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Arielle Ford: Ready to Launch Your 300-Page Baby Into the World?

2012-02-11T00:53:51Z

If every book is a new baby, then each launch is its birth. And no matter how many times you release your newest 300-page bundle into the world, there are new experiences to have, new lessons to learn, and surprising new highlights to remember (with a few late nights thrown in, of course).

The recent launch of my newest book, Wabi Sabi Love, was no exception. It was also, I'm excited to announce, a huge success! It's my eighth book, and yet again, I find myself adding new strategies, leveraging new opportunities, blending the old with the new, to make this book as successful as it can be.

Here are some tips and strategies I used, which you can adopt to make your own book launch as effective as possible.

It's the gold standard... and it still works! Amazon bestseller campaigns, which are online campaigns where you get as many partners as possible to support you in driving online book sales, are hardly new, but they do still work! To do one right, which is the only way it can be effective, you need to log a lot of hours lining up partners, writing email and web copy, keeping your blog going, and more. There are companies that can do some or all of that for you, depending on your budget, but you'll want to stay very involved in the entire process regardless.

Your final manuscript is just the beginning. If you're working with a traditional publisher, you'll have several months between the due date of your final manuscript and your actual book launch date. Use this time wisely, not just to continue building your platform and the buzz around your upcoming book launch, but also by getting your website, book launch bonuses, and publicity, marketing, and partnership strategies ready to go. Saving all of this time-consuming work until just before your book goes on sale is a huge mistake that will likely sabotage your entire launch.

To give you an example, my book launched on Jan. 5, so last July I got my book website ready, and made hundreds of phone calls (literally!) to line up partners for my Amazon bestseller campaign. Then in November, I called every one of them again to remind them and make sure my launch was still in their calendar.

Never underestimate the power of relationships. Long before you're considering writing a book, you should start attending live events, networking, and building as many relationships as you can. You'll want to have lots and lots of friends in your niche who will gladly support and mail for you when your book does launch. And of course, always remember to return the favor when they're promoting their new book or product.

I've personally invested years in getting to know tons of new author friends. We help each other launch successful books, products, and businesses, and in the process add depth, richness, and lots of fun to each others' lives.

Brainstorm your bonuses early. For your book launch you'll want to offer several different bonuses for readers who buy your book. To come up with the right mix of bonuses that will appeal to a broader audience, I like to brainstorm with other author friends, and then make sure to get the bonuses done as far in advance of the book launch date as possible.

To get a sense of how the process works, check out my Wabi Sabi Love book website.

Don't forget to budget (and barter) for your bonuses. To get your website and bonuses working right, you'll most likely need some help from audio/video professionals, web developers, designers, and others. In some cases you may be able to barter with friends for your bonus content and/or services. So for example, you might interview an expert friend of yours as a bonus for your book launch, and later return the favor when they're launching their next book, product, or service.

Be good to bookstores. While it's important to drive people to Amazon, BarnesAndNoble.com and other online booksellers, remember that local bookstores are equally dedicated to making your book successful. Although in-store book signings aren't as common as they once were, they're still important and useful ways to connect with fans. I've averaged 50 - 60 people at my recent bookstore signings, and enjoyed those opportunities to interact one-on-one with readers, hear their questions, and play my part in improving their relationships and lives.

On Feb. 8, in fact, I'll be doing my first-ever virtual bookstore signing. The bookstore is in Canada (http://passionatemevibrantwe.com/events), and their customers will be in their store, interacting with me via Skype. I've already sent pre-signed book plates that the store will glue into the books so people who attend can still purchase signed copies of my book. I'm looking forward to it -- I get to talk with new Canadian readers without even leaving home!

Of course, once your book does launch, you'll need to be very available for media appearances, last-minute print and online article opportunities, and more. Using the tips above, you can give yourself the space and time to take advantage of those opportunities and spread the word as quickly and widely as you can. Book launches are often a wild ride, but a fun and exciting one every author should give themselves the chance to enjoy.

Arielle Ford has launched the careers of many NY Times bestselling authors including Deepak Chopra, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Neale Donald Walsch & Debbie Ford. She is a former book publicist, literary agent and the author of seven books. Get her free Bestseller Author Blueprint video at EverythingYouShouldKnow.com.

Barbara Walters Vs. JFK Alleged Mistress On 'The View'

2012-02-10T23:51:45Z

Mimi Alford, the former White House intern who claims she had an 18-month affair with President John F. Kennedy, sat down for an interview with "The View" (weekdays on ABC) Friday that turned surprisingly combative. Barbara Walters grilled Alford about her motivations for writing about the relationship and criticized her for hurting the Kennedy family.

Walters, who admitted to having an affair with then-married Senator Edward Brooke in early '70s, began the interview by detailing the sexual exploits Alford wrote about in her book "Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath." "The View" co-host pointed to a passage where Alford describes giving oral sex to JFK's friends and younger brother on a dare. Alford pushed back on the notion that she was coerced, but expressed some regret about it. "What mortifies me today is that I accepted the dare," she reflected.

When Alford explained that she didn't intend to hurt anyone by writing the book, Walters interrupted: "I know, but you know it must hurt that family." Alford pushed back against the criticism, explaining that the book was her way of telling her story, and that she needed to write and talk about the experience after keeping it a secret for so many years.

Earlier in the week, Walters' colleague Whoopi Goldberg expressed skepticism about the timing of the book's release and threatened to not show up for the interview. But the present Goldberg took the opportunity to ask Alford, "Why now?" Alford explained that after she was named in a 2003 JFK biography, she felt the desire to tell her own her own story, rather than leave it in someone else's hands.

At that point, Walters interrupted again, making the point that the affair was only mentioned in one paragraph of that biography. "Nobody even remembers it. You could have let it go," Walters suggested. But Alford once again defended taking ownership of her story, and simply said, "That secret affected my whole adult life."

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Former Wall Street Journal Columnist, Best-Selling Author Dies

2012-02-10T22:39:07Z

Former Wall Street Journal columnist and best-selling author Jeffrey Zaslow died on Friday. He was 53 years old.

Zaslow was driving his car on snowy roads in Northern Michigan. He reportedly lost control of the car shortly after 9:00 a.m. Friday morning and was hit by a semi-truck.

Zaslow is the author of the best-selling novel, "The Last Lecture," which he wrote with Carnegie-Mellon computer science professor Randy Pausch. "The Last Lecture" was translated into 48 languages and remained on The New York Times best-seller list for more than 112 weeks.

Zaslow also collaborated with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly on their memoir, "Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope."

In late January, Zaslow blogged for The Huffington Post's Weddings section. In the blog, Zaslow discusses his most recent book, "The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters." The book was released in December.

The Detroit Free Press called Zaslow, who had a long-running column in the Journal, "supremely outgoing and equally self-deprecating," and said that he "had a knack for ferreting out details that riveted a reader."

Zaslow is survived by his wife, Sherry Margolis, a local Fox anchor in Detroit, Michigan, and three daughters.

'Castle' Scoop: Jennifer Beals On Playing Castle's Former Muse

2012-02-10T20:06:58Z

Jennifer Beals is returning to TV for a two-episode arc on "Castle," and her CIA agent character Sophia Turner will be stirring up emotions between Castle and Beckett. Could her history with Castle finally inspire Beckett to share her true feelings for him once and for all and maybe return those three little words?

In the upcoming episode, "Pandora" (Mon., Feb. 13, 10 p.m. EST on ABC), and its follow-up on Feb. 20, "Linchpin," the stakes have never been higher for Castle and Beckett as they work with Sophia and the CIA to solve an international conspiracy that could have a massive effect on the U.S.

I caught up with Beals, who was cagey about whether or not her past with Castle was romantic at all, but she did reveal that he shadowed Sophia years ago and modeled his character Clara Strike after her ... meaning Beckett isn't his first muse. She also talked about Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic's onscreen chemistry (calling it "magical"), whether or not this could spark a "Castle" spinoff for her character and, knowing that we begged for it, what it'll take to get her back on TV full-time.

First off, I miss "Chicago Code." Gone too soon ...
I miss it, too. I love that character. She was such a badass. And I loved working with the CPD, and we had a great cast. I was just excited about it.

For this two-parter on "Castle," you're playing CIA Agent Sophia Turner, who at least feels a bit like "Chicago Code's" Teresa Colvin. Are there any similarities?
Teresa is much more practical, and I think, tougher. On the outside, Teresa's much tougher. Sofia, on the inside, is steel. She has an intellectual capacity that's pretty intense at times. You know, Teresa's like Chicago ... what would be the word for it? Not muscular in the sense of the body, but muscular in the sense that like Carl Sandburg would've used the word. She's much more ready to get in and get things done herself if she needs to. But it's funny, I hadn't thought about that!

How did this part come about?
First, I wasn't sure if I would do it. I wasn't very familiar with the show. I have friends who love the show, and who were really excited about the possibility. I went in and met with Andrew [Marlowe] and David [Amann] and they were really lovely and had interesting ideas, but I didn't have a script. So I just had to go on good faith and instinct, and I'm really glad I did.

Not to make more out of it before these two episodes have even aired, but knowing that it's a two-parter and that she has such history with Castle, this seems primed to be a spinoff.
Well, um ... yeah, I mean ... I don't know that that's really possible. But, yes, I think it's a deeper relationship because he partially based his Clara Strike character on her. So the audience gets that little tidbit.

Yes, and with Beckett inspiring Nikki Heat, I'd imagine she's not too thrilled to meet one of Castle's former muses. Your character ruffles some feathers, doesn't she?
Whose? Whose feathers would she be ruffling? [Laughs.] Beckett would have to speak to that herself, but I think it certainly complicates things a bit, because it's another person that she didn't know about. And I think it's probably a more important person because there was enough about this person that was interesting that he decided to put it into a character. So that might be problematic in some ways.

Was it a romantic relationship?
You'll get to find out.

Did you have fun shooting these episodes? I love that set.
I had so much fun working with those guys. I had fun playing her, but I really had fun on the set. It's like the hardest working crew I think I've ever seen. The longest hours ... and still so professional and lovely. Nathan is really fun to hang out with, and he just made me laugh all the time. And he's very Mr. Techno Guy. I am not involved with any social media whatsoever, and I'm just really proud that I have a phone with which I can text. [Laughs.] I have an iPad! I feel pretty red hot that I have an iPad, not that I really know how to work it to its fullest capacity. [Laughs.] So he introduced me to some different apps that were really fun. And Stana was really lovely, and they were both very welcoming. They're just so great together, onscreen. It's very, very interesting, because they're very different people, and then when they're onscreen together, it's just magical.

So Nathan hasn't convinced you to get on Twitter? He's kind of the gateway drug to Twitter.
Well, you know, he is the king of Twitter. He got a prize for twittering. I didn't even know that there was a prize for twittering! If I twittered, I don't know what the hell I would say. He comes up with very funny, interesting things ... I don't have those kind of synapses happening.

It's serendipitous that we're talking today because I actually just included you in our list of 13 stars we want to see back on TV.
Oh, that's so sweet! Thank you. I appreciate that.

Would you consider doing a show again so soon?
Yes, I would consider doing a show again so soon, but it would have to be really, really good. I've been so spoiled. I was so spoiled with "The L Word," I was so spoiled with "Chicago Code." I just said to my agents and manager yesterday, "It has to be really special." We're in the renaissance of television right now -- I don't want to go and do something that doesn't have any meaning to me. It's either got to be really fun or it's got to be meaningful to me, and hopefully it's both.

What do you watch on TV?
You know what I do love? I love "Enlightened." My god, Laura Dern is a genius -- just a stinking genius! I laugh really hard, and then in the middle of laughing, I'm crying. I love her character, I love the way she plays the character and I love the show.

"Castle" airs Mondays at 10 p.m. EST on ABC.

Jorge Cervantes: Mary Jane, You've Come a Long Way Baby

2012-02-10T19:16:02Z

When I published my first book -- Indoor Marijuana Horticulture -- back in 1983, there was no way to know how much things would change in the next three decades.

Back then Ronald Reagan was President of the United States, M*A*S*H went off the air and no one had ever heard of Vice President Bush's eldest son.

In the realm of cannabis things were quite primitive in comparison to today. Poll numbers for legalization had dipped below 25% in the midst of Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign. And general knowledge about cannabis growing was barely existent at best and confined to a relatively small group of people.

What information there was on growing was mainly misinformation. I realized a lot of people were just out to make money instead of giving people solid information on cannabis horticulture. That's when I decided to start writing about it.

My goal was to apply good, simple information; information that was easy for people to understand. But I didn't just write from my own experience. I talked to other growers about their experiences and found out what they knew. And in listening, I learned so much.

I've been very fortunate over the last 30 years because I've been able to hang with some real smart people who have a lot of experience. We've been able to trade and share information, and in doing so, we made ourselves better.

Thirty years ago the phrase "medical marijuana" didn't exist and as I mentioned before, the thought of legalization in the U.S. was a pipe dream (no pun intended). Very little was known about cannabis strains (or varieties, the term I prefer) and less was known about how different varieties could affect different ailments.

The last three decades have been busy ones for cannabis growers as they have bred hundreds, if not thousands of different varieties, many tailored to suit the needs of people in desperate need of relief. These advancements are reflected in Indoor Marijuana Horticulture itself; what started as a 96-page book is now 512 pages. The list of contributors has grown to over 300 people. Again, the value of listening and learning from others.

The political nature of the cannabis community has evolved as well, from a rag-tag and isolated group to a powerful force that changes laws and dominates internet political discussions. Medical marijuana is legal in 16 states and Washington, D.C., and recreational legalization measures will likely be on several state ballots this year.

But advancements haven't been confined to the United States. From the slopes of Vancouver Island in Canada to the vertical grow rooms in The Netherlands to the massive outdoor gardens in the rugged mountains of my beloved Spain, cannabis growing is a worldwide phenomenon that shows no signs of abating.

And why would it? Cannabis horticulture is an enthralling science that we are still learning so much about, and the cannabis plant itself is an incredible living, breathing being that benefits so many people and still has so much left to teach us.

Thirty years ago cannabis growing was something many got into for the challenge or because they loved gardening or simply because they loved consuming marijuana. Today literally millions of people around the world depend on the quality of the cannabis plants being grown. They suffer tremendous hardships, and the quality of their relief is directly correlated to the quality of the medicine that is grown for them and by them.

The key is information. Listening and learning is something a good grower will always be doing. That is why cannabis has made such amazing strides over the last 30 years, and if growers continue to listen -- to others and to their plants -- it will make even more amazing strides in the next 30.

Rocco Staino: Will Booze for Books Shake and Stir Communities?

2012-02-10T18:46:26Z

These days, to youth librarians, Harry Potter, Anne of Green Gables and Hop on Pop are not just kid's book titles but also cocktails. The American Library Association's Young Adult Library Services Association has announced on its blog that April 12th will be their first national Booze for Books event. They ask that "people around the country, and maybe around the world, sponsor a Booze for Books fundraising event." The funds raised around these cocktail-centered parties will help get books into the hands of needy young adults.

In preparation for the event the organization has posted recipes for various children's book-themed cocktails including such high school classics as Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird on the Pinterest Board. They even created its own cocktail, the YALSAtini, that combines Stoli orange, blue curaÃ§ao and white cranberry juice. It is unknown if Stoli will be a sponsor of the event.

Shortly after the announcement a debate broke out on the organization's blog on the wisdom of using alcohol beverages to promote reading. Kelly Czarnecki, a technology librarian in Charlotte, NC, raises her glass in defending the program. In North Carolina "the county ABC Board (Alcoholic Beverages Control) distributes 5% of their sales to the library." Janene Hill, a young adult librarian from Manhattan, KS, objected: "Do you want to be telling your teens, who you are supposed to be encouraging to have a healthy lifestyle and NOT drink, that you participated in "Booze for Books" to add to their collection?"

This is not the first time that drinking and reading has caused a stir in the library community. In 2009 a cover photo on School Library Journal picturing librarians and book bloggers in a bar holding cocktail caused a furor with librarians.

One wonders how communities across the country will support and react to this campaign?

Fletcher Wortmann: Why Everyone Is A Bit OCD

2012-02-10T17:37:53Z

"Oh my god. I am so OCD."

I know you've been obsessed, so tell me: what's your poison? What did it for you? Was it an unrequited crush? Some esoteric branch of knowledge you could never quite master? A mop-haired teen idol with the face and vocal range of a neutered kitten? An old grudge you know will never be put right? Trouble at work, at home, in bed, in church? Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim?

Every one has been in that situation, when you wish you could quit thinking about something. Yet when you say "Stop," your brain, politely but insistently, says "No."

I have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). But I want you to consider your own obsessions before we talk about my clinical ones, because the line between the two is not as clean and distinct as you might think. I suffer from debilitating obsessions that can leave me paralyzed by anxiety, and from compulsive ritual behaviors that can consume me for hours at a time. But in their structure (not necessarily in their content, and certainly not in their persistence) my obsessions are quite similar to yours.

You already know what it's like to be crazy; you just don't know you know it yet.

As I describe in my book Triggered: A Memoir of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Obsession comes from a simple glitch in cognition. Ordinarily, you have a built-in time clock in your mind. After turning over a certain problem for a while, a committee of highly efficient businesspeople in your brain decides, "okay, that's probably the best solution we can come up with for now," and they table the issue and move on. That's healthy and normal.

When you obsess, however, your mind is taken over by a demented executive with the disposition of The Office's Michael Scott or Parks and Recreation's Leslie Knope, she of the 48-hour telethon. So, as if hijacked by an NBC sitcom character, your mind refuses to admit defeat, to accept that you just can't come up with a better answer. After all, what's the harm in thinking about it just a little more? And more again? A sliver of doubt persists that you haven't examined the issue from every angle; and so you wrestle with your problem a little longer, trying to find a new solution that reduces your uncertainty and leaves you satisfied.

'Obsession' is kind of a sexy word; it evokes models in cologne advertisements, with tight, white underpants and bedroom eyes. Yet the experience of being obsessed is irritating and embarrassing, like having to wear that underwear yourself. For most people, that's as far as it goes, and obsession is a fleeting annoyance that passes quickly. Obsessive-compulsives are less fortunate. We are taken in, every time, by the promise of one more look at the problem, even if we've already worked on it for hours, days, months. (Etymological fact of the day: according to Merriam-Webster, "obsess" derives from the Latin obsessus, which means "to besiege.")

Sometimes this results in physical, visible compulsions. If we are obsessed with the possibility of catching a disease we may wash our hands over and over again. If we are frightened of hell, we may run our rosary until the chain snaps. But these physical compulsions, which so many assume are the greatest burden of OCD, may be only modest indicators of a terrible internal struggle.

Some of the most distressing forms of OCD have no visible signs, no tangible compulsions. I happen to manage a variant of the disorder referred to as "Pure O," or purely obsessional OCD, characterized by runaway intrusive thoughts. With Pure O, the mind is held captive by its worst nightmares: fears that the world is about to end, for instance, or that the sufferer is a murderer or a sexual deviant who could succumb to uncontrollable violent urges at any moment.

With Pure O, these problems cannot be put to rest through physical rituals like hand-washing or counting. Instead, the sufferer is left obsessing, silently and almost continuously, incapable of finding conclusive proof that these hideous scenarios will not occur. We cannot tell anyone, for fear of being labeled paranoid or psychotic, and because our symptoms are internal, we are rarely offered aid.

If a sadistic billionaire decided to gather every Pure O sufferer into an Arkham City of twitching misery, then (according to Lee Baer's The Imp of the Mind) it would be the fourth-largest metropolis in the United States. Yet the disorder continues to be under-diagnosed. It is the invisibility of the disease that gives it power: because so few can recognize our symptoms and because so many do not understand them, many of us struggle for decades before successful diagnosis.

OCD sufferers aren't straight-jacketed neurotics or treacherous psychopaths or lovable buffoon detectives. We are people who suffer, in a way that is familiar to almost every one, but to a degree that no one should have to endure.

I lost the first twenty years of my life to OCD but I hope that, by continuing to spread awareness of the nature of the disorder, we can bring it out of the shadows and work to alleviate the suffering of so many.

Ariston Anderson: Persepolis Director Marjane Satrapi Goes Live Action

2012-02-10T17:22:39Z

Marjane Satrapi is a person gifted with perfect charisma: She's loyal, funny, brutally honest, and she has a big, big soul that's visible from across a room. Not to mention she's one of the most original artists working today.

The Academy Award-nominated director and best-selling author of Persepolis recently visited the fifth annual Kustendorf Film and Music Festival to screen her new live action film, Chicken with Plums. A passion project of Balkan director Emir Kusturica, Kustendorf brings together new student filmmakers with some of the world's greatest auteurs in the mountains of Mokra Gora. Satrapi enchanted the audience at a special workshop, where more than a few young men broke traditional Q&A form to stand up and declare their love for her.

Chicken with Plums, due out in the U.S. later this year, was co-written and directed with Satrapi's frequent collaborator Vincent Paronnaud. Less explicitly political than Persepolis, Plums tells the story of a man who dies over a lost love. That the object of his affection, an angelic woman from his past, is named "Iran" is no small coincidence -- this visually stunning fairytale mourns a lost dream of democracy.

In person, Satrapi herself is stunning, perhaps due to her constitutional inability to mince words. I spoke with her about the perils of the artist's life, the impossibility of ever becoming a morning person, and how her perspective on "changing the world" has evolved over the past 20 years.

Why were you attracted to the graphic novel art form?

Well for me, who is someone who cannot choose between writing and drawing, it was the best way of expressing myself. And I enjoyed doing it for a long time very much, but it's very solitary. And now the love of my life is the cinema, and maybe in three years it will be something else. But I don't have any career plans like, oh, I will do this or that.

Life is too short and we cannot spoil it. I don't have 300 years in front of me. So I just do the things that I really want to do at the moment because that's the only way you will do them well. If you don't believe in yourself, it won't work.

Because creation, you know, it means that you don't have any salary, you don't have any retirement, all of that. So if you don't have the security, at least have the freedom. I go for the freedom.

What was it like for you to go from animation with Persepolis to live action filmmaking in Chicken with Plums?

It was very cool because live action is like living four years of your life in four months. Everything is extremely extreme. It's a little bit like taking hard drugs. You get really high and then you go down, and then you're like, "Never ever in my life I will touch this shit again." And then, once you are fine, you feel like taking it again.

With a feature animation, it's a little bit like running a marathon. It's a long thing. And I'm not a marathon runner. So I had more joy making a live action movie than an animation. I would like to make an animation project again, but a short animation project. A long animation feature takes lots of lots of time. It's very slow.

Do you consider yourself a rebel?

Actually, I never thought very differently from other people. Many times I have heard people say that I was a rebel, but I'm not a rebel at all. A rebel is when you know you're conscious of something that you're fighting against.

With me, I just don't understand why I should do what people tell me to do. The majority is always wrong. I mean if the majority was right, then we would live in a better world. But the world is not good, which means that the majority is always, always wrong.

So you always have your personal way of thinking, and you just cannot let it go. There are things that I believe in and nothing in this world would make me change my mind.

What's the message you hope people take away from Chicken with Plums?

I don't have any message. If people can enjoy one and a half hours and dream, this is enough for me. Even when I was 25 years old, I wanted to change the world and I said to myself, "I cannot change the world." When I was 30 years old, I said to myself, "I definitely will change the world." At the age of 35, I realized that the world was changing me, and I didn't like that at all. And now I'm 40. I've decided it's on me to change, and maybe by my own change, I can change the small world around me.

Read the full story at The 99 Percent.

Artwork Honors Vaclav Havel

2012-02-10T17:14:58Z

PRAGUE -- Two artists have used wax from the thousands of candles that Czechs lit to mourn the death of President Vaclav Havel to create a large heart honoring him.

Lukas Gavlovsky – whose 7-foot-tall (2 meter), multicolored art work went on display in Prague on Friday, says it is meant "to celebrate (Havel's) ideas, his greatness."

Gavlovsky created the heart with his colleague, Roman Svejda, and dozens of volunteers.

Havel, a dissident who helped his nation shed Communism, was long associated with hearts. He ended his signature with one, and when he left office in 2003 a neon sign of a heart shone from Prague Castle.

The new art work, placed in front of the National Theater, will remain there until April 10.

Havel died on Dec. 18 at age 75.

Studio Re-Commissions Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rebecca'

2012-02-10T16:43:03Z

At least it isn't ~~"Psycho"~~ "Rear Window." According to Variety, DreamWorks has begun plans to remake the Alfred Hitchcock classic "Rebecca" with "History of Violence" screenwriter Steven Knight.

Knight -- Oscar nominated for writing "Dirty Pretty Things" in 2002, and also responsible for the David Cronenberg film "Eastern Promises" -- will apparently go back to the Daphne DuMaurier source novel for his adaptation, and not work directly off Hitchcock's moody thriller.

The original 1940 film followed Mrs. de Winter (Joan Fontaine), a "naive young woman" who marries a rich widower (Laurence Olivier) and moves into his mansion -- which just so happens to be haunted by his previous wife, Rebecca.

"Rebecca" was named Best Picture at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1941, and earned nine other nominations, including Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director. Of course, Hitchcock famously never won the award for Best Director, instead earning an honorary Oscar from the Academy in 1968. "Rebecca" was his first nomination in the category.

Hitchcock was a long-time fan of DuMaurier's work, having adapted "Jamaica Inn" for the screen in 1939; he also based "The Birds" on one of her short stories.

[via Variety]

Joseph Sutton: Where e-Books Fall Short, Print Delivers

2012-02-10T16:14:12Z

The recent news from Pew Internet that e-reader ownership has almost doubled over this past holiday season makes it tempting to say that print books are not long for this world; after Amazon realized that many e-book readers enjoy browsing for titles in a brick-and-mortar store only to download them on their devices, and then sought to capitalize on such a trend, indie bookstores fought back and claimed a minor victory. Today, many are framing Barnes & Noble as publishing's last stand against Amazon -- it feels as though anxiety and tensions are high as ever.

But I don't think we need to worry; as with the discovery that vinyl record sales have risen in the past six years in a market dominated by MP3 downloads, it's useful to put considerable thought in where each platform, digital or analogue, excel for each medium -- and publishers are going back to the drawing board to see where they can innovate with printed books to keep readers interested.

Some fun is lost in the e-book for those whom find reading to be a voyeuristic experience as I do. In a subway car or at a park, I take pleasure in seeing what is being read around me, for a non-confrontational glimpse at my neighbors' personalities or interests. Seeing someone read an e-book, nondescript and unrevealing of what's displayed on the screen, leaves little to the imagination.

Thankfully, where e-books fall short, print delivers.

Recently publishers have tried to refresh the way we consume print books by offering a whole new print format, the Flipback book. The Flipback was designed for the smartphone-toting generation, touting itself as "giving book lovers a real reading experience with the portability of a mobile phone" -- as if your mass market paperback were not portable enough -- and its being "always fully charged." The book opens vertically, rather than a traditional book's opening horizontally, making it easy to hold in one hand, ideal for the subway commuter.

But sometimes it's useful to look to the past for innovative solutions: reading for the first time The Medium Is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan (1967) (designed by Quentin Fiore and produced by Jerome Angel) felt life-changing -- not just for the ideas expressed by the late media theorist, but for how the book's design challenged the conventions of reading the printed page. The text, which many would likely find rather dense or difficult to parse, was made comprehensible by visual aids illustrating points made in the book: in one section, the reader was made to hold the book in front of a mirror to read backwards text; on the next page, you must rotate the book to read upside-down. These tricks may seem gimmicky, but actually make for an engaging reading experience that's pleasing for the eye, and with surprises beyond each page that push the boundaries of print.

Inventory Books, a series of books published by Princeton Architectural Press and designed by Project Projects, takes a lot from The Medium Is the Massage; in fact, the latest book in the series, The Electric Information Age Book: McLuhan/Agel/Fiore and the Experimental Paperback tackles the work as an example of books produced in the 60s and 70s that paired text and graphic design that "brought the ideas of contemporary thinkers to the masses." Paging through Street Value, the first of the Inventory Books series -- which is less unconventional than McLuhan, Angel and Fiore's production -- I found the use of primary sources like advertisements, imagery and newspaper clippings made the text more accessible as you would expect exploring a multi-media presentation to be.

So, obviously such tactics can easily be re-created in a digital format. But what makes them interesting in book form is the notion of the book as an object in itself, a set-piece with potential to spark, upon its being noticed, conversation -- not unlike my love for seeing what strangers read around me in public.

There are a lot of beautiful books being published today, notably Little, Brown and Company's Malcolm Gladwell: Collected, Melville House's Art of the Novella series, an assortment of graphic novels and really any issue of McSweeney's Quarterly Concern. I won't deny that when I'm expecting company I'll leave out the best books for guests to be impressed by. After all, most books in our home are purely for decoration, no?

This piece was originally published on The Donnybrook Writing Academy.

Jackie K. Cooper: The Captive Heart Is a Better Book Than Its Title Indicates

2012-02-10T16:09:59Z

Writer Dale Cramer's latest novel The Captive Heart is the second in a trilogy of books that falls under the collective title of The Daughters of Caleb Bender. It continues the story of a group of Amish people who left their homes and farms in the United States in hopes of finding freedom from what they deemed to be religious persecution. They settled in Mexico which presented them with a life of freedom but also of hardship.

The story takes place in the early 1900s and describes how Caleb Bender and his family, along with some of their friends from Ohio, set down roots in Mexico. The land is rich and the crops are abundant but there is nervousness in the air due to the bandits that are always capable of inflicting harm. This is doubly difficult for the Amish group as they will not fight to defend themselves. They trust in God to protect them.

Caleb does have a secret weapon and that is his ranch hand Domingo. Domingo is very much involved with Bender and his family and has none of the restrictions of their religion in dealing with the bandits. Domingo has another reason for his loyalty to the Benders; he is in love with Caleb's daughter Miriam.

The love story between Domingo and Miriam is the heart of The Captive Heart. Theirs seems to be an impossible love story as she is devoted to her family and her faith. Domingo is an outsider and could never understand the depth of her feelings for God. Still the attraction is there and circumstances could occur which would change Miriam's mind.

As a subplot there is the relationship between Rachel, Miriam's younger sister, and Jake. They are both Amish so there are no faith impediments to their relationship. There are, however, intervening factors. Rachel is kidnapped by bandits and Jake is desperate to rescue her. He is torn between his pacifist beliefs and his desire to save the woman he loves.

All of the conflicts of the heart, and the battles of the flesh and of faith are portrayed with depth and detail in Cramer's book. He brings his characters to vivid life and paints a believable picture of the Amish ways. The story of Caleb Bender and his family is drawn from Cramer's own ancestors' exodus to Mexico. These are his people and he knows how they are affected by their religion.

The Captive Heart is not a good title for a book of so much depth. It cheapens the expectations of the story and makes it appear to be a very simplistic book. That it is not. There are many complex issues in this book and Cramer studies and explores them with a depth of understanding.

Cramer is a writer of great insight into the souls of the people he creates in the pages of his books. He is masterful in setting up tense situations and following them through until the very end, always keeping them logical and enjoyable. He also knows how to grab the readers' attention from the very first pages till the very last ones. Do not start a story like THE CAPTIVE HEART unless you have a few hours to spend on its enjoyable plot.

The last book in this series is titled Though Mountains Fall and it will be released in December 2012. The Captive Heart sets a high standard for it to follow, but then a Dale Cramer book always does.

"The Captive Heart" is published by Bethany House. It contains 348 pages and sells for $14.99.

Jackie K. Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com

Author Scandal Bears Striking Resemblance To James Frey Scandal

2012-02-10T15:27:17Z

HELENA, Mont. — Attorneys who accuse Greg Mortenson of defrauding readers in his best-selling "Three Cups of Tea" say his case is no different from that of James Frey, who admitted on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" that he lied in his memoir "A Million Little Pieces."

That lawsuit ended in a settlement that offered refunds to buyers of the book.

Mortenson has asked a judge to throw out the civil lawsuit that says he fabricated portions of his book, saying that if it is allowed to proceed, other authors could be subjected to similar claims and the result would be a stifling of the free exchange of ideas.

"Plaintiffs should not be allowed to create a world where authors are exposed to the debilitating expense of class action litigation just because someone believes a book contains inaccuracies," attorney John Kauffman wrote in the filing late last month.

But the plaintiffs' attorneys argue in court documents filed Tuesday the lawsuit should go forward because of the precedent set by class-action lawsuit against Frey. The two cases are "nearly identical," they said.

"The facts in the (Frey) case are stunningly close to the facts in this case, but not nearly as compelling," wrote attorney Alexander Blewett.

The lawsuit claims Mortenson lied about how he began building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan and fabricated other events in the books "Three Cups of Tea" and "Stones Into Schools." The attorney who led the Frey lawsuit, Larry Drury, is also a plaintiffs' attorney in the nine-month-old case against Mortenson.

Winfrey chose "A Million Little Pieces," for her book club in September 2005, boosting its sales, which eventually topped 3.5 million. But then Frey acknowledged on Winfrey's show in January 2006 that he had lied in the memoir of addiction and recovery.

A judge in 2007 certified a class-action lawsuit by disgruntled readers against Frey, and the resulting settlement offered a refund to anybody who bought the book before the falsehoods were acknowledged.

Only 1,729 people asked to be reimbursed, costing Random House $27,348. The attorneys in the case were paid $783,000 in fees.

Haddon has not yet scheduled a hearing on whether to dismiss the claim against Mortenson.

The lawsuit accuses the Montana resident of being involved in a racketeering scheme to turn him into a false hero, defraud millions of people out of the price of the books and raise millions in donations to the charity. The other defendants allegedly in on the scheme are co-author David Relin, publisher Penguin Group and Mortenson's Bozeman-based charity, Central Asia Institute.

Mortenson's accusers seek reimbursement of all the money that was made from his books. The lawsuit has been amended four times, with a changing cast of plaintiffs who now number four.

The lawsuit was filed a few weeks after author Jon Krakauer and "60 Minutes" revealed in April 2011 discrepancies in "Three Cups of Tea" and questioned whether Mortenson was benefiting from his charity.

Meanwhile, Montana prosecutors are moving ahead with their own investigation into Mortenson's charity, saying they plan to update the public about the investigation in the next few weeks.

The Montana attorney general's office is investigating whether the Central Asia Institute broke any laws that govern non-profits in Montana.

Assistant Attorney General Jim Molloy said investigators have reviewed thousands of pages of documents and interviewed Mortenson and others connected to the charity.

He declined to say what the investigation has revealed but said his office would be updating the public within a month.

The state's probe does not involve the merits of the accounts contained in Mortenson's books, he said.

Mortenson has denied wrongdoing and has kept out of the public eye since having heart surgery last year. In December, the Central Asia Institute said in its year-end letter that Mortenson would no longer be involved in the charity's day-to-day management and that it was looking at expanding its three-person board of directors.

9 Books That Cause Irrational Phobias

2012-02-10T15:06:53Z

By Gabe Habash for PWxyz:

One of the many benefits of books is that they provide catharsis. They have the rare power of purging stress and bad emotions through the experiences we find in them. But some books can have the exact opposite effect, producing the howling fantods in a reader. For those phobic victims, weâll wait for your screaming to die down and nod in appreciation of the power of these nine books.

What Is The Vampire Novel Of The Century?

2012-02-10T14:59:48Z

In these post-Twilight days, vampires are so ubiquitous that it's hard to believe they were once confined to a dark corner of the horror genre. But this mainstream acceptance â all sparkly rock star vampires and comedy bloodsuckers â has leeched away the terror of the shadow rising at the foot of the bed. Vampires just aren't scary any more. It's like Dracula never happened.