What is a Book You are Currently Reading?

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I am always interested in hearing what books other people are reading, and the blogging world has many interesting, intelligent, and engaging people in it. I am lucky to have met many of you through this blog.

I usually have several books going at one time, so I will mention that I am rereading Stephen King’s Hearts In Atlantis, which I am teaching in my Contemporary Fiction class at the Wescoe School of Muhlenberg College. I am also reading The View From the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman and Aggravated Momentum by Didi Oviatt.

So, what are you reading?

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Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

The book trailer:

Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I

My radio interview:

interview

Favorite Science-Fiction Films: A Trip to the Moon (1902)

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I teach a course for the Wescoe School at Muhlenberg College: English 255 Literature & Film, which makes me very happy, because I am able to look at both literature and film, both media which I love. In one of the lectures for the class on film history, I speak to the earliest examples of cinema.

One of the first movies is also a science-fiction film: A Trip to the Moon (La Voyage Dans La Lune). Georges Méliès, one of the innovators of cinema, was the director, and he based the film, at least loosely, on Jules Verne’s novel From The Earth To The Moon (1865).

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This movie is revolutionary not only in its being an early example of cinema but also in the treatment of science-fiction. Human beings have been explorers for the entirety of our existence, and this movie suggests that it was possible to move our journeys from the Earth to other worlds, a concept that informs our science-fiction cinema from the beginnings to our current films.

The plot shows scientists explaining how to get to the moon, the trip there, including a spaceship being shot out of a cannon, landing on the moon, being chased by inhabitants of the moon, and finally escaping back to Earth. This film explores adventure, imagination, advances in technology, and human potential.

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This movie is usually considered by critics to be one of the most important in film history. It can be seen at https://archive.org/details/ATripToTheMoon1902 . If you are interested in the history of film and science-fiction, you should see this important historic and artistic film artifact.

The film runs, depending on the print from about 10-15 minutes.

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Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

The book trailer:

Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I

My radio interview:

interview

A New Review of Maledicus: The Investigative Paranormal Society Book I

“I highly recommend the book Maledicus by author Charles French. I found it riveting and excellent! Can’t wait for the next one!”

                                                          Kathi Christman Janton

I want to thank Kathi Christman Janton for her wonderful review of my book, which she posted on Facebook.

 

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

The book trailer:

Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I

My radio interview:

interview

Liebster Award!

Thank you very much to Angie Dokos for nominating me for the Liebster Award! It is always an honor to be recognized by other bloggers, so I am happy and humbled. Please visit Angie Dokos at https://angiedokos.wordpress.com and you will find a lively, intelligent, and entertaining blog.

The Rules:

• Say thank you to the person who nominated you for the award.
• Answer the 11 questions you have been asked.
• Nominate and notify 11 bloggers for the award.
• Ask those you have nominated 11 questions.

The Questions:

1. Why did you choose book blogging over something else?

Actually, I blog about books, writing, film, tv, quotations, and anything else that comes to mind!

2. What is one thing you’re really passionate about beside books?

I love to learn about the world, in a myriad of aspects. This includes philosophy, art, physics (although I do not have great math skills), and many other areas of exploration.

3. Have your reading tastes changed over the years?

Not counting being very young, I have always loved reading a wide variety of kinds of books.

4. What is your favorite vacation spot?

Either going to a lake or for a vacation of the future–going to Italy!

5. Do you collect anything (other than books)?

I have a collection of odd knick-knacks related to books, superheroes, and fishing.

6. What has been your favorite book so far this year?

I reread The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, and it remains one of my favorite books!

7. What is one law you would change if you could?

I would have all states have immediate voter registration as people turn 18. Voting should be inclusive not exclusive.

8. If you had to donate money to a charity, which one would you choose?

To Teddy Atlas’ foundation — The Dr. Theodore A. Atlas Foundation — which serves the needy in New York. It is not well known,  but he does extraordinary work with this charity.

9. What is your favorite genre to read?

This is difficult, since I love so many, but if I had to choose, it would be Gothic.

10. What is your dream car?

A reconditioned 1967 Volkswagon Beetle!

11. What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?

I finally finished my Ph.D. in English Literature several years ago.

My nominees:

K. D. Dowdall   https://karendowdall.com/

Sarah Higbee  https://sjhigbee.wordpress.com/

Chape  https://chapeblog.com/

Shehanne Moore  https://shehannemoore.wordpress.com/

Yinglan  https://yzhengblog.wordpress.com

David Prosser  https://barsetshirediaries.wordpress.com

Jeanne  https://seasonsapoeticjourney.com/

Annette Rochelle Aben  https://annetterochelleaben.wordpress.com/

Esther  https://femiiesther.wordpress.com

pjlazos  https://greenlifebluewater.wordpress.com/eco/

KSBeth   https://ididnthavemyglasseson.com/

The Questions:

1.) What is your favorite, or one of your favorite, movies?

2.) What is your favorite breakfast?

3.) What was the last live performance of a play that you attended?

4.) Are you a day or night person?

5.) Are you writing something now? If so, what are you writing?

6.) What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

7.) Is there a book that you reread?

8.) Where would you like to visit that you have not yet gone to?

9.) Do you have a historical time period with which you are fascinated?

10.) What is your favorite season of the year?

11.) Do you prefer coffee or tea?

 

Again, I thank Angie Dokos for nominating me for the Liebster Award.

 

 

Stephen King’s Quotations on Writing

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“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.”

 

“Let me say it again: You must not come lightly to the blank page.”

 

All quotations from:

King, Stephen On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft 10th Anniversary Edition. 

Writing Progess: An Update

It has been a long time since I have done a post about my writing progress, so I thought I would mention what I am doing. I self-published Maledicus: The Investigative Paranormal Society, Book I last October. Since then, I completed what I hope is a very good draft  — draft 4 — of my YA novel, The Ameriad: The Monastery of Knowledge, which I am in the process of submitting to agents and editors.

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I am close to being done with draft 1 of Gallow’s Hill: The Investigative Paranormal Society, Book II. My goal is to have the initial draft done this coming week, and then I will do heavily focused revisions, one after another over the next couple of months.  I hope to release it in October.

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I also should be able to release a Spanish language version of Maledicus: The Investigative Paranormal Society, Book I  in October. And I am looking into an audible edition.

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When I am done with these projects, then I will work on one of two books I have already drafted and need revisions. Plus, I have many other tales waiting their turns to be written.

 

 

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

The book trailer:

Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I

My radio interview:

interview

Neil Gaiman’s The View From The Cheap Seats: An Early Recommendation

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I do not usually recommend books before I finish them, but I will make an exception now. I have begun reading The View From the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman, and I am taken with it. In this book, Gaiman discusses a variety of topics, including books, reading, and writing, and he does it with great perspective, wit, and insight.

Here are a couple of selected quotations from this book:

 

“We writers–and especially writers for children, but all writers–have an obligation to our readers: it’s the obligation to write true things, especially important when we are creating tales of people who do not exist in places that never were–to understand that truth is not in what happens but in what it tells us about who we are. Fiction is the lie that tells the truth, after all.” (13)

“Albert Einstein was asked once how we could make our children intelligent. His reply was both simple and wise. ‘If you want your children to be intelligent,’ he said, ‘read them fairy tales. It you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.'” (15)

 

As I said, I have barely begun this book, but I am thoroughly enjoying it, and I recommend it highly. Read his book to explore a great writer’s thoughts on writing, books, fantasy, and more.

 

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