A worthwhile method for seasoned writers to try.
An accomplished novelist shows writers how to conjure creativity in this writers’ guide.
Shamanic practitioner Graham (Son of the Sea, Daughter of the Sun, 2019, etc.) has authored several well-received novels, and in this nonfiction work, he draws on principles from the ancient practice of “runecasting” to give other writers a tool that isn’t found in typical, craft-oriented writing guides. His system clearly isn’t intended for beginning writers, as it skips fundamentals and plunges into more advanced challenges, such as deciding what should happen to a character, rather than how to create them. Runecasting, he says, is a psychological method that can unlock stalemates in a writer’s mind by accessing thoughts in the subconscious. The practice, he says, derives from Viking culture, in which runecasting—usually done with cards, stones, or tiles—was a way to seek guidance from the gods. Each of the 24 characters in the runic alphabet carries symbolic meaning; using Graham’s method, a writer formulates a story-related question, casts the runes, and interprets their insights. One may be forewarned, for example, that unless a character changes his ways, he’s headed toward a trap. Although this book is fewer than 150 pages in length, it’s certainly not a quick or breezy read. Readers who may be tempted to skip around the manual will find it similar to falling asleep during a movie: When one wakes up, the story no longer makes sense. Graham illustrates his rune-card reading with sample layouts, and provides interpretations based on specific story ideas that he proposes. Each of these scenarios are richly imagined and easy to understand, but writers shouldn’t go into this book expecting a simple formula for how to write. Runecasting requires writers to do the heavy lifting of interpreting the messages that they receive. The author does note that the overall concept of his book may strike some readers as “a bit woo-woo.” However, he does offer an intriguing way for readers to ward off what every author dreads: writer’s block. That, in and of itself, makes the book invaluable.
A worthwhile method for seasoned writers to try.Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2020
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 116
Publisher: Erulian Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorker staff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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