Posts Tagged ‘Dean Samways’
Writer and creator of The Wire back on the beat
David Simon, creator of The Wire
Celebrated creator of the much loved hit US police drama The Wire (The Guardian’s live blog on all five series) has returned to his journalistic roots to investigate crime in Baltimore, the setting of the HBO series.
Writer and journalist David Simon was reportedly unhappy with the Baltimore Sun‘s coverage of a police shooting which reported that “one old police reporter [Simon] lost his mind and began making calls” following a handful of unsatisfactory stories.
You would have thought the Baltimore police would have learnt it’s lesson after five series of The Wire but Simon was denied the face sheet of the shooting report.
David Simon said: “I tried to explain the Maryland statutes to the shift commander, but so long had it been since a reporter had demanded a public document that he stared at me as if I were an emissary from some lost and utterly alien world. Which is, sadly enough, exactly true.”
Have a look see what Charlie Brooker thinks of The Wire below:
Discussion:
Has the Wire inspired anyone to try their hand at screenplay writing? Does anyone enjoy writing about crime, and why? Let us know what you think of The Wire.
Words: Dean Samways
Ones to read in 2009
Richard Milward author of Ten Storey Love Song, one of Waterstones' New Voices of 2009
In true eagle-eyed Scribbler enthusiasm, we have sought out – with the help of Waterstones – the writers we all need to look out for and read this year.
The high street booksellers, Waterstone’s this week announced its New Voices for 2009, the books from emerging writers that the chain believes will go on to feature in and possibly win the literary awards of the year.
Incredibly half the choices came from independent publishers, including A Kind of Intimacy, a debut by prison librarian Jenn Ashworth which is being compared to Notes on a Scandal, and Ablutions by Patrick DeWitt.
Waterstone’s fiction category manager, Toby Bourne said: “There are a huge number of novels published every year and it is very difficult to say which will strike awards gold and which will not, but we had a fantastic hit rate last year.”
Included in 2008’s selection were Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger which went on to win the Man Booker, Sadie Jones’ The Outcast, which was awarded the Costa First Novel Award, and other novels that made Richard & Judy’s Book Club (bleurgh!) and other awards shortlists.
“Even more so than last year, debut fiction dominates our list, with only the precociously talented Richard Milward two novels into his career,” said Waterstone’s fiction buyer, Janine Cook, who helped choose the list.”
Ten Torey Love Song by Richard Milward, only his second book, is a novel written in a single, 286-page paragraph by the 24-year-old.
Cook went onto to say: “The writers may be new, but they have huge talent and these books deserve to compete with those from more established writers for both the attention of readers and for the big prizes.
“This is an invaluable opportunity for these authors to reach the widest possible audience. The Outcast and The White Tiger have gone on to sell hundreds of thousands of copies between them since inclusion in New Voices 2008, so the rewards can be very high.”
Waterstones’ New Voices will be featured in Waterstones’ stores and online at Waterstones.com from 5 March.
The titles are:
- A Kind of Intimacy by Jenn Ashworth
- Ablutions by Patrick DeWitt
- An Equal Stillness by Francesca Kay
- Black Rock by Amanda Smyth
- Days of Grace by Catherine Hall
- Guernica by Dave Boling
- The Street Philosopher by Matthew Plampin
- Ten Storey Love Song by Richard Milward
- The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan
- The Piano Teacher by Janice Y K Lee
- The Rescue Man by Anthony Quinn
- The Vagrants by Yiyun Li
Watch a Richard Millward talk about his New Voices of 2009 highlighted novel Ten Storey Love Song below:
Discussion:
So then, has anyone read any of these new offerings? Will anyone be looking into any of these books now they have received the titles of New Voices of 2009? It’s gotta be a good thing right?
Words: Dean Samways
Keep coming back to The Scribbler for interviews with the New Voices of 2009 in the coming weeks
Stephen King denounces Stephanie Meyer & other writers
Stephen King, the self-confessed greatest writer in the world
Mediocre horror writer Stephen King has made it clear that he is not a fan of Twilight. In a new interview the writer commented on the teen vamp serialist, Stephanie Meyer, by saying she “can’t write worth a darn”, apparently.
In an interview with USA Weekend while promoting his new book, Stephen King Goes to the Movies, the best-selling novelist said Meyer can’t hold a candle to J.K. Rowling.
King said: “The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.”
Curbing his attack slightly King explained while he’s no fan of Meyer’s writing, he does appreciate her storytelling for her target audience.
“People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books.
“A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet.”
King is renowned for not mincing his words about fellow authors. He even highlights some in his book, On Writing.
In the same interview, King also called bestseller Dean Koontz “sometimes … just awful” and James Patterson “a terrible writer” who is “very, very successful.”
Have a look at a classic clip from Stephen King’s The Shining below:
Discussion:
So, do you think Meyer’s vampire’s suck or is King being unfair? What novelist to you rate and who is overrated? Comment in the reply box below
Words: Dean Samways
The iPod of the book world is a Amazon hit
The Amazon Kindle (Amazon)
Online retailer Amazon.com (UK site) is set to see revenue from its Kindle electronic book reader reach beyond $1.2 billion by 2010.
Amazingly, in a report, Citigroup revealed that’s over 4 percent of Amazon’s total revenue for the same year.
Analyst Mark Mahaney said: “The Kindle has become the iPod of the book world.”
500,000 Kindle units were sold on the Amazon website in 2008. Relatively that’s 32 percent more than the number of Apple iPods sold in its first commercial year.
Mahaney had originally estimated the sale of 380,000 Kindles in ’08.
Amazon topped analyst estimates for the fourth quarter of last year and also forecast first-quarter of 2009 sales above expectations.
The e-retailer is planning to launch the latest version of the Kindle on 9 Feb.
“Kindle’s success highlights the very significant and consistent innovation focus that Amazon has maintained over the past five years and helps hedge the company against the digitisation of media products,” said Mahaney, who labeled the company with a ‘hold’ rating.
In the marketplace Kindle competes with Sony’s e-book reader.
The wireless version of the Kindle can download titles from 17 websites including Amazon (naturally), Project Gutenberg, Free Kindle Books, The World Library and Fictionwise. For a full list of sources click here.
Watch the guide to Kindle below:
Discussion:
Does anyone own a Kindle or a Sony E-Book Reader? What do you make of them? Do they make reading easier? Would you recommend it?
Words: Dean Samways
Writer to rescue Heroes
Bryan Fuller - writer and producer of Heroes (Independent)
We’ll be straight with you, The Scribbler is not a fan of the current craze of American television shows saturating our beloved Beeb and other channels.
Shows like Lost seem to ramble on endlessly purely for that fact, because an endless plot and a forever unraveling storyline means an ever engaged audience. These are commercial gravy trains would appear to be coming off the rails though.
Bryan Fuller, the former writer-producer of Heroes, has rejoined the show’s crew as a consultant. The move follows the cancellation of his Emmy-nominated show Pushing Daisies.
The superhero series has been hemorrhaging viewers since the start of the second season.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly Fuller said: “My job is to help facilitate the vision of the show, and the vision has been a little inconsistent.”
“But Fugitives (the next arc) is such a great sea change. I think people who have been critical of Heroes will come back.”
The drama’s original writer believes drastic measures are in order to attract fans back, though those measures are somewhat questionable in our book.
“People will die. And some will return. Matt’s wife (Janice) comes back. We’ll find out what happens when you have a superbaby.”
As for why Heroes found itself out of favour with fans, Fuller has his own theories: “It became too dense and fell into certain sci-fi trappings.
“For instance, in the Villains arc, when you talk about formulas and catalysts, it takes the face off the drama.
“You have to save something with a face, otherwise you don’t understand what you’re caring about. We’re also altering the structure so that there’s a very clear A story.”
So basically Heroes is in line for a spot of dumbing down then?
“But it is a big ship, it’s going to take a little while to turn it.”
Part of the reason The Scribbler isn’t a fan of shows like Lost and Heroes is their lazy use of the English language. Scriptwriting 101: Use as few words as possible to say as much as possible, this is how people really talk. People don’t describe every single thing they are doing, even if there have got a few subplots going on elsewhere. The below clip from the incredible police drama The Wire proves our point exactly.
Discussion:
What are your favourite examples of screenplay writing? Are you a fan of any the American television-cum-Hollywood shows and why? Are you penning your own ‘high production value’ television drama? Care to share?
Words: Dean Samways
‘How To Talk To Girls’ – The Film
Alec Greven talking to Ellen DeGeneres on her chat show
Little Alec Greven rise to super stardom goes from strength to strength as it was revealed earlier this week that his best selling book is to be turned into a film.
Twentieth Century Fox has picked up the film rights to How to Talk to Girls an advice guide penned by the nine-year-old.
According to the magazine Variety ‘How To Talk To Girls’ is the first of a four-part series. It was published on 25 November by HarperCollins, conveniently a sister company of Fox. The film deal covers all four publications.
Fox is still to appoint a writer or announce a producer for the film. Production co-president Alex Young is said to have liked Greven’s book.
‘How To Talk To Girls’ was originally a third-grade project, which resulted in a pamphlet that he went on to sell at his school’s book fair.
The advice in the book ranges from facts of life to how to get a girl’s attention, all from the unique perspective of a nine-year-old. Greven also offers advice on how to talk to girls, crushes, and how you should never act desperate. A given really.
To read the original news piece about Alec Greven’s surprise best-selling book click here.
Have a look below for a video featuring the writing boy wonder:
Discussion:
Is this a fad? It’s got to be a fad right?
Words: Dean Samways
Economic downturn makes for unhappy reading
Not even the boy wizard could help Waterstones' profits last year (Waterstones)
Waterstones today announced figures that suggest the book market has been effected by reduced customer spending during the current economic climate.
The retailer’s parent company HMV saw Waterstone’s like-for-like sales drop 3.1% in the 26 weeks between April and 25 October. The comparison showed a 1.4% fall when adjusted for the phenomenal impact of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on 2007’s result.
The report also shows HMV has suffered market deterioration since the end of October which is in line with the well-documented downturn in consumer confidence. It is quoted in saying the book market has seen a ‘marked deterioration’ in the five weeks to 29 November.
Waterstone’s operating loss before exceptional items increased in the first half year to £9.3m from £8.9m in 2007.
According to HMV the book market as a whole shrunk 5% during the period and had been particularly hit by poor performances by non-fiction publications.
What is perhaps more worrying is the continued work with year-on-year losses. Before tax losses for the group were £27.5m, against £28.7m a year earlier.
Of course this doesn’t mean that novel writing has to be unprofitable. Self-publication can be a fantastic way of getting your work read by a wider audience and earning money on the side.
The Scribbler will be looking to publish advice and guidance on the best means of self-publication in early 2009.
Keep it here for all the best news, reviews, features and interviews on the literary industry.
Take a look at a book launch that really should have peaked Waterstones’ profits last year. The irrepressible Russell Brand and his Booky Wook in Waterstone’s Piccadilly:
Discussion:
Has the credit crunch stopped you buying the number of books you would normally like to? Have you resorted to library loans? Aspiring writer? Would you consider self-publication if publishers begin a campaign of turning authors away due to the economic climate? Let us know below.
Words: Dean Samways
Potter spell continues to mesmerise
The Moonstone edition of the book was auctioned in December 2007 (Wikipedia)
Every aspiring writer wants to think their latest project will strike a chord with the majority and propel them to literary super-stardom (though writing for the audience is the killer of creativity – Ed).
Unfortunately that doesn’t always happen but for one author her fictional wand waving speccy protagonist has made her books almost as renouned as the complete works of Shakespeare.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard, by JK Rowling has become the fastest-selling book of the year.
Hitting shelves only three days ago it didn’t take long for copies to fly off again and straight into the carrier bags of a few hundred thousand satisfied customers.
The first in the author’s collection not to feature Harry Potter shifted 368,000 units last week compared to 73,000 copies of the Guinness Book of Records 2008, its closest rival.
Phil Stone of The Bookseller magazine told The Daily Telegraph: “None of the other big releases managed to get near the sales figure for Beedle the Bard.”
“I would be very surprised if it is not Christmas number one, but it’s not a dead cert.”
Nicknamed the ‘unofficial Potter farewell’ The Tales of Beedle the Bard, is a collection of five fairy tales which got a mention in the final wiz-boy book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Six super-rare-handmade-by-the-author-special-editions of the book were given away last year to people most closely connected to the Harry Potter series. A seventh was made and sold in auction to raise money for a children’s charity. Amazon bought the unique copy for almost £2M!
JK Rowling is interviewed about The Tales of Beedle the Bard below:
Discussion:
What is it that makes Rowling and Potter so darn popular? Is there anyone who comes close to her kind of fame? Are there any novel ideas rattling around in your head that could become supernova huge?
Words: Dean Samways
…and the Guardian first book award goes to…
Alex Ross, winner of this years Guardian first book award (Guardian)
The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross was named this year’s Guardian first book at a ceremony in central London last night.
The overwhelmingly in-depth history of 20th century music, embracing classical through to contemporary, was the undisputed winner of the £10 000 first prize.
Chair of the judging panel, Guardian literary editor Claire Armitstead, said: “In some quarters this book has been seen as not having a popular appeal. Our prize – which, uniquely, relies on readers’ groups in the early stages of judging – proves that, on the contrary, there is a huge appetite among readers for clear, serious but accessible books.”
Another judge said: “Where Ross lifts his book above the ‘expert’ and impressive to the ‘good read’ category is in the way he wears his learning lightly, never clutches for false or contrived ways of explaining music, and never dumbs down in order to explain.”
Waterstone’s reading groups up and down the country also helped with the judging process. One member said: “Every time I felt overwhelmed by the technicalities, along came a sublime metaphor or simile that would light up the prose.”
The Guardian’s website describes Ross’ book as ‘a lifetime’s enthusiasm and learning distilled into a rich narrative of musical history, setting the works of Mahler, Schoenberg, John Cage and the rest into their cultural and political contexts – but also giving a vivid sense of what the music he describes actually sounds and feels like’.
It goes on to say: “Of all the artforms, modern and contemporary classical music is often seen as the most rebarbative. Ross brushes aside the mythology of 20th-century music’s “inaccessibility” as he charts its meandering histories. Along the way, fascinating connections are made: hip-hop has more in common with Janacek than you might think; Arnold Schoenberg and George Gershwin were tennis partners; Gershwin, in turn, was an ardent fan of Alban Berg and kept an autographed photo of the composer of Lulu in his apartment. If there is an overarching idea to the book, it is perhaps contained in Berg’s pronouncement to Gershwin: “Mr Gershwin, music is music”.”
The current music critic of The New Yorker Ross, 40, was born in Washington DC. He was an enthusiastic teenage musician but it wasn’t until studied English and history at Harvard when he became interested in journalism and became a student broadcaster. Ross began writing music criticism after university and was appointed to his current role at The New Yorker in 1996. He also has a blog which he uses to great effect in transmitting his work around the globe.
The media reception of for The Rest is Noise has been phenomenal. The New York Review of Books said: “by far the liveliest and smartest popular introduction yet written to a century of diverse music”. The Economist noted: “No other critic writing in English can so effectively explain why you like a piece, or beguile you to reconsider it, or prompt you to hurry online and buy a recording.”
Former Observer music writer Nicholas Kenyon said: “At a time when people are still talking about 20th-century music as if it were a problem, here is a lucid and entertaining book about what I regard as some of the greatest music ever written. It’s a wonderful way to advance the cause of 20th-century music to an ordinary, intelligent general reader. It’s the ideal mix of enthusiasm and information.”
The judging panel for this year’s Guardian first book award was made up of novelist Roddy Doyle; broadcaster and novelist Francine Stock; poet Daljit Nagra; the historian David Kynaston; novelist Kate Mosse and Guardian deputy editor, Katharine Viner. Stuart Broom of Waterstones‘ spoke as the representative of the retailer’s reading groups.
The other books shortlisted for the award were Mohammed Hanif‘s A Case of Exploding Mangoes; Ross Raisin‘s God’s Own Country; Steve Toltz‘s A Fraction of the Whole (also put forward for the Man Booker prize) and Owen Matthews’s Stalin’s Children.
Previous winners of the prize have most notably included Stuart: A Life Backwards by Alexander Masters (2005) and Zadie Smith‘s White Teeth (2000).
See Ales Ross talk about The Rest is Noise in an interview below:
Words: Dean Samways
Gonzo is nearly upon us
A poster for the Gonzo documentary on Hunter S. Thompson
How did this almost slip under The Scribbler radar?
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, the celebrated documentary by Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney, is finally hitting UK cinemas on 19 December.
Almost a year after the feature length documentary made its cinematic debut at the Sundance Film Festival British audiences will finally get to see Gibney’s uncanny account of gonzo journalism‘s forefather.
The film addresses the major events that made Thompson such an influencial figure not just in literary circles but also political ones too. For example, his intense and ill-fated relationship with the Hell’s Angels, his near-successful bid for the office of sheriff in Aspen in 1970, the notorious story behind the landmark Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, his deep involvement in Senator George McGovern’s 1972 presidential campaign, and much more.
As an extra treat the entire motion picture is narrated by Johnny Depp.
Naturally we will follow any developments on this, the most exciting film release of the year. Keep it The Scribbler for the first review of Gonzo.
Read Gonzo’s Sundance review right here.
Have a look at the trailer below:
Discussion:
Are you looking forward to Gonzo? How many of you admire HST? Is he primarily a storyteller or journalist? Can his infamous subjectivity be used objectively?
Words: Dean Samways
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