A Writer's Moment: 'What if?' - A Key to the Writing Door

A Writer's Moment: 'What if?' - A Key to the Writing Door:   “Whenever I start a novel, I'm always looking for two things: a bit of science that makes me go 'what if?' and a piece of hist...

'What if?' - A Key to the Writing Door

 

“Whenever I start a novel, I'm always looking for two things: a bit of science that makes me go 'what if?' and a piece of history that ends in a question mark.” – James Rollins
 

Born in Chicago on this date in 1961, Rollins is a writer of action-adventure/thriller novels and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, practicing under his “real” name James Paul Czajkowski.   And he is an amateur spelunker and certified scuba diver, great background and settings for some of his tales. 

 

Rollins studied Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri and didn’t start writing until 1999. Since then he has penned more than 50 novels, including the wildly successful Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Witch Fire – written under his other pen name James Clemens.  That book was “discovered” as an entry in a contest sponsored by the Maui Writers' Conference. 

 

His most recent books are A Dragon of Black Glass and A Fist of Molten Fire, released in the past two years under his “MoonFall” series.   In his veterinarian career, Rollins stays busy caring for abandoned or abused animals.  But it’s books that remain at the heart of things for him.

  

“Books are keys that open many doors,” Rollins said. “Generally, if you preface a request with, 'I'm an author writing a book,' for some reason, that seems to open a lot of doors.”

A Writer's Moment: 'The foundation for writing structure'

A Writer's Moment: 'The foundation for writing structure': “I think of novels as houses. You live in them over the course of a long period, both as a reader and as a writer.” – Nicole Krauss   Born i...

'The foundation for writing structure'

“I think of novels as houses. You live in them over the course of a long period, both as a reader and as a writer.” – Nicole Krauss

 

Born in New York City on Aug. 18, 1974 Krauss is best known for her novels Man Walks Into a Room and Forest Dark, although her short fiction also has been widely published in everything from The New Yorker to “Best American Short Stories.”  Her most recent collection is How To Be A Man, winner of the Wingate Literary Prize.

 

A writer since childhood, she said her first “opus” was a book of poems put down in a spiral notebook at age 5 or 6 “handsomely accompanied by crayon illustrations.” Krauss “officially” started writing – mostly poetry – in her teens.  After college - at Stanford University - she had her first novel published in 2001.  Two of her award-winning novels have been adapted into films and been translated into 35 languages.

Of her writing style, she noted, "I'm very interested in structure, how multiple stories are assembled in different ways; that is what memory does as well."

 

A Writer's Moment: 'Because life is ambiguous'

A Writer's Moment: 'Because life is ambiguous':   “Songwriting's a weird game. I never intended to become one - I fell into this by mistake, and I can't get out of it. It fascinate...

'Because life is ambiguous'

 

“Songwriting's a weird game. I never intended to become one - I fell into this by mistake, and I can't get out of it. It fascinates me. I like to point out the rawer points of life.” – Keith Richards

 

Born in the London suburb of Dartford on this date in 1943, Richards started life on the go as his family was temporarily evacuated from their home during the Nazi bombing and rocket campaign of 1944.   In 1951, while attending primary school, Richards first met and befriended Mick Jagger in what would not only become a lifetime friendship but also the start of The Rolling Stones, and eventual enshrinement in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

 

The pair founded The Rolling Stones as a rhythm and blues and jazz group, although it wasn’t until they changed their style to straight rock in 1964 that they really hit their stride, mostly on songs written by Richards, the biggest (and longest-lasting) hit being Satisfaction.   Despite their image as the “anti-Beatles” – a counter to that "other" wildly popular British boy band of the day – “It was a very, very fruitful and great relationship between the Stones and The Beatles. It was very, very friendly,” Richards said.

 

While writing music has been his forte’, Richards also wrote two bestselling books, the memoir Life, and a wonderful children’s tale Gus and Me: The Story of My Grandad and My First Guitar.

 

Whether it be the lyrics for his songs or his books, Richards noted,  “I look for ambiguity when I'm writing,  because life is ambiguous.”

A Writer's Moment: About those characters -- 'Keep in Touch'

A Writer's Moment: About those characters -- 'Keep in Touch':   “The characters I'm most emotionally involved with are like friends you leave behind when you move away. You don't see them regula...