Yeah, that's what I was thinking of. I don't remember what meeting I was supposed to make, but I guess I must not have been on time. No idea when in the Fall for the book. That's a long way off...

Hey, JF, have you ever read Woody Allen's short-short "Count Dracula"? It's in one of his collections (mostly stuff reprinted from The New Yorker)? Laugh-out-loud funny, and something I've never forgotten. The rest of the stories are funny, too.

"Dawn was beautiful. The fiery tendrils of morning crimson bathed me in their warm glow. The sun, with typical brilliance, cast its loving gaze in my direction. Had I been alive, I would have turned to face it with joy, or more likely put on my shades to prevent my usual hangover from getting worse. Either way, I wouldn't have fallen out of the sky and into the woods on account of it.

Hey, Lewis -- remember me? You took me on a walking tour of Denver. I mean, you showed me how to find the "other" hotel and the sifwa suit. We bought a copy of "Staked" at the B&N along the way. Anyway, I finally got around to reading it. Very entertaining! Keep 'em coming.

That said, JF, since vampires are back big and you write vampire novels, I highly recommend selling out to Hollywood ASAP and complaining about the results later from the privacy of your own mansion. ;-)

I remember seeing THE ILLUSIONIST and THE PRESTIGE in the movie theater around the same time, and while I remember THE ILLUSIONIST being superior, heck if I can remember anything about it. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing more movies in the new MAGICIAN GENRE. One thing I remember about both movies -- they had actual plots, unlike most movies nowadays. I'm all for the new ACTUAL PLOTS GENRE.
edited by Jeffhaas on 11/24/2008

"My memory really sucks, but even so, I knew that I had never encountered this kind of problem in my living years. What was it about vampires that attracted these women? Surely they couldn't all be necrophiliacs. When I'd died I had been in my thirties. I didn't remember much, but I did recall that I hadn't been particularly handsome. I wasn't Quasimodo either, but..."

Well, now, getting the boot from the church is a start. Now, if you can get some of the church members to burn copies of your book, get them removed from the local public and school libraries, start a nationwide ban, then you'll have a sure-fire bestseller. Worked for Rowling, not to mention J.D. Salinger, Where's Waldo (find the naked sunbather!) and Galileo.

I've started it - only read about 10% so far, but pretty entertaining already.

iI liked the Ed Norton movie, THE ILLUSIONIST, which was pretty much killed by coming out at the same time as THE PRESTIGE, considerably better than THE PRESTIGE, which I actually didn't much care for.

As somebody who's actually read the book, I can say with confidence that its publication isn't likely to bring about the End Times. It's a damn good book. Mr. Lewis has a way with sentences.

bluetyson wrote:


Heh. I remember a book I read as a kid, swiped from my Dad's collection, that didn't have the vampires or werewolves but did - as I found out only recently - happen to be written by Robert Silverberg under a pen name (this would be circa early to mid 1960s). Rather tame by today's standards, but definitely not aimed at kids.

The book, by Christopher Priest, won the 1996 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. Yeah, it's good. The ending (and the overall framing story - it's epistolary) is different from the movie. There are some common elements but there's also a large fantasy/supernatural element that's missing from the film, and it's tied up better.

Fortunately, I hadn't known that anyone was playing Tesla in the movie, so I didn't figure out until a few minutes before the reveal. I take it you hadn't read the book? I know some folks who'd read the book didn't like the movie, but I didn't read it until after I'd seen the film and enjoyed both. Some concepts and plot threads are the same, but they're quite different overall. You can still be surprised by the book if you've seen the movie, I don't think the reverse is true. One of my boys has a keen interest in stage magic, but at ten I'm not sure he's ready for the movie.

As an aside, being in editor-mode totally ruined the movie, The Prestige, for me. We were watching the opening credits and I elbowed my buddy and said, "Isn't David Bowie playing Tesla in this movie?"

"Yes."

"I should never go see movies when I'm editting."

"Why?"

"Because I know where all these hats came from."

In retrospect it was funny, but I just couldn't stop analyzing the movie and figuring out things I wasn't supposed to have figured out yet. I *like* figuring things out a few minutes before the reveal, but not a full hour or so in advance and certainly not while the opening credits are still rolling.

Wish when I was a little kid more people wrote books about vampire strippers and fighting werewolves and tantric sex aimed at me, that is for sure!

That's all fine and dandy. The vampires of England will be happy that you're not in competition with them. However, inquiring minds want to know. Were you born in the land of Brobdingnag? Have you ever partied with Gargantua and Pantagruel? Are the Norse gods, Thor in particular, always threatening to kick your ass?

And for the record, you are kind of a giant. Just so you know.

T. Kosmo wrote:


Flatterer!

(And for the record, it's Jeremy, not Mr. Lewis, but you knew that. ;P )

They would have just stoned you!?! What is that like "No body throws a stone until I blow this whistle. Even if they do say Jehovah."

That is cold.

Oh well - in the aftermath of the whole mess, I hope you do not stay upset for very long - because I doubt that it is easy on you to be thrown out of somewhere you thought you belong.

As somebody who's actually read the book, I can say with confidence that its publication isn't likely to bring about the End Times. It's a damn good book. Mr. Lewis has a way with sentences.

Well - they seem to apply it partly and once it is started, you never know when and if there will be a line... This lurks so deeply in the gray areas that going into the black ones is as easy as counting to 2... And had they ever answered your "where is the line?" question? Because I will be curious to hear an answer.

Most of the urban fantasy (or whatever they call the genre now) is not for kids anyway - straight A or not. The books that are truly YA are more an exception than a rule.

Not that most kids will ask what they should read - I know that noone cared what I read...

"They don't believe it's possible to depict a scene that deals with something they'd consider sinful without being guilty of/committing the sin yourself..."
So let me get this straight - if you describe a murder in a book, you are as guilty in front of God as if you had performed it? Yeah - nice philosophy.

They could be referring to sex and foul language. Matthew 5:28 "But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart" is taken by some Christian groups to mean that writing sex would mean imagining it and therefore a sin. Or it could put the image in another's head and draw them to sin. Bathing suits and such can also be forbidden in some denominations for similar reasons. (I believe there are churches that are equal-gender about this and would prefer men not take their shirts off in public)

Being rough working men, for the most part, I'd hate to think what kind of language the Apostles used among themselves...

Hey Mr. Lewis, you were also excommunicated from the reading material of my just turned twelve year old niece!

She is very much into the gothic noir so I sent her two of the Twilight books and your very own Staked for her birthday.

My sister said she thought Staked was a little too mature for her youngest daughter so it now resides in a upstairs
closet until that day...

The niece in question is a straight 'A' student, by the way.

Sounds like a misunderstanding, but how odd. I'm wondering if they're just not used to fiction writing. Because when you write fiction it's quite likely some characters will do or believe things you don't. If that never happens you run the risk of getting a bit propagandistic or bland. Orson Scott Card has written works where men make out with men without any real negative consequence, but he is highly intense in his agreement to the Mormon faith's views on sexuality.

Probably not. Nor have they tried to ban my book, AFAIK. They just wouldn't let me, having written it, remain a member. In their view, by writing the book, I committed the sins contained within it. They also felt that I'd aimed the novel at young children (which boggles the mind) and that it teaches and encourages the use of vulgar language. Though I disagree wholeheartedly with their decision, I can't really say they took the action they took in order to be mean... they appear to have been acting out of genuine concern.

Wish when I was a little kid more people wrote books about vampire strippers and fighting werewolves and tantric sex aimed at me, that is for sure!

Yeah, 'cause you know, that young kids are instantly drawn to books where the model on the cover has legs up to her neck. Ha!

Of course, I think that might be how the crowd around these here parts got started on their Heinlein.

They also felt that I'd aimed the novel at young children (which boggles the mind) and that it teaches and encourages the use of vulgar language. Though I disagree wholeheartedly with their decision, I can't really say they took the action they took in order to be mean... they appear to have been acting out of genuine concern.

Hmmm. Did your church want to ban Harry Potter on the grounds it was promoting witchcraft?

Is that a Chris McGrath cover, by the way? Pole dancer and all? It looks a bit like it.

J.F., Welcome - if a church cannot accept a book, you are better without it anyway, aren't you

Welcome - if a church cannot accept a book, you are better without it anyway, aren't you

Yes, very "...talk of the Devil, and he's presently at your elbow."

Thanks for having me.

Nah, not Salem. I live in Birmingham, Alabama.

There's a number of churches I wouldn't mind being excommunicated from. That means they don't come knocking on your door or leaving flyers all over the place, doesn't it?

(For that matter, she ought to know that there's an Afterlife, since she's met ghosts.)

Sounds like J.F. is holding up okay in the face of his excommunication...