The new trailer for Hello Anatolia

Check out the new trailer for Hello Anatolia, the first feature length film from Crescent Street Films, which was shot by the talented duo of Chrsovalantis Stamelos & Paras H. Chaudhari. It follows Stamelos’s journey from New York City to Izmir, Turkey, where he eventually settles with his wife and newborn child. While there, Stamelos tries to rediscover his family’s history while exploring the reasons for differences and angst that exist between Turks and Greeks.

Watch the trailer below.

Read my profile of the two filmmakers when they were just starting out by CLICKING HERE. 

Guest post: It’s the plot, stupid

Check out my guest-post on the importance of plotting on Boxfire Press’s blog:

Recently, I saw Charlie Rose interviewing short story writer George Saunders on PBS. Among a slew of interesting things, Saunders described his own writing process. He goes about it in a way that seems common for most literary authors: let the character drive the narrative. In other words, many authors don’t plan their stories by constructing a formal outline. Instead, they start with an idea, a final scene, an interesting exchange, and let their literary guts do the rest.

This is something I’ve never been able to do well, and it’s not for lack of trying. After hearing a number of colleagues and teachers go about writing in the same way, I tried to emulate it and failed miserably, producing stories that were either incoherent or required more revisions than I could muster.

READ THE REST OF THE POST BY CLICKING HERE

Quick review: Fox 8

Fox 8 is the new stand alone short story by George Saunders, which is currently available as a Kindle Single on Amazon. It was originally supposed to be a part of Tenth of December, Saunders’s New York Times bestselling short story collection, but was pulled at the last minute. The tale (no pun intended) is told from the child-like perspective of a fox who learned how to speak and write after watching a family share stories from a safe distance:

Deer Reeder:

First may I say, sorry for any werds I spel rong. Because I am a fox! So don’t rite or spel perfect. But here is how I lerned to rite and spel as gud as I do!

In just about every way, the piece establishes itself as a lovable and cute children’s story as Fox 8 provides the reader with endearing descriptions of his adorable fox world. Things, however, take a dramatically dark turn when humans construct a mall just beyond the forest-line. Food suddenly becomes scarce and Fox 8 is forced to watch his family literally waste away. What’s a fox to do? Why find food of course! With the aid of his longtime friend, Fox 9, Fox 8 ventures into the human world to hunt down some grub and maybe even establish a long-desired relationship with the humans he finds so interesting.

Things eventually go from bad to worse for Fox 8, but to say any more would be to spoil a great story. The most refreshing part about the narrative, aside from the engaging plot and interesting choices in terms of POV and prose, is its conclusion. Initially, Saunders set the course for a preachy “humanity is the root of all evil” tale, but he eventually pulls back and leads his fuzzy protagonist toward a hopeful outlook. One that desperately wants to see the world as inherently good. Fox 8 decides that all are deserving of a second chance, even his worst enemy.

It’s a quick read, and for $0.99 there’s no reason not to download it. Highly recommended.

A Breach in Death & The Dolphin Bookshop

My debut novel, A Breach in Death, is now available at The Dolphin Bookshop in Port Washington, NY, which was named one of the best book stores on Long Island by the LI Press in 2012. If you live near the north shore of Long Island, or simply feel like taking a road trip to check out a fantastic book store, visit the Dolphin. It’s nestled in the heart of Port Washington with an ideal view of the shore. Read more about  The Dolphin Bookshop and A Breach in Death below.

Since 1946 The Dolphin Bookshop has distinguished itself as an independent bookstore for Port Washington, New York, a waterfront community on the North Shore of Long Island. This unique shop is a neighborhood gem which draws people from Manhattan to the east end of Long Island.

The Dolphin has been a mainstay for over half a century thanks to strong community loyalty and the dynamic spirit of owner Patti Vunk. Ms. Vunk took over the store 30 years ago from her mother, Dorothea, who bought the store in the 70s. Ms. Vunk and her dedicated staff are passionate about helping customers and provide caring, personal and knowledgable service whether you are selecting a book, toy or specialty gift.

The perfect gathering place, The Dolphin has hosted book readings and signings by many distinguished authors and celebrities including Madeleine Albright, Len Berman, Susan Isaacs, Mark Teague, Cokie and Steve Roberts, J.K. Rowling, Eric Carle, and Tomie de Paola.  The new, more spacious location has allowed for even more events such as kids’ programs, book club meetings, fundraisers, poetry readings and concerts.

We look forward to being part of the Port Washington community for years to come!

About the novel

Arc is a new grim reaper, and his first day on the job doesn’t go according to plan. The transition should’ve been a smooth one, more or less, as it’s a process that’s repeated itself time after time for eons. Arc died. He still had a debt to pay and this was to be his penance. Soon though, Arc and his fellow reaper Lucy, a guide on his journey into the underworld, learn that something—or someone—has upset the balance between life and death in a way that threatens us all.

Two great trailers

I realize that most of you have probably seen both of these already, but it’s been a while since trailers have made me feel a genuine sense of excitement for an upcoming film. Below you’ll find the new trailers for this summer’s Man of Steel and this May’s Star Trek into Darkness. The former surprised me most. I’ve never been particularly fond of the Superman film franchise or the character. The problem with Superman has always been a question of empathy. How do I relate to a being that’s seemingly infallible? It looks like Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan have answered the question by placing the focus on Superman’s human vulnerabilities. In the trailer, Superman is ostracized, completely unsure of what his place is in the modern-day world. Even when he seems to embrace his power, he keeps himself at arm’s length from the race fearing they’ll eventually reject him. I’ll stop before I go off on a total rant, but it looks dark, well-shot, and intriguing.

The latter examines what happens when the young, brash, and courageous Captain Kirk discovers that his gut-reliant decision making lands his crew in a proverbial deathtrap. Can Kirk humble himself and do what’s best those around him instead of constantly feeding his insatiable ego? Probably, but the story is in the journey.

Check out the trailers below:

 

Man of Steel:

Star Trek into Darkness: 

Some inspiration on a tragic day

This was posted earlier on today on Patton Oswalt’s Facebook page:

I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, “Well, I’ve had it with humanity.”

But I was wrong. I don’t know what’s going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.

But here’s what I DO know. If it’s one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we’re lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they’re pointed towards darkness.

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We’d have eaten ourselves alive long ago.

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, “The good outnumber you, and we always will.”

Quick video: Wolverine trailer

The new trailer for this summer’s The Wolverine appears, at first glance, to be in standing with the source material and the character’s developed ethos, unlike the mess of a prequel released a few years ago, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The story picks up where X-Men: The Last Stand left off. Wolverine is lost, pining over the loss of Jean Grey, and without purpose, until a mysterious Japanese businessman offers our favorite mutant a chance at mortality (I like the irony of the setup). Early buzz from Mark Millar is that the script is very solid, as is the trailer below. Enjoy!