When giving a live interview for TV or radio keep these points in mind. I know I am going to get comments on these points because it should be common sense but here is the feedback I get from fellow interviewers and from my own radio show.

1. Always be on time – Don’t rely on your publicist for the correct info either. Many times the artist does not know the time to call in because the publicist got it wrong, even after three emails or more. I know this is what you pay for if you have one, but everyone makes mistakes.
2. Don’t assume they are going to call you – This is your business and career so make sure you know what is going on. It’s your job to know who is calling whom. Don’t miss an opportunity to get press by not knowing the details.
3. Do your research and know with whom you are talking – Make sure you at least know which station or magazine you are talking with and the person interviewing you.
4. Answer using sentences, not one-word answers – Nothing is worse than a boring interview because you don’t know what to say about your band or music.
5. Don’t call in drunk or stoned – These people are being professional and working hard to promote your music. Be professional and do the same. Respect them and their time by being coherent for the interview.
6. Make sure you leave enough time for the interview – A good interview takes more than 10 minutes most of the time. You have a story to get out so make sure you give yourself time to do it.
7. Also be prepared that many of the interviewers don’t like your music and didn’t prepare to interview you – Sometimes you need to lead the interview or make sure they know everything about you that you want them to know. Don’t assume they actually know anything about you or your music.
8. If doing an interview for an industry specific magazine, know your stuff – Say you are doing an interview with EQ Magazine; they are going to want to know how your signal chain works so make sure you understand your own gear or equipment. Make sure you understand what the interviewer is looking for.
9. Be focused, but have fun - This is serious business, so make sure you pay attention and are not distracted. There’s nothing more obnoxious than listening to an interview where the artist is talking to someone else in the background, chewing gum/food, clacking away on a keyboard, or generally not engaged in the interview.
10. Phone fodder – While it is always preferable to use a land line (or Skype), more often than not, interviews are done by cellphone these days. Make sure you are in a well covered area, you find a quite place to talk, and you’re not pacing about potentially endangering your signal.

When doing an email interview, please try to make it interesting. You have to keep the reader engaged and eager to learn about you.

1. Write full sentences – Make sure you answer the questions as completely as you can and try to put some thought into your answer. Don’t rush through your interviews. This is your time to showcase or spotlight your band to an audience who has never heard about you in most cases.
2. Be witty – Try to have a sense of humor. This will help with people spreading the article around and also keep the interviewer interested in interviewing you again at some point.
3. Use correct grammar – I know many of us struggle with this, but try to use appropriate grammar. This will alter their pre-conceived perception of you, thus making you look like much more than just another musician who does not care about anything but chicks and partying. It will also help keep the grammar police off your page with pointless comments.
4. Get the interview back in a timely manner – The webzine or whatever media source that has graciously interviewed you is patiently waiting for you to be professional and get your interview back to them. They have deadlines to meet; and if you wait too long, they may pass on you and post other artists that were more professional.
5. The Extra Mile – Email interviews do not allow for follow-up questions, so if you touch on a topic or offer an answer that would lead to an obvious follow-up question, try to throw those extras in as well. If the interviewer missed something you’d like to get out there, add it in. The media outlet is always happy when artists give a little extra.

Please practice these basic points and watch your relationships grow with your media contacts, which is so crucial to your music’s future.

Good luck!

Note: This was originally posted on Metalholic.com

http://metalholic.com/musician-tips-15-tips-on-how-to-give-an-interview/

In the traditional folktale of “Sleeping Beauty,” the spell cast upon the lovely young princess and everyone in her castle can only be broken by the kiss of a Prince. It is an ancient story, one that originally emerged from and still deeply disturbs the mind’s unconscious. In the first book of the trilogy, Anne Rice, writing as A.N. Roquelaure, retells the Beauty story and probes the unspoken implications of this lush, suggestive tale by exploring its undeniable connection to sexual desire. Here the Prince awakens Beauty, not with a kiss, but with sexual initiation. His reward for ending the hundred years of enchantment is Beauty’s complete and total enslavement to him . . . as Anne Rice explores the world of erotic yearning and fantasy in a classic that becomes, with her skillful pen, a compelling experience. Readers of Fifty Shades of Grey will indulge in Rice’s deft storytelling and imaginative eroticism, a sure-to-be classic for years to come.

Praise for The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty:

“Articulate, baroque, and fashionably pornographic.” —Playboy

“Something very special . . . at once so light and yet so haunting.” —The Advocate

Powers has weaved an intricate tale that primarily deals with metaphysical questions, time travel and the relatively quiet subplot of a love story. His descriptions are mature and original. I could picture myself in all his settings. The characters were well done—I hated the baddies and like the goodies. The underlying plot is basically good vs evil and man has an issue to deal with, goes on an adventure, finds peace, and the end: although the ‘the end’ part of it has been left open for the reader to imagine what might happen next. The story includes elements of horror and urban/steampunk fantasy, and is fast-paced with many changes in direction. A small criticism has to do with the editing/formatting. There was some weird thing going on with my e-book copy that turned a lot of ‘the’ into ‘me’. Occasionally I had to re-read a sentence for clarity but that could be a criticism of my brain rather than the author’s talent. If you like the fantastic or steampunk and appreciate good writing, I would highly recommend this book.

1802 – the Egyptian gods are a diminished force, and the power of magic fades. Sorcerers, wielding magic only at great expense to their own bodies, attempt to restore the potency of their power by bringing the gods, in all their glory, forward in time. Instead, they succeed only in tearing rents in the fabric of time – the Anubis Gates.

Brendan Doyle, a minor American scholar specialising in a little known poet, William Ashbless, is carried from London, 1983, through the gates of time to 1810, ostensibly to serve as a Coleridge expert. The journey is organised by J Cochran Darrow, a wealthy recluse specialising in odd-ball projects, and funded by the ten guests, each of whom has paid a premium for the privilege of witnessing a lecture by Samuel Coleridge in the flesh.

The plan consists of a straightforward there and back again journey of only a few hours, but it goes awry when Doyle is kidnapped by an Egyptian sorcerer, intent on learning who is using the gates in time, and how. Having missed his ‘return flight’, as it were, Doyle finds himself stranded in 1810 London, penniless and alone.

While not unlikeable, Doyle is stranded, destitute, and terribly desperate – a desperation which drives him to take ill-considered risks and make less-than-intelligent decisions. But it is his very aloneness, his very desperation, that draws me to him – can the reader conceive of many worse situations than to be stranded out of time, in a strange culture, with absolutely no means of support?

I have very little concept of what London was like in 1810, but Powers paints a compelling picture with few words, creating less an image of the physical place, than a sense of the people who populate it; the desperation of its denizens, the danger they exude, and the grinding poverty that drives many of them. That sense, that feeling, creates a more visceral setting than any mere description of buildings could do.

This is not to imply the book lacks description, for Powers describes events, and many settings, with phrases evocative enough to turn me green with envy.

London is peopled with a host of characters – who can Doyle trust? Who might he rely on in his time of need? Knowing exactly where the poet, William Ashbless, should be, he hopes to appeal to that man’s generosity, but the poet is mysteriously missing. Has Doyle upset the events of history by returning from the future?

What of the clown, Horrabin, who offers Doyle a job amongst his beggars? His very name hints at horrible unknowns. Is young Jacky more trustworthy? He warns Doyle away from Horrabin, and suggests a place amongst the rival beggar crew. Can Doyle use the Egyptian sorcerers to return to 1983? What does he have to bargain with, except his own life? What of Dog-Face Joe, a rumoured werewolf-type serial killer, to whom Doyle comes perilously close?

And who, on the streets of 1810 London, is whistling Yesterday by The Beatles?

Events come dangerously to a head when the poet, Ashbless, reappears in a startling and unexpected way, setting Doyle’s feet on a path that takes him even further into the past, and then eventually to Cairo. Events now follow the course of history Doyle is familiar with, and he begins to anticipate what comes, thinking he knows how events will unfold – or does he?

The book careens from one disaster, to another ill-conceived decision, to bizarre and yet wildly appropriate plot twist after plot twist. The foreshadowing is impeccable – the clues are there if you know to look for them, but you won’t, until events come to pass. Instead, each new revelation, each new horror, each new clever outcome, will keep you turning page after page to find the answers until, before you know it, you’ve finished the book.

If I were to tell you any more, I’d ruin all the surprises, and they are well worth the wait. They are many, and they are varied, and each new discovery delighted me at its appropriateness, at its suitability, at the way in which each of the puzzle pieces fit neatly together – until the picture, of which Doyle only has a vague outline from 20^th century history books, becomes a complete illustration rendered in loving detail.

I read this book in about two days – it was literally unputdownable. The story is exceptional, and the book well-written. The odd waver in the writing barely caused a hitch in my stride, so desperate was I to resolve each conflict, only to find I had dove headfirst into the next.

If you didn’t read this book for Club Fantasci, then you must. 5 stars – I give this book 5 stars. Do you know how often I say that?

Not very often at all.

The new issue of the Washington City Paper has an interesting interview with Emily White. White became famous over the summer when, as an NPR intern, she wrote a piece about how she has over 11,000 songs in her itunes library, but has only paid for 15 CDs in here lifetime.

Emily White steals music. She illegally downloads music for free and doesn’t pay for it.

Her blog post about it went viral, and triggered a passionate debate among music fans. A popular argument response was a blog post by David Lowery, who was in the 1980s band Camper Van Beethoven and who now teaches economics at the University of Georgia. “Congratulations, your generation is the first generation in history to rebel by unsticking it to the man and instead sticking it to the weirdo freak musicians,” Lowery wrote. Then he offered this:

On a personal level, I have witnessed the impoverishment of many critically acclaimed but marginally commercial artists. In particular, two dear friends: Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) and Vic Chesnutt. Both of these artists, despite growing global popularity, saw their total  incomes fall in the last decade. There is no other explanation except for the fact that “fans” made the unethical choice to take their music without compensating these artists.

Shortly before Christmas 2009, Vic took his life. He was my neighbor, and I was there as they put him in the ambulance. On March 6th, 2010, Mark Linkous shot himself in the heart. Anybody who knew either of these musicians will tell you that the pair suffered depression. They will also tell you their situation was worsened by their financial situation. Vic was deeply in debt to hospitals and, at the time, was publicly complaining about losing his home. Mark was living in abject squalor in his remote studio in the Smokey Mountains without adequate access to the mental health care he so desperately needed.

When I read this, I felt sadness–and then anger. Because I know exactly what Lowery is talking about. I’m a writer and filmmaker and these days I am working in both fields virtually for free. I’m old enough to remember the pre-internet days, when an artist could actually make a living, even if it was just a modest one, because he or she got paid for their work. These days it’s just assumed that you won’t get paid. Last summer I shot a film on the Fourth of July in Washington. It came to the attention of a local organization in D.C.–and organization with a storied history and plenty of money–and they emailed me to ask if they could use the film on their YouTube page. Great, I replied,  it’s a chance for my films to get some attention. Wonderful, came the reply–here’s the password so you can upload it to our site.

There was no mention of payment. At all. Indeed, the person who contacted me may have been surprised had I asked to get paid.

And as David Lowery notes in his address to Emily White, in the long term the ethical sclerosis that seems to affect the internet generation can have a costly price for artists. A couple years ago I had to deal with a serious illness. I’m happy to say that I was treated successfully, and that I had health insurance. However, the insurance only covered eighty percent of the treatment. I did manage to cover the rest with stints part time teaching, working retail (even when my doctor told me not to), doing what it takes. But I couldn’t help but think of all those hundreds of articles I had written over the previous years, all those videos I had made that people had watched for free–the passion and the research that had gone into them. If I had been paid, even a modest amount, for that work, I could have easily paid the bill (Vimeo has now introduced a “tipjar” feature so that people who enjoy your films can actually give you something).

But then, websites don’t have the advertising that newspapers used to–and kids want their stuff for free. Lindsay Zoladz, the writer of the City Paper profile of Emily White, wound up not taking a side:

In the end, [White’s] tale is about both the positive and negative powers of the Internet—its ability to connect people and facilitate musical discoveries, but also the ways it can clog a potentially productive discussion with strawmen, suppositions, and holier-than-thou sanctimony (a representative op-ed title, from Minneapolis’s City Pages: “I Buy More Music Than Emily White, And You Should Too.”)

As great and multivocal as viral online discourse can be, it’s often allergic to nuance, managing to paint people who essentially believe the same things as enemies.

Zoladz’s reasoning seems to be: Emily White is so passionate about music that she actually adores the music made by the people she is stealing from.Therefore, she is not their enemy. And we have reached some kind of new low when an artists expecting compensation for his or her work is accused of holier-than-thou sanctimony. I daresay that Lindsay Zoladz might have expressed some of that self-righteousness had her City Paper editor told her she was not getting paid for the piece she had spent a month writing.

It is illegal and immoral to steal music, and Emily White is a thief. And she is stealing from people who are often the least able to afford it. It’s also immoral to not pay writers. But that’s the world we live in.

Growing up in the nastiest alleys and streets of Cenaria dreaming every minute of better life is how Azoth lives. Day by day wishing for the “wetboy” Durzo Blint to apprentice him so Azoth can escape this dreadful life of fear of being beat up everyday if you don’t pay your share of the dues and also to take care of his best friends Jarl and Doll Girl.

It’s a dark journey for this young boy to have the weight of so much on his shoulders, watching after Doll Girl whom he feels responsible for and leading a group of rag tag homeless kids against people in his own guild let alone all the others trying to take over their territory. Azoth must destroy his enemy, provide a better life for Doll Girl and somehow get the lands deadliest assassin Durzo Blint to notice him and be willing to apprentice him. And that’s all before he reaches his teen years.

“The Way of Shadows” is a rich full book of the life of Azoth later to be named Kylar and his journey to becoming a “wetboy” so he can escape reality. The plot twists are many and the character development is really strong. The relationship between Azoth and Durzo is a special one fraught with love, appreciation, jealousy and master/apprentice dynamics. Durzo becomes like a father to Azoth and trains him to become the best “wetboy” around. Azoth struggles with the solitary life of an assassin and his love for Doll Girl whom he must abandon to keep her from danger but also provides for her in secret. Sacrificing his life to make sure she has one. It’s a love story.

The characters in Azoth/Kylar’s life are very well defined and you develop feelings for them.  From his best friend Jarl from the life he left behind to Logan the Prince and soon to be King whom Kylar at this point befriends out of necessity.  The double life Kylar must live between lower noble to assassin provides plenty of intrigue and a cast of characters that add a lot of flavor to the book especially Momma K.

You have all the great things that go in a good fantasy book in “The Way of Shadows” and very little of anything negative. I don’t want to give anything away in this review but suffice it to say it’s a must read fantasy book. For Brent Weeks first novel this is a very strong effort and I can’t wait to get to the other two books in the series.

Find out more about Brent Weeks at www.brentweeks.com

I really enjoyed this book. With fleshed out characters, lots of action and a smooth writing style, Weeks has done a great job. I liked everything about this book except the end. The pacing was consistent and the plot was very detailed with a lot of twists—something I haven’t seen to that degree in other fantasy novels, although I haven’t read all the novels out there. The characters were varied and the depth to his main characters was believable and sufficiently dark.

With many sub-plots—love stories, exploration of friendships, looking at right and wrong, political intrigue—there was always something happening. I could easily imagine the world, although some of the fight scenes were not clear in my head, but that could just be me.

The ending finished neatly, but for me it was too neat, or maybe it was too sudden—I think I would have liked more of a cliffhanger. I also wonder if the convenience of Kylar coming back from the dead renders all future deaths null. This was the point the book lost some tension, although I still wanted him to catch the Godking. I’m not super inspired to buy the next book in the series to find out what happens, although I will because I love his writing style. Having said that, his writing is exceptional and I doubt you’d find much better in the fantasy genre. I’m giving it 4.5 stars.

Cenaria is not a place you’d like to grow up – but the backstreets, of the worst district, of the most corrupt city in the world, is the place Azoth does. Ruled by a weak, arbitrary king, and effectively run by the Sa’kage, the underworld criminals, Cenaria is rotten to the core, the very epitome of a dog-eat-dog world, and it leaves its mark on many of the characters.

Azoth, orphaned, surviving on the streets in a gang run by a boy who uses rape and cruelty as a means to control other children, is both moulded by his early experiences, and yet defies them. It is the fear and terror of his childhood, the raping of one friend, the deliberate maiming and scarring of another, that drives him to apprentice to Durzo Blint, the best wetboy in the city. The sheer misery and terror of these children’s existence is enough to make a reader want to cry, and this is important, because it’s this background that makes us forgive Azoth’s future as a trained killer.

Blint refuses to train Azoth unless he can kill the boy who tormented him; the nasty piece of work, or ‘twist’ as is the slang in the book, deserves everything he gets and more, but it isn’t an easy task for Azoth. When he completes his task, if too late to save his friends Jarl and ‘Doll Girl’ from their own torments, Blint takes Azoth in, gives him the name Kylar, and teaches him the black trade of death and all the lessons that go with it. Assassins have targets; wetboys have deaders. A wetboy cannot love. Life has no value. Despite the lessons Blint teaches him, Kylar cannot move past the basic decency that led him to share his meagre food with his street-friends. Though he learns to kill, surely, he cannot always take the actions Blint would take, or urges him to take.

Durzo Blint is, at first blush, irredeemable, corrupt, cold-hearted. But the author gives us enough clues to know the man is not as cold and callous as he’d like us to believe, but rather only desperate to ensure everyone does believe he is cold and callous. Bitter experience has taught him love is weakness; if you love someone, they can be used against you, hurt to make you comply. It’s not that Blint doesn’t care; it’s that he dare not let anyone know he cares, and most especially not his enemies.

These two are supported by a host of other characters; Momma K, the retired whore pulling the strings of the city; Count Drake, an example to Kylar that one can turn away from the darkness; Elene, Kylar’s childhood friend ‘Doll Girl’; Logan, the impeccably ethical heir to Duke Gyre; the duke himself; the king, and his family; the prophet, Dorian Ursuul, and his friends, desperate to divert an horrific future; and the God-King Garoth Ursuul, architect of that future.

Of them, Elene and Logan are two least affected by the corruption in Cenaria, but while I admire and like Logan, Elene annoys me. Logan always tries to do the right thing, but doesn’t necessarily expect others to live by his code. Elene, who knows she has been saved from a life of prostitution, poverty and cruelty only by Kylar’s sacrifices, presumes to judge him for the deeds he has committed in making those sacrifices. Where Logan comes across as a pillar of morality, Elene appears only self-righteous and judgemental, and expecting all to live according to the word of her One God. It is hypocrisy to be simultaneously grateful for the life one has, and judge another for the acts committed to give one that life.

The events of the book centre around six magical artefacts called ka’kari, made to fix people who would otherwise be brilliant mages, but who are ‘broken’ and have no way to access their power. As a side effect, the ka’kari also grant immortality. The God-King wants one to extend his rule into eternity; Durzo, blackmailed by the God-King who takes his lover, and later his daughter, hunts one to try and save their lives; Kylar inadvertently calls one to himself because he is broken, but would give it to Durzo if he could. Everyone seems to want it, and no one can get their hands on it, and the price is paid in blood by many.

And so, Durzo and Kylar, loving each other like father and son, are driven against each other. Durzo must take the ka’kari to save his daughter, but doing so means the death of Kylar. Kylar would give it to him if he could, but he can’t, and he must stop Durzo’s end-game or watch his best friend, Logan, die.

Which is the better wetboy? Can either bring themselves to kill the other? What are the secrets Durzo hides, about himself, about Kylar? What is the secret of the ka’kari? What is the conflict between Momma K and Durzo? Plots within plots weave about plots, intrigue within intrigue. Keeping up with all the schemes, who is on whose side, who is betrayer or betrayed, will keep you on your toes and turning the pages.

Though the book is not perfectly written (it is a debut novel), the story is compelling enough, the characters likeable enough, despite all their flaws, and undeniably real enough, to immerse you in the story and have you hanging on to know what happens next.

The emotional importance of Kylar’s and Blint’s relationship and affection for each other could have been cranked up a notch to add to the conflict, but admittedly that’s difficult to do when both are trained killers who conceal their emotions. Nevertheless, a must-read fantasy book, especially if you like assassins!

2011 Suited Chardonnay is your typical Santa Barbara County release: Fruit forward, stainless steel aged, bright and crisp.  A perfect wine to have with your favorite summer salad or fresh fish right off the grill.  Pop a bottle and splash the pot, you’re straight “SUITED”!

Pinup Model Shannon Million and Photographer Melony Farrar of SweetWinkphotography.com teamed up to bring this spicy hot label to fruition.

Book of the Month: The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

Wine of the Month: Million $ Eyeful Cabernet Sauvignon by http://www.sortthisoutcellars.com

photography by Melony Farrar
http://www.sweetwinkphotography.com

www.sortthisoutcellars.com

Not your typical dessert wine, by any means. Great for hot summer days, refreshing and light – not syrupy, this Muscat shows beautiful lemon, orange and honey flavors. Drizzle it over vanilla ice cream or enjoy a glass or two on the porch. World class contemporary pinup model, Dayna Delux sets this label on fire.

Club Fantasci Members Discount: 15% off! Use the code “Book” when ordering online in the coupon section or if by phone just let them know you are with the “Club Fantasci” book club.

Out of state orders (out of california, nevada, arizona or colorado) will need to order via phone.

www.sortthisoutcellars.com

Now I ask that my students please do the following:

Below, you’ll see a comment form. Write a comment using your name (this will be displayed by each comment you make), your email address (this is not displayed publicly), and a comment. Write anything you’d like.If you need a prompt, write what you want to get out of this course, or ask me a question.

You can write mathy things on this forum using the formatting language. A bit more on that here, except that to product inline formulas with (dollar sign, the word latex, the code, followed by a dollar sign). For example, we’ll be doing things like and in this course.

I look forward to seeing all of you in class. Please note that it will always be easy to check out my [Math 90] posthead  by clicking on Math 90 in my pages menu at the top left, or by remembering that link. There will be links to the different pages from the posthead, once there are different pages to link to.

Celia and Marco – unwilling antagonists in a battle of wits between their near-immortal mentors to prove one school of thought better than another. Bound to the challenge by magic, compelled to strive against one another, yet drawn to one another like moths to the flame.

Even now, the day after I finished the book, this is all I can tell you about the book. The story is easily summarised to a line or two, indicating a simplicity of storyline that is rare and not necessarily desirable. The scenes and individual events already blur and fade because they were part of a gradual build to the ending, rather than important events in their own right.

I enjoyed the destination of this book, but the journey often left me flat. Did I like Celia and Marco? In a vague, distant kind of way, yes. Do I feel I know the characters intimately, that I could tell you how they might respond in any given situation? No, not at all – in fact, if I were to describe the characters, I could only do so in vague terms. Was I invested in the outcome? Again, only in a slightly hopeful way.

The book is written in a peculiar fashion, utilising both second person point of view (use of ‘you’ instead of ‘I’, ‘he’, or ‘she’) and omniscient third POV (use of ‘he’ and ‘she’ in a remote fashion, where we feel the story is narrated to us and we are kept at arm’s length from the characters).

I detest the use of second person point of view in this book. It is used, I think, to create the sense the reader is in the circus. It irritated me, and distracted me from the story – not a good thing when I was already hardly invested in the story. Although I concede that the ending, the culmination of the use of second POV, was clever, it was not enough to compensate for its annoyances during the book. Third omniscient POV is what largely kept me from connecting with the characters. Never allowed inside the character’s heads, I never felt I got to know them, never got the chance to live and breathe their lives, their desires, and their fears.

The book uses present tense to compensate for the remote POV (he walks instead of he walked) but this, too is unconventional, as it often distracts the reader or creates a sense of discomfort – we are, by nature, accustomed to telling stories in past tense, even our own stories of each passing day, and use of other tenses can be an uncomfortable experience. I found it distracting and it didn’t sufficiently compensate for the POV.

The book also lacked conflict in my opinion. The main conflict turned out to be Celia’s and Marco’s desire to be rid of the challenge – the tension between what they must do by the rules of the game, and what they want to do. But the rules are so vague, each ‘move’ in the game so abstract (consisting mostly of each of them contributing to the circus by means of magic, adding a new tent or ‘act’ only made possible by magic), that the book is more than half over before the reader starts to gain a sense of this conflict. Other conflicts that might exist between the characters (for example, Celia and Marco’s blossoming romance, or the potential love triangle with Isobel) is negated by the use of omniscient third – we never wonder if Celia’s feelings for Marco are reciprocated because the narrator has already told us they are.

As a result, I found I had nothing to keep me reading except a vague curiosity in where the book was going. If I hadn’t been reading this for Club Fantasci, I may well have stopped in the first 10%. As it was, I was well past halfway before I felt I needed to read to the end. In my opinion, that is far too late.

My strongest reaction was early in the book to Prospero the Enchanter when he slices Celia’s fingers open in a cruel fashion to teach her to heal herself – but the impact of this, even, could have been made more immediate, and a stronger basis for the reader to identify with Celia if another POV had been used. Later, in the story, the emotional impact of this event in her life is played down.

The Black Moment (the moment of crisis, when the reader should catch their breath in fear and anticipation, waiting to see how terribly wrong everything has gone, and if all will be well) had me curious, but hardly emotionally invested to the point I should have been. I did foresee Celia’s plan for ending the game, and although it wasn’t what I wanted to happen, I found the most I could muster at the prospect of an unhappy ending was a mild annoyance.

While the story was different, novel, unique, and had a fabulous atmosphere and mood, I can only say I feel every opportunity for passion, for strong emotion, for the things readers hunger for, was missed. While I was not unhappy with the ending, this is not a story that will stay with me for years to come – or even perhaps past the week.

What I got out of the novel was not what I expected. Although I loved the premise of the book, the book itself didn’t stand up to what it could have been.  Author Erin Morgenstern did turn out a good book for her first novel without a doubt. It has plenty of imagination and creativity. What I felt was missing was any real bond to the characters or any real attachment to the outcome of the love story because that is essential what “The Night Circus” is, a love story.

It starts off with two young children Celia and Marco who are unwittingly looked into a life or death challenge that goes on for their entire life. They know nothing about it, how it works, whom it’s against or when it ends. They just exist and are in a combat of sorts against each other until into their adult hood they start to figure out who their opponents are and the stakes if the challenge is lost.

Along the way, a cast of characters again that you develop no attachment to pepper the story with little bits of their involvement here and there. Two characters die and you don’t really even know or care who they are although they are at least partially integral to the circus itself. The story jumps back and forth in time with nothing but a tiny sub-script line at the top of each chapter to let you know of the time shifts and if you are like me and extremely busy, it becomes very hard to keep that all in order as when I am able to read, I read in spurts and very rarely for hours at a time.

As Celia and Marco grow up and figure out they are pitted against each other in this challenge they had no choice in participating in, they fall in love and of course they have to figure out a way to be together upon discovering that the only way to win the challenge is to be the last to survive. It’s a challenge of endurance, who can last the longest before finally giving up because they can’t bear it anymore emotionally.

I won’t give away the ending but let’s just say it ends very quickly and very anti-climatically. I ended the book thinking to myself how completely unsatisfying it was to read. I do love the premise, I love the potential, but I don’t feel it was reached here. Erin Morgenstern is a talented writer; I think her ability to describe detail is very good. Her imagination is fantastic. I just think this story was a bit rushed and the ending was not thought out well to me. There was not enough character development to care about the outcome and the switching between first and second person was a bit off-putting.

All in all I would give it about three out of 5 stars. I would read another book by the author, but admittedly it would probably be after getting through all my other ones first.

The perfect killer has no friends. Only targets.

For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art. And he is the city’s most accomplished artist, his talents required from alleyway to courtly boudoir.

For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he’s grown up in the slums, and learned the hard way to judge people quickly — and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.

But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins’ world of dangerous politics and strange magics — and cultivate a flair for death.

http://www.brentweeks.com/books/the-night-angel-trilogy/the-way-of-shadows/

The Night Circus is a book that had me thinking it was fairly good until I really thought about what I did and didn’t like about it. I was initially impressed by the original theme and plot, and the writing is bordering on great but didn’t quite get there for me. Morgenstern’s descriptive language provides a rich atmosphere, but the rhythm overall is repetitive and, at times, monotonous.

The editing lets the book down. I know a lack of punctuation can be trendy, or speed up the flow, but only when used effectively. Tim Winton is a skillful writer who knows when to leave out punctuation, but Erin Morgenstern’s editor should be slapped with a wet fish. There were instances where sentences became unclear and I had to read them twice to make sure I understood exactly what they were saying—a comma can be a good thing. I also found a couple of run-on sentences, which a reader probably wouldn’t notice, but as an editor, I couldn’t help but see.

The characters were likable and I could picture them clearly, however they lacked depth and I didn’t love any of them. The love story between two of the characters had moments of intensity, but not enough for my liking (and I don’t mean it should have been more raunchy). It seemed like the author was keeping them apart to build suspense and it worked as I was thinking, come on when will they get to see each other again, but when they did reunite it wasn’t spectacular, it was just OK.

I’m wondering if the focus on the circus took too much focus off the characters. The author has skillfully set the atmosphere and scene but it has come at a cost to character depth. Sometimes I wished she would just get on with telling the story, rather than describe every single tent in the damn circus. The circus stole some of the soul of the characters and none were as central to the story as it was, which I think is a mistake. To me, this book is a good example that characterization can be more important than plot and setting—give me lovable characters and I’d be happy to watch them lazing away on the beach, but give me boring ones and my heart won’t race even if they’re wrestling crocodiles.

OK, I know it seems like I didn’t like the book, but I liked it enough that I wanted to read the whole thing and I did enjoy parts of it, however it doesn’t make my ‘want to re-read’ list.

I know, I know… There are a million bands, authors, actors, small businesses asking for you to spread the word about them, “like” them, vote for them and so on and on. Sometimes we feel like we have to because we don’t want to create trouble because we are friends with so many local talents and if like one but not the other then the drama starts and some times we don’t support at all because we don’t want the drama or we don’t have the time or something similar. With this blog I am not asking you to do anything but support your favorites and only your favorites.  It is not your responsibility or obligation to support anyone except those you chose and no one should get mad at you if you don’t support things you chose not to for any reason at all.

In order for your favorite artist (insert entertainment medium here) to spread the word and create the “buzz,” they need people spreading the word about them as much as possible. Social media is the easiest and cheapest way to do that. So this blog is about that and how you as a fan, friend or family member can do this to maximize their efforts and actually yours as well.

It is very important to the success of any type of entertainer be it musicians, authors, bloggers, actors etc… that their content reach the masses. Since many of you already click like on so much of their stuff would it really take that much extra time to share it? Comment on it on the actual page and not just on Facebook although that does help. All these sites rates posts popularity by how much attention it gets and for it to reach the masses, it needs your attention. So please read this and if you are able to help these people out, please do the extra little bit for your favorite artists etc…

Facebook – With Facebook all these artists should be using a fan page to track their metrics and not a personal page although many haven’t figured this out yet. Facebook recently made it harder for the Fan Pages to get attention by limiting the amount of people seeing posts so they could attract revenue dollars by having people with pages pay to advertise their posts to the audience that had already requested to see the posts by “liking” they page. I know ludicrous but it is Facebooks right to generate revenue so let’s just leave it at that for now. As a fan you need to go to the artists page, hover your mouse over the “like” button and select “show in news feed” to make sure you are getting the info they put out. When you do see the info, please “like” each post, share each post and comment on each post if you can. Remember that statistically only 7% of your audience sees your posts so you are not going to be annoying anyone with these posts and even if you do, so what. It’s your wall and you can choose to support what you wish with out fear of reprisal from others saying you post to much about something or someone. It’s not their business nor is it their wall.

In respect to this, if someone shares a post from a blog or other source, please if you can take the time and do the same on the original post, not just the Facebook one. There are share buttons for Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+ and loads of others. Please share this on your accounts and also comment on this page. It will help drive up the rankings for Google and on what ever other social media site it is on to further increase their exposure.

Twitter – Retweeting is the key here, if you have a twitter account please RT and share any content you can. Learn how to use #hashtags if you are posting on your own about your favorite artist and RTing something.

Pinterest – The latest social media spot. You can keyword on Pinterest to have your pins pop for people looking for things to find or discover such as #music, #movies, #authors etc… You can use any word to describe your pins and hopefully help people discover that artist you think is amazing. You boards also are coded to post in certain categories to which you chose when you create them.

Youtube – Obviously probably the most influential for music and movies so please again “like” the video, share them from the available links and comment on them. Youtube videos go viral from you emailing them to your friends. This especially happens from the teenagers and young adults. Don’t forget to help out with that. Maybe you can help create a viral campaign for your favorite artist.

Blogs – With people who blog, it is important to realize that like with WordPress, the more views, comments and star ratings a blog gets the more likely it is to be featured on the home page. This is a big deal for bloggers or artists using blogging sites for their main web pages. Please take the time to make sure you comment, rate with the star system, like and share from here as well. You can cut and paste your comment from Facebook to here to make it easier. It’s not that hard or time consuming and is a huge help to the author of the blog. Please make sure you also follow the blog. This way you can get all the updates to better help you spread the word and keep on top of the latest news.

Because of all the social media coming at you, the requests, the endless number of bands, singers, authors, writers, radio shows etc… asking everyone to do these things, it is important for you as the fan to really chose whom you want to support and help them stand out from the rest of the white noise out there on social media.

Everyone is trying to get noticed and draw attention to themselves, their show, their blog or whatever. That is fine. That is what they are supposed to do and there are many great ones out there, but you individually can’t do it for all of them. Chose your favorites and help make a difference for that artist. They need your support now more than ever as there is so much out there now, it is very hard to get people to notice you.

From the bottom of all of our hearts as entertainment people, THANK YOU for all that you do. None of it is worth it without you and no one could do it without you either. So again thank you for all of your past, present and future support from all of us.

Regards,

The Entertainment World.

P.S. A special shout out to Michelle Holland for being the embodiment of this message in her support of Richie Kotzen.

Read more here…

http://mariamkobras.blogspot.de/2012/08/books-wine-and-music-club-fantasci.html

If so then Club Fantasci is the book club for you.  A little different from your average meet once a month at the coffee shop book club, Club Fantasci meets once a month on Google+ and we talk about the Book of the Month, Wine of the Month and the music that each host feels best relates to the book we are reviewing that month.

In Club Fantasci we will discuss speculative fiction and it literary merits. The marketing of it, its effectiveness, and whether or not it shifts to much from it expected outcome from it genre. We wants to bring our members a deeper understanding of not just story telling, but what goes into the book itself on every level.

Our first Google+ hangout is August 31^st at 7:00 pm CST. You can interact with us on our individual twitter accounts @lowryagency, @ciaraballintyne, @dionnelisterand @ShannonMillion to discuss your views on the book or just to have fun with us live. The video feed will be live on the Club Fantasci website.

Read more here…

http://dawnmkirby.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/not-your-traditional-book-club/

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Join Clube Fantasci and explore the deepest corners of your imagination.

How do you travel? By car, bus, boat, train or plane? Or… by paper and ink, or ereader, teemed with your imagination?

Where do you travel? Venice, Rome, London, New York? Or to the dark emptiness of space, where a vast planet curves out of sight in the vista below you? To a fantastical world where dragons fly, and sunlight pours like syrup?

I have been to hundreds of worlds I could never reach by car or plane, carried by the wings of fancy, aided by the dreams of someone else, written down and shared. I have walked the earth of planets far away, in our galaxy or another, and strode across the landscape of imagination to face the hordes of evil. Without speculative fiction, my life would be immeasurably poorer.

If this sounds like you, you should check out Club Fantasci, a new video book club for speculative fiction. The hosts meet monthly via Google+ Hangout to discuss the book, and you can tune in to watch. You get your say on the discussion boards for the group at Goodreads! There’s a current debate about what ‘traditional fantasy’ means exactly (in a situation where high/epic fantasy is a different category) so come along and have your say. My current view is it might be sword and sorcery, or possibly heroic fantasy. Do you know?

The first G+ Hangout is on 31 August at 7:00pm CST, and the Book of the Month for August is ‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern. Feel free to drop by our Facebook Page or Goodreads group and make suggestions for future books. I’ll be revealing September’s Book of the Month at the August G+ Hangout.

Read more here…

http://www.amberrisme.com/2012/08/26/how-do-you-travel-explore-club-fantasci-and-your-deepest-imagination/#

I have. In fact, it was the Harry Potter debate that did me in. I still staunchly maintain those are not dragons. They’re wyverns – of the pterosaur variety. I see you nodding in agreement… We understand each other.

But ten years later, my friends still remember that incident. Don’t start on the dragons again, they say. Or the other objection I encounter is ‘You do know dragons aren’t real, right?’ So what? Why does that matter? The mythology, and even more recently, the fantasy classifications, do exist.

If you know what I’m talking about, you should check out Club Fantasci, a new video book club for speculative fiction. We’ll be discussing the literary merits of each selected book, but also the extent to which a book deviates from or meets genre expectations – anything and everything that impacts on a book’s effectiveness. The hosts meet monthly via Google+ Hangout to discuss the book, and you can tune in to watch. You get your say on the discussion boards for the group at Goodreads!

The first G+ Hangout is on 31 August at 7:00pm CST, and the Book of the Month for August is ‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern. Feel free to drop by our Facebook Page or Goodreads group and make suggestions for future books. I’ll be revealing September’s Book of the Month at the August G+ Hangout.

Read more here….

http://www.safireblade.com/?p=5693

Want some Exotic With Your Erotic?

Do you like spaceships with your erotica? Beautiful, non-human sirens to tempt your hero?

I confess I am a relative newcomer to the genre of erotica. My early forays left me feeling a bit flat. Some of them (not D.C.’s of course!) seemed to revolve entirely around the sex. Now I understand that’s what erotica means (I’m not that silly), but where was the story? Surely this was supposed to be a story with sex, not just…um…. pointless, repetitive sex?

Read more here…

http://dcmcmillen.com/2012/08/24/friday-spotlight-ciara-ballantyne-puts-exotic-in-erotic/

And it’s not just the way we read books that is changing with technology.

Once upon a time, a book club would meet at a location, with paperbacks in hand, to discuss the literary merits of the book of the month. There might be coffee and cake. Or maybe wine, depending on the time of the meeting.

Now we have video book clubs, where the ‘hosts’ meet via video link-up of some kind – Skype, or Google+ Hangout. I’m sure there are others with which I’m unfamiliar. Members can interact via a discussion board. Now, people who have never met face to face, may never meet face to face, and could never have participated in the same book club, are meeting to talk about books. Because of technology, the internet, websites and forums like Goodreads, and innovations like online video link-ups.

Read more here….

http://hmjacobs.com/guest-blog-the-evolution-of-reading-by-ciara-ballintyne/