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Now Available:
INTO THE CRUEL SEA: A Tale of Abuse, Bermuda, and Mer-Man Violence!

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http://www.davidtwilbanks.com

I'm reviewing three books - the novel A GHOST STORY by Keith Latch, the collection WINDS OF CHANGE by Jason Brannon, and the anthology SHADOW REGIONS by Cesar Puch - plus answering listener email!

more than one book? Your segment get expanded, Scott?

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Now Available:
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We don't really have a specific amount of time scheduled for each segment on PoH.

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http://www.davidtwilbanks.com

Our feature interview is Tom Monteleone.

He's freakin' hilarious.

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http://www.markjustice.blogspot.com

Man, you guys don't stop, do you? That's got to be a good interview. I mean, besides being a good writer, how many careers did that guy launch as an anthology editor?

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I read a book that he co-wrote with John DeChancie, called Crooked House. It was good. DeChancie by the way was the author I was teamed up with when I took the Writer's Digest Novel Writing Course. The most excited day of my life was when I got a response from him, after sending in my plot outline for the novel I was writing. He wrote back, and said that he reread it several times and was "stunned every time". He also said that he had "never encountered anything quite like it". And the part I was most excited about was when he wrote that it was "probably the most inventive piece of plotting and story construction I've ever seen, bar none." I reread that letter whenever I get too down on my writting abilities. I finished the first draft of the novel, but the rewritting has pretty much killed it. I just can't get into starting over at the beginning on something that took me several years to write. If I ever get anything published anywhere though, DeChancie will get a copy sent to him, in thanks for his help and encouragment.

Every writer, at every stage of the game, always needs some form of validation. It keeps us from thinking that we're nuts for wanting to spend so much time alone and antisocial, which is a functional neccessity when it comest to writing. So, keep on keeping on. Matt, Glad you got a good interaction, because sometimes, those writerly events can be horrible affairs -- for example, poets Timothy Lui and David St. John are, from what I heard from people who've studied with them, grade A bastards for always having the attitude that they're better than their students. Just hearing that makes me want to not buy their books as a form of protest.

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Now Available:
INTO THE CRUEL SEA: A Tale of Abuse, Bermuda, and Mer-Man Violence!

http://www.skullvines.com/main/page_bookstore.html

DeChancie is the only published writer I've ever dealt with, so I guess I got lucky. He couldn't have been a better instructor. He gave me advice, told things that I should work on, and presented lots of encouragment. I feel I owe him alot. The novel was only the second thing that I had ever written, so I easily could have gotten discouraged enough to quit altogether if the experience had been a bad one.

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Ken

Hey Scott,
I think is would qualify for a "Smack Down Challenge" but I am not the smackin' kind...still, could you say a few words about why I should read Laymon? I read The Cellar and found it completely lacking in atmosphere 'n all those other fancy things. And I didn't care about the characters at all, because I didn't think we really got to know them. Are there better Laymon books? Or have you already talked about him in a past POH, maybe I can just dig that up...pretty new to POH and have only heard the ones since October 06. Thanks for any help you can give! I love POH and can't wait until ep. 29!

Blessings,

ing

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If you judge people, you have no time to love them. - Mother Teresa

Ing -

Thanks for writing - sorry I didn't see this post sooner - and we have SORT OF addressed this on past POH's. Which is to say - I am a Laymon fan, and I, in fact, reviewed the Leisure reissue of THE CELLAR awhile back (can't remember the exact episode - I think it was the one BEFORE the episode I reviewed HANNIBAL RISING, which was the last one of 2006, but I could be wrong).

I think one of the things to keep in mind about Laymon is that he's most definitely a down-n-dirty kinda' writer...if his books were movies, they would be squarely labelled "grindhouse" or "exploitation"...but in a GOOD way!

And, personally, I think the guy's technique was (he passed away a few years ago, RIP) so good that one of his biggest strengths is that he made it look so damn effortless and easy...when it's actually really tough (or you have to be at the absolute top of your game) to write such high velocity prose (Jack Ketchum is another I would put in that category).

I'd say if you didn't like THE CELLAR, you might not care for his books, although he was prolific and I honeslty haven't read everything. Mark - I know you're a big Laymon fan (and, I believe, contributing to the tribute anthology, IN LAYMON'S TERMS, yes?) - do you have any feedback on Ing's question?

Cheers!

SB

Ing,

I've only read two Laymon books, but as far as characters, I sort of found them "night and day." One of them is the aforementioned The Cellar. The other, The Traveling Vampire Show. I really enjoyed both books, however, so if you didn't enjoy one, you might not enjoy the other.

In The Cellar, I found the characters quite often doing completely unbelievable shit. For instance at the end of the book, the lead character, instead of taking the opportunity to get the hell out of Beast House like any other normal human being would do, she instead charges after the beast and her love interest screaming and brandishing her rifle. Like she suddenly turned into Ramboette. Completely unrealistic. There was a lot of that type of nonsense in that book.

I've heard that this is sort of a trademark in many Laymon books.

The Traveling Vampire Show, however, was pretty much devoid of this "feature." I found the characterization to be wonderful. The three main characters really came off the page. They were teenagers, and I found them to be very realistic, particularly the awkward budding romance between two of them. It was often very touching and brought back funny, goofy, painful memories of those teenage years.

I'd suggest trying The Traveling Vampire Show, despite your lack of enjoyment from The Cellar. If that one doesn't do anything for you either, then maybe Laymon isn't for you.

Hope this helps.

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Ken

You can also try Night in the Lonesome October, another great Laymon book.

I once interviewed Laymon and told him that his books reminded me of the lower half of a double bill at a drive-in theater. He was delighted, telling me that's exactly the feeling he was going for.

Laymon is one of my favorite writers. But I know what I'm getting into when I read his book: a fun, fast romp.

His writing work for a lot of people, and I understand that, too.

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http://www.markjustice.blogspot.com