Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Randomness

This post may start a half dozen times, I don't know for sure and I apologize in advance.

First off, in the shameless self promotion part of the blog, my story The Ghosts of Cheyenne Trail is featured in the Library of the Living Dead Anthology, The Zombist, Undead Western Tales. I have to say, and I am probably prejudiced, but I love this story. I was only introduced to what zombie fiction could be last year and I have tried to make the most of it without making it a cliche that almost all creature horror seems to have become. I believe it is also available on Kindle if you have one. Just look up Zombist.

In other news, my wife picked me up a copy of Cujo by Stephen King earlier this year. It is one of the few early King books that I hadn't already read. I am beginning to think there is a reason for this. It is not that it is a bad story, but the way he put it together is a far cry from what he has put out in the past. I don't know if he turned off his internal editor and decided to leave in a bunch of information that doesn't seem relevant to the story just so he could make pages and not have a novella or if he is going somewhere with all of this extra stuff, to put it lightly.  Maybe it is just me and I am being a little picky at the moment. I just got done reading Michael Crichton's last book (the one they found in his files after he died) Pirate Latitudes. It was not the polished storytelling that I was used to from Crichton. Again, it wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't quite done I felt. The paragraphs seemed choppy and the characters undeveloped. I have a feeling it was in his files for a reason and he died before his vision for the story completed itself. I have the same feeling for King's story. Something is off in it and I can't quite put my finger on it yet. I will know more when I finish.

Lastly, on the whole Leisure books ebook/POD thing. I know that bookmakers need to make themselves more profitable. The old paperback waste was just that, a waste. I can understand that they have to do something with unbought paperbacks and the way they do returns on them is to tear the front cover off and send that back to the publisher and destroy the remaining pages. It is horribly inefficient but more cost effective than actually returning the books. Something needed to be done with this. I would have been for marking the books down myself, but they didn't see it that way. I don't know what the answer is but I have a feeling the turbulent times in publishing are far from over.

16 comments:

Barry Napier said...

well remember...the thing about Cujo...king has admitted that he was drunk and on coke when he wrote it. he doesn't even remember writing it.

Jeremy D Brooks said...

King said (I think it was in On Writing) that he was drinking so much at that point that he literally did not remember writing Cujo. That's scarier than a posessed dog.

Jeremy D Brooks said...

Gah...see, that's what I get for commenting without reading first. Sorry, Barry.

Jamie Eyberg said...

Barry, it has that 'high' feeling to it. It doesn't have chapters and a ton of characters, many of which feel the same. Not bad, just not his best.

Jeremy, That is a scary thought.

Katey said...

Yeah, what they said. Totally scary, huh?

Crichton was always really polished, so I can see how that'd be weird. I never liked him too much because his characters felt cardboardy, but I always got sucked in by the pace and sheer amounts of interesting information.

Congrats on the zombie antho-- looks like great fun!

Fox Lee said...

I loved Cujo : ) Then again, I like taking the winding road if it's done well. A bit of a literary ramble, if you will.

Bobbie Metevier said...

Cujo doesn't use chapters, if I remember correctly. I liked the book, but it doesn't stand out for me as his best.

I believe Cujo--much like Misery--was written under the influence.

Cate Gardner said...

Congratulations. The cover is fantastic, plus it's zombies, and I can't resist dead folk.

Aaron Polson said...

Nice cover shot--congrats. As for Cujo, I'm the guy who has only read two King books, remember. Not sure I'll be reading that one any time soon.

Jamie Eyberg said...

Katey, M.C. was a scientist who told an interesting tale, that is for sure.

Nat, a literary ramble is a perfect way to cast this story.

Bobby, I always considered The Tommyknockers (which stunk on ice)to be his most under the influence book, at least until this one. I loved Misery.

Cate, I can't wait to get my copy later this week and then I will tell you what I think of the rest of it. I have high hopes.

Aaron, there are so many excellent writers out there that you can't read them all- but you can sure try. ;) I think I would pass on this one though. go for Misery instead.

Bobbie Metevier said...

I forgot to say congrats on Zombist!

Library is a relatively new publisher. Tell us what they're like to work with . . .

I liked Cujo. I liked Tommy Knockers, too. TK had this crazy 50s creature vibe, minus the creatures. I think King mentioned being stoned out of his mind when writing Cujo and Misery. I also liked Misery, btw.

Cheers!

K.C. Shaw said...

That looks like an awesome anthology! I like the cover. Congrats!

Jamie Eyberg said...

Bobby, this is my second story to come out from the Library. So far, so good. I can't complain. Barry would know more than me, his book Debris was through them and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

K.C., Thanks. My dad wasn't real sure about that cover, and I haven't shown it to my mom yet. My brother, on the other hand, thought it was pretty freakin' cool.

Danielle Birch said...

Congrats! Great cover shot.

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