Yes, I know...

Yes, I know...

My essay for the next stop on the blog tour is not there. Instead, there is a June 11 posting on procrastination. Believe me, the irony is not lost on me. The person who is putting this tour together for me is just as perturbed as I am. So, it might go up tomorrow, it might be another day. I have to just sit and wait.

I'm reading a book called "The Double Bind" right now and have extremely conflicting feelings about. It is a contemporary thriller (although the first half of the book is not thrilling at all), that brings in the characters of "The Great Gatsby," *as if they were real.* I'm not at all in favor of authors poaching characters from other books, even if they are using the imaginary people in a "what if" scenario. In this case, they want to know what if Daisy had a son by Jay Gatsby...and then take it from there. The son plays a major role in the book.

This is annoying to me because I think that authors should make up their own personae. Taking characters that were worked upon and perfected by another writer (even if he/she is long dead) doesn't seem fair. It's as if you were having someone do half the work for you. Believe me, creating creditable fictional people is not easy. I worked extremely hard on them in my second novel (now gathering dust on my hard drive). My writing guru in New York said they were extremely good, yet an agent wrote back and told me they were "cardboard characters." That's the guy who wrote such a nasty e-mail I broke down in tears. And I've had a lot of rejections, my skin can be thick when it comes to rejection letters. But this one went over the top.

But the main point here is I think what "The Double Bind" author, Chris Bohjalian, does is stealing. Out and out theft.
Yet, he has created a good thriller in the back half of the book. I can't wait to see how it all ends. And that's usually the mark of a great book. So, I'm conflicted. Yes, I have real problems with this one.

QUESTION: For all of you who have read my novel, "Excited Light,", I was wondering if you could help out. I am doing a reading next Wednesday and need to pick out a couple sections to present to the public. I get about 12 minutes, so I could do a couple sections. Which ones do you think I should pick? I don't want the book to sound like a downer, but all the passages I like are the out-of-control-with-alcohol ones. I don't know what this says about me.

Lynn

Lynn Voedisch,
"Excited Light",
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
New Age,