarlato@gmail.com

Ye Olde Idea Shoppe

Well, it's the first month of 2013 and since I want to stay productive, I decided to announce when I release a new title to kindle. Ye Olde Idea Shoppe just launched today.

It's been a pet project of mine for a couple of months now. I like many genres of fiction but I hardly paid tribute to Fantasy. So I decided to write something that I could read to our daughter.

I invite you to tell your friends and buy a copy of it for your kindle on Amazon.com.

Don't have a kindle? No worries. You can download the kindle app for free on your iPad, smartphone, Blackberry, etc. 

This short story is only 99 cents. Please, if you can, leave a review for the book on Amazon as well. Thanks, readers.


Here is the link to buy: http://www.amazon.com/Ye-Olde-Idea-Shoppe-ebook/dp/B00B336JHQ/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1358630984&sr=1-6&keywords=roberto+scarlato

The New Year Novel-Writing Machine

2013

We made it.

44 followers and 260 posts later.

Where do we go from here?

I'll tell ya.

Up, baby. Up!

Lately I've been putting writing by the wayside and its starting to get to me. Whenever I don't write, I feel like pieces of me are just falling off. No more, I say! I plan to write daily, if I can. 500 words a day works for me. When I reach a milestone like 10,000 words, I figure I can Vlog about it so I'm at least held accountable.

It's been 7 months since I've published anything to kindle.

Here's what I have in the works:

1. A stand alone fantasy short story, hoping to make its debut sometime this month. It will be priced at 99 cents.
2. A gritty, terror-filled novella that brings the term "survival" to an all time high. Currently stands at 14,000 words. That will be released sometime in February.
3. The Scarlato Laugh - a collection of essays re-counting true stories about my life. I've shared a few of them on this blog: Scrooge Sits One Out, Ghostbusted. This title is slated for late March.
4. The Third Novel - This project has plagued me to no end. Originally I had planed to release this one right after releasing my first novel. The only problem is I never finished writing it. It's still stuck at 40 pages. It's a mix of Crime Drama/Noir Mystery. Hoping to release this one by the end of 2013.
5. Last project currently slated is for 2014. That will be Dead Eyes 2. At this moment, I haven't written any of it. But I will be working on it while I'm in between projects.

As for audio book fans out there, I plan on releasing the podiobook version of Wearing Donnie Torr. So far I have two chapters recorded. Mr. Dead Eyes is still available for FREE download on iTunes.

So that's all for now and remember, if you don't hear something from me soon, don't fret, I'm just writing.

[Currently reading on the Kindle: Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton.]

Eerie

(Our house, in the middle of our street)

Blake Crouch is a much regarded name in the self-publishing game. He's tied closely to self-pub enthusiast J.A. Konrath. I've read many of Konrath's books (Disturb, The List, Origin and Whiskey Sour). But one of the first ebooks I read was a slim little number called Serial. It was only 8,000 words.

Seeing as how these guys go hand-in-hand and their writing styles are quite similar  I felt it was time to give Blake a try. So I decided on Eerie  a short novel of suspense and horror. This thriller boasted that it was in the same vein as The Shinning or The Sixth Sense. With a blurb like that, I had to see if it was all just hype or, in fact, the real deal.

Well, I've read the whole thing.

And I loved it.

What a change of pace.

The story, for the first few chapters, revolves around Grant Moreton, a Seattle detective, who is working a missing persons case. The trail leads him to a house which currently holds a person from his past. The two characters are confined to the house, unable to escape. Every time they try, they are blasted with extreme headaches and debilitating sickness, bordering on the brink of death. Not only are they trapped, but some fiendish thing is holding them there, a monster under the bed, so to speak.

This ebook had me clicking NEXT PAGE like there was no tomorrow.

It's no wonder that this book was so well balanced. It was written by two people. Blake and Jordan are brothers who decided to collaborate on this original idea. We get a bit of that insight with a question and answer segment at the end of the book. Blake and Jordan tell us that they wrote this book over a program called Google Docs, switching every time the other would take over. Technology has come a long way and it looks like more and more collaborations are being used in Google Docs.

This is Jordan's first novel but as for Blake Crouch, he holds 35 Kindle titles to his name.

Many of his ideas have been optioned for films.

Pretty prolific if you ask me.

Eerie is only $3.99 on Kindle.

Now that I'm more well acquainted with his work, I may give his novel Famous a try.

11/22/63

(Take me away, I don't mind, just promise
 me we'll be back in time.)

My mind is officially blown. Yes, its true, my fandom for Stephen King has waned in the past, been on the ropes even, but now it has risen stronger from the once supposed dead ashes. This book has now become one of my top four favorite King books. The others being Insomnia, Desperation and From a Buick 8.

So what is it about this book that redeemed my love for King?

I would argue that it is a combination of things. It's believable, deep and suspenseful. A good recipe of a story that leaves you wanting more but satisfied by its drive and momentum.

Quite a while back, in a previous blog post, my wife and I were discussing the idea of time travel; what works and what doesn't. Can there be time viewing? Can you change the past? Are you able to bring something back? Will this cause a rip in the fabric and create a time paradox? These are the routine things we grapple with on every time travel tale.

But what if something new were added to the mix? You get something more unpredictable.

From what I understand, more time travel stories are throwing out the old rules and starting fresh. This is a complete rewrite to what we've already puzzled over. A step in a new direction and I welcome that.

Though I haven't seen films like Looper or Primer, I am told that they turn the genre on its head, offering new and exciting possibilities.

Change the rules: simple as that.

In King's book, an English teacher(who else?) is coming to grips from a fresh split from his wife who is an alcoholic. As he is coping he confides in his friend, Al Templeton, who owns the local diner not too far away. Al is increasingly looking older as the days pass. Al finally lets the cat out of the bag. He has found a wormhole that leads to the year 1958. The usual, believable  skepticism ensues until our hero, Jake Epping, finally decides to take the plunge.

It's obvious that king has done a lot of research for this book. Everything from the racial divide to how much a man could live on in those days is covered. It feels like you are transported to that era. Reading IS time travel, any way you slice it.

Al eventually convinces Jake to change the course of history by saying he should go back and stop the assassination of JFK. A noble cause but not without its strife's.

Turns out that the past itself is its own character in this novel. It is a stubborn, angry, bullying think which does not want to be changed. Sometimes it is referred to as a "machine with jagged teeth." Frequently it throws unfortunate coincidences in front of our hero. A tree blocking the road, a debilitating sickness, a car that threw a rod or a traffic accident, just to name a few. It's reach knows no bounds. This is a really compelling element to consequential time travel.

The characters are likable, the plot is fluid and its considerably shorter than Under The Dome. King held my attention to the very end. The novel is one I intend to re-read whenever I wish to travel back through time and catch up with Jake. And what's great is, I can go there again and again without fearing the consequences.

P.s. I liked the fact that his son, Joe Hill, helped him out with this one.

5/5 stars.


:)