FOR ONCE, A LIST I DIDN'T CREATE:

USING ONLY ONE WORD

Not as easy as you might think!

1. Where is your cell phone? Desk

2. Your hair? Vanishing

3. Your mother? Missed

4. Your father? Tragedy

5.. Your favorite thing? Reading

6. Your dream last night? Nothing

7. Your favorite drink? Coffee

8. Your dream/goal? Bestseller

9. What Room are you in? Office

10. Your hobby? Demagoguery

11. Your fear? Mediocrity

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Nirvana

13. Where were you last night? Library

14. Something that you aren’t? Annoying

15. Breakfast? Rarely

16. Wish list item? Royalties

17. Where you grew up? Michigan

18. Last thing you ate? Diunner

19. What are you wearing? Sweater

20. Your TV? Antiquated

21. Your pets? Entertaining

22. Friends? Generous

23. Your life? Evolving

24. Your mood? Eh

25. Missing someone? Yep

26. Your car? Massive

27. Something you’re not wearing? Thong :(

28. Your favorite store? Borders

29. Your favorite color? Blue-Green

30. When is the last time you laughed? Earlier

31. Last time you cried? 2008

32. Who will resend this? jesus

33. One place that I go to over and over? Work

34. One person who emails me regularly: Minister Faust, 'cause he loves me so. Shit, I broke the one-word rule.

35. Favorite place to eat: Udipi

36. One place I would like to go right now? Japan

37. One person I think will respond: Irrelevant

38. One TV show I watch all the time: Lost

Pretty lame, I know. Blame the "recovering Baptist" from whom I stole this. Until my book is out, I don't really have much else to say~

NOW THERE ARE TWO OF US

http://noracooksmith.blogspot.com/2009/01/road-more-traveled-than-you-might-think.html

ANOTHER LIST

In the spirit of not losing readership as well as interest, I have decided to go ahead and post a hastily prepared list of fiction-related stuff for your perusal and eventual use. Forgive any perceived negativity contained within, as I simply can’t help it right now.

Pretend to enjoy:

MOST PECULIAR READING TASTE- Autobiographies of non-famous people. If someone can make him or herself interesting without the benefit of fame and publicity junkets prior to publication, that is a real writer. Two recommendations are “7 Tattoos” by Peter Trachtenberg & “Oh the Glory of it All” by Sean Wilsey.

MOST POLITICALLY INCORRECT NOVEL YOU HAVE READ-All of his novels are, but Chuck Palahniuk’s most recent novel “Snuff” is the all-time winner. (Describe plot)

TWO BOOKS YOU THREW DOWN IN DISGUST, HALF-FINISHED- Dan Brown’s “Angels & Demons” was so predictable that I actually found myself saying, “OK, this is gonna happen next” and it did! After 100 pages, I simple couldn’t take it anymore. John Saul’s “Creature” started off as intriguing and became so ludicrous in its characterizations that I could no longer finish reading it, either…I was nineteen!

LEAST FAVORITE LITERARY GENRE- It’s easy to pick on the Romance field as it is the most formulaic and least creative of the literary genres. But it was never intended to be more than that, so I refuse to take unfair advantage. Instead, I choose the science fiction sub-genre known as “cyber-punk,” a once revolutionary movement that is now a sad echo that refuses to fade away. Even its godfather, William Gibson, has all but abandoned it.

BEST ONE-HIT WONDER” NOVEL-Richard Bowes’ “Minions of the Moon” is a masterpiece of mood, suspense and characterization. I suspect this might be a pseudonym for a more well known writer, but if not, it’s the most impressive one-hit wonder I’ve ever encountered.

WORST NOVEL RECOMMENDED BY SOMEONE YOU USUALLY RESPECT- My mom, the woman who taught me to love the written word, recommended Dean Koontz’s “The Bad Place.” Not a terrible novel at all, but once you discover it’s a direct rip-off of Robert A. Heinlein’s “The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag” complete with the witty private eye couple, it gets a very low rating indeed.

LOVED BY CRITICS HATED BY YOU- Like snowflakes, it’s impossible to reach out and grab all the things that fly in front of my eyes when I think of the much-lauded garbage the critics tend to love. Most of the books I read don’t feature the New York Times Bestseller tag on them. But one novel I absolutely hated came from a writer I absolutely adore. The award-winning “Something Wicked This Way Comes” did not appeal to me at all with its alienating writing style and agonizingly slow pace.

BOOK YOU THINK WOULD MAKE A GREAT FILM THAT WILL PROBABLY NEVER GET MADE- James Morrow’s “Towing Jehovah.” At on time my favorite novel, this tale of the death of God and how we dispose of his corpse is at turns funny, philosophical and suspenseful. Never happen.

ONE WRITER WHOSE PROSE REMINDS YOU OF THE WORK OF A THIRD GRADER- Anne Rice! Next?

STRANGEST IDEA FOR A NOVEL THAT SUCCEEDED ADMIRABLY- Bradley Denton’s “Buddy Holly is Alive & Well on Ganymede.” Any novel featuring killer cyborg dogs, aliens and a live TV broadcast from the surface of one of Jupiter’s moons with a clueless Buddy Holly could fall apart under its own eccentricities in the hands of a lesser writer.

There, suck on that for a while. Easy, easy! There's enough to go around!

MAY I PROUDLY PRESENT

My colleague & friend Nora Cook Smith now available on Amazon!

Her book, not her. She's married.

http://www.amazon.com/Not-So-Perfect-Christmas/dp/0979029945/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229831301&sr=1-1

MAKING MYSELF THINK

Biggest idiot in the public eye. He’s no longer in the public eye what with the prison sentence and the potential buggering and all, but Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is my choice. Had it all and blew it with his wanna-be-a-gangsta antics, embarrassing a city and anyone who looks like him in the process.

Funniest thing you’ve heard in a long time. Air America, the only radio network for us godless commie liberals, has the Stephanie Miler show in the morning, which is 1 part shtick and 3 parts funny. The guy that does all the voices did a skit where Sara Palin was hunting grizzly bears from her chopper and wound up shooting Boo-Boo, prompting Yogi to go on a righteous killing spree.

Most ridiculous belief system. It’s a habit of mine to study crazy dogmas out there but most of you won’t know what I’m taking about so I will keep my choice mainstream and simple: Suffice it to say Mormons will always be safely in the number two spot so long as Scientology is around.

Biggest culprit in the dumbing down of America. Rather than a single person, I blame a thing: Reality TV.

One group of people you can’t help but be prejudice against. Blue collar (redneck) conservatives. I really can't help it. There is no group of people more damaging to the national good and I can't respect their choice.

Worst. Job. Ever. Imagine yourself on a bus full of environmental weirdoes heading into a blue collar town that thinks it’s not a blue collar town, trapped there for 8 hours walking door-to-door with a well-meaning Canuck trying to solicit donations for clean water and you might come close to knowing my pain.

One book, excluding the Bible, you can reread several times. NOT THE BIBLE! Vonnegut’s “Breakfast of Champions.” I be readin’ dat all da time ‘cause it be teachin’ me shit like how to be literateness…

Your secret, unrealized dream. This is my first time revealing this, but to act in the filmed versions of some of my novels. You can laugh now.

Current workplace crush, yes or no? Yeah, every five feet. Every six inches during lunch. They can't help themselves! I'm a walkin' tri-pod of manly goodness...and possibly one of only five straight males out of a hundred who looks like he bathes on a regular basis.

Whatcha currently reading? Any good? Just started a collection of Truman Capote’s essays. His imagery and ability to capture moments like snapshots suspended in time is incredible. He is truly an underrated master craftsman, which is superior to being a master baiter in the fishing industry.

Ever been sexually harassed at work? it is possible to be harrassed when you encourage the behavior?

Ever sexually harassed anyone at work? Never. it usually happened to me first.

The nature of God in seven words or less. Schiphrenic. Whimsical. Insane. Sadistic. Megalomaniac. Oprah.

Ever experimented with drugs? Nope. I saw the prize winners around me who got high and wanted nothing to do with them.

Alone or coupled off, which is preferable? Can't I have both?

The one movie you can relate to most. Donnie Darko. See it then ask me why.

One medication you can’t live without. Excedrin. The miracle pill. Without it, I would skid home in my own vomit thanks to chronic migraines. Still, I'd save a lot on gas, wouldn't I?

Your favorite article of clothing you currently own. This is a trick question...I don't own any clothes.

Most annoying song. "Walking on Sunshine" which sends me into a blind rage. Anything by Maroon Five runs a close second.

Least favorite holiday and why. Easter. Holds no meaning for me and I still remember the dry, itchy suits and hot churches thanks to all the people being there who didn’t normally go to church.

Anyone interested in using this list on your own blogs feel free. We're all one community helping and caring for each other until my book comes out and I start forgetting all you sone of bitches ;)

THE DEBATABLE NECESSITY OF SEQUELS

As a writer who likes to think he has some measure of artistic integrity, I am constantly at war with the concept of the sequel, not to mention the trilogy.

My issue with sequels and series novels in general is the exploitation of an idea. In many cases, writers are milking something that would have been brilliant in a single novel for all it’s worth. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that. Everyone needs to make money and if it can be done while writing, that is the dream most of us will never realize.

However, when someone stretches a premise only because they want to capitalize on its success, they run the risk of diminishing whatever merits the original possessed. In addition, writers that do this tend to be one of two-trick ponies with very little else in their literary arsenal. Thus we wind up with the multi-epic, especially in the Fantasy field, that never seems to end or satisfy. It’s like tantric fiction.

None of my comments are meant to indicate I am opposed to writing sequels, however, because I have and probably will again. The difference is I don’t make the decision to write a sequel lightly. In fact, in most cases I write my novels with the intent of making them a single volume, but sometimes the concept simply outgrows the constraints of the format.

I have what I have termed an “urban dark fantasy epic” whose first novel is already written. I think it’s my best work, and many agree. But I really wanted it to be a single volume work. Unfortunately, it grew and grew to the point where, if I had stuck in all in one book, it would’ve been easily comparable to Stephen King’s “The Stand” in size!

So, I mentioned to my publisher that it would need to be broken up into two volumes. Ignoring the dollar signs in her eyes, I forlornly told her how I felt like I’d failed in my initial idea. Her response was to say, “Do you think you could make it a trilogy?”

I grabbed a hanky and wiped the drool from her mouth, although I think I skidded in some as I walked away, contemplating.

She told me to sit down in front of the computer and think about it. If I came up with anything, I was to let her know but if I didn’t, I had to scrub the toilets and bathe her neighbor’s cat. With the pressure on, I…okay, I’m lying. But something odd happened: a sequel idea came to mind that did not in any way compromise the vision! In fact, it fleshed it out perfectly.

I sat down and wrote out a basic synopsis in about ten minutes and showed it to her. She loved it and so did the other writers and artists in the room. I felt validated by that. In the months since, I have truly fallen in love with the idea.

Trilogies aren’t a big deal to me, though. It’s those obscenely lengthy series I have a problem with. Robert Jordan’s “Wheel of Time” series comes to mind. If not for untimely demise, Jordan would most likely still be writing those books.

Please don’t misunderstand me. There are ideas that require multiple installments. Every follow-up or sequel isn’t akin to the Hollywood approach of placing the same characters into different locales and calling it a continuation. Years ago, long before I had any inkling what I was doing, I came up with an epic of Star Wars proportions that would require a minimum of five books to tell the whole story. I wrote the first one in the back of Sociology classes when I was supposed to be paying attention. It is a huge novel filled with ideas and characters and complex motivations and spaceships and love and politics and…well, you get the idea.

My theory is that most writers of the non-literary elitist variety have at least one multi-epic in their headS doing rapid orbits. That’s not the point of this piece.

Simply put, those who write sequels and series merely for financial gAin have no artistic integrity and should be writing commercials for television. In my view, they contribute negatively to the world of writing and in no way distinguish themselves as good storytellers.

I am no fan of the Harry Potter books. I’ve never read them and I don’t find the concept even slightly interesting. But I must give JK Rowlings credit for one thing if nothing else. She designed an epic tale that required six books to tell it. Perhaps it’s not as complex and creative as Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” series, but Potter novels were justified in their length.

Writing about a character in a series is also a different matter. If, for instance, Robert B Parker wants to write for years about his Boston private eye Spenser, he is following a noble literary tradition. The crusading detective is a character unto himself and is more a plot device for mystery and intrigue than an ongoing story arc.

My forthcoming novel, “Dreamers at Infinity’s Core,” started off as a single volume novel as well. Once I’d finished it, I truly believed it was over. What more was there to be said about those characters or the concept? However, one early morning as I was headed out to work, I realized the story wasn’t over yet. It is now a trilogy, possibly increasingly inaccurately named, but I hope not.

My problem is I love the characters too much to let them go. They’re my children and I refuse to let them grow up. I don’t have much family left and have very little to do with them at this point in my life, so my writing has become family in many ways.

I suspect that may be true for a lot of writers, even those surrounded by family. We’re a lonely bunch by breed and definition and our characters transport us to somewhere more interesting and less difficult to understand.

Life is the series we try to capture. Some of us do it only for money, some do it for love of the craft. All of us should be mindful of the fact that there just might be somebody out there reading out work whose life is much worse and whose only refuge is his or her favorite novel.

That is also our family, and we have a responsibility to them to remain honest to who and what we are. Anything else is simply a TV commercial~

GETTING TO KNOW ME, GETTING TO KNOW ALLLLLL ABOUT MEEEEE

Well, okay maybe not. But the following questionnaire is a good time waster until I post my next masterstroke and it does give you a glimpse into the mind of the writer...not this writer but someone...

Five names you go by
1. Chris
2. Nads
3. Muffin
4. Boy-Chris
5. Scribe

Three things you are wearing right now
1. Nothing
2. Much.
(Excited? My dogs are)

Two things you want very badly at the moment
1. More money for bill paying
2. To see my book out before X-mas

Three people who will probably fill this out
I'd like to think all who come before me will follow suit for I am the path and the fork in the road, the armchair philospher who just dumped his load.

Two things you did last night
1. Read a Christopher Moore novel
2. Stared at this
http://www.com-publishing.com/christopherNadeau.shtml for about an hour and wished I'd taken the photo after I got rid of my mustache...oh, well.

Two things you ate today
1. Cereal
2. The inside of my cheek. Hurt like hell but it reminded me I'm alive...like trying to sit through an episode of "Grey's Anatomy."

Two people you last talked to on the phone
1. My absentee friend Al
2. My mortgage guy


Two things you are going to do tomorrow
1. Work.
2. Clean.
(I might even clean while working but they have people for that)


Two longest car rides
1. A trip to Traverse City, MI. for a college journalism competition with a crazy driver (in those days) a know-it-all stoner who liked hassling wanna-be punk rock kids, and a whiney, annoying newbie in the backseat who wouldn't stop complaining about every-damn-thing.
2. The drive back from the Olive Garden where I knew I would be professing my love to a woman who didn't feel the same way.

Two of your favourite beverages
1. Coffee
2. Arizona Ice tea with Ginseng and Honey...orgasm in a glass bottle.

A CHANGE OF PACE

My first Meme:

1. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names): Melanie Allan

. NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother’s dad, father’s dad): Cna't answer, don't know my dad's dad's name, he died before I was born and was a son of a bitch to boot.

3. STAR WARS NAME: (the first 2 letters of your last name, first 4 letters of your first name): Nachri

4. DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal): Blue Dog

5. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you live): Alain Southfield (well, that sucks)

6. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite alcoholic drink, optionally add “THE” to the beginning): green corona

7. FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name): naer

8. GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie): french vanilla chocolate chip

9. ROCK STAR NAME: (current pet’s name, current street name): Gizmo 8 1/2

10. PORN NAME: (1st pet, street you grew up on):Toke Mansfield

AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR DIANE CAREY:

(I interviewed well-known author Diane Carey for the upcoming convention being thrown by my publisher & her partner- see link for more info)

Diane Carey is the author of 46 novels, including 8 Top-Ten/Eleven New York Times Bestsellers, including a Hardcover Top 15 Bestseller, several Waldenbooks and B Dalton Bestsellers, a Peanut Press Award Winner, and also of copious articles, editorials, training manuals, and is co-developer of a Wetlands Case Study for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Best known for her Star Trek novels, Carey has also written several romances, the Civil War novels "Distant Drums" and "Rise Defiant," two ALIEN novels from Dark Horse Publishing, and the novelization of the movie "S.W.A.T." Carey is currently writing a full-length movie screenplay for Collective Development, Inc., to be directed by Anthony Hornus ("An Ordinary Killer). Most of her writing is done in collaboration with her husband, Greg Brodeur.

Greg Brodeur is co-author of Diane Carey's 46 novels and 4 Star Trek novels with author Dave Galanter. As his wife Diane explains, "He is the plot engine." Skilled in science, philosophy, and history, Brodeur does considerable research and plot development. Formerly an instructor if mathematics at Baker College in both Flint and Owosso, Brodeur is now a senior programmer for Jackson National Life in Okemos, Michigan. The couple has three children and have renovated a large historic home in Mid-Michigan.

Diane Carey was gracious enough to grant an interview for X-Cape Con 2:

X: How do you feel about writing licensed material as opposed to your own creations?

Diane: Every writer prefers working with his or her own characters and settings, but I discovered early that writing “in a box” is its own special challenge, and that I like challenges. Star Trek was not my first licensed property; I wrote a novelization of a two-part TV miniseries called HAREM. For my (or I should say “our,” to include my co-author/husband Greg Brodeur) first Star Trek novels were written from the point of view of a hot-headed, somewhat fumbling young officer who had been promoted too fast, on top of being a girl, which adds its own problems to life aboard a ship (trust me, I know). I insisted upon having a fresh perspective of Kirk and Spock. The goal of the book was not to usurp the classic characters, but to examine them from another person’s point of view. The books were wildly successful and Dreadnought! became the first Star Trek New York Times Bestseller. Pocket immediately asked me for the second book, Battlestations!
I enjoy whatever project I am working on at the moment, for the duration. Of course I like some better than others, but liking my work or being particularly inspired is just a bonus, not a requisite of getting the job done within a deadline and marketing plan. Publishers can’t wait around while a writer muses for inspiration. Some of the books and articles I’m most proud of were among the least enjoyable, because we had to work harder and be more skillful in order to develop them. A professional of any stripe—architect, doctor, builder, manufacturer, teacher, programmer, researcher or ditch digger—will do the same.

X: What’s it like working with John Ordover, the former editor of Pocket Books’ Star Trek division? Does he still contact you when he wants to launch new series?

Diane: John Ordover is a brilliant marketer. We met at a convention and have enjoyed a wonderful friendship since then. Working together was gratifying because we shared the same vision of Star Trek. Together we launched several cross-over series and filled gaps in the Star Trek legend with such books as Ship of the Line. John called to ask us to develop a book about Captain Bateson; my response was, “Captain who??” I had never seen the episode of Next Generation where Kelsey Grammer appeared in a cameo. I said what I always say, “Sure, I guess.” John also asked that the use the book to launch the Enterprise-E, so we folded it into the story.
John no longer works for Pocket Books, but we are still in contact often, and remain close friends.

X: Have you had any involvement in the Star trek films or with the TV shows?

Diane: Very little. We visited the set a couple of times, and of course all our work had to pass the test of the Licensing department at Paramount . The current movie director and writers have given me the honor of being one of the five “inspirations” for the upcoming movie; they used my book Best Destiny as a template for the attitude of the new movie. See the article in the October 24, 08 issue #1017 of Entertainment Weekly.

X: Is there any particular generation you prefer writing?

Diane: Since I have a rep as “the Kirk Expert,” it’s no secret that examining the characters and situations presented in the original series were and remain my favorites. I enjoyed pushing Kirk around—every sailor’s dream.

X: Speaking of which, is it true you work on tall sailing ships as a cook? Is this to get ideas for writing or because of a love of cooking while trying to maintain your balance, or both?

Diane:? Sailing came before publication. I started as a deckhand aboard the Pilot Schooner William H. Albury in the Bahamas, moved from there to the Gazela of Philadelphia, then to the Baltic Trader Schooner Alexandria, aboard which I was eventually promoted to watch officer after performing well during an emergency (or two). Since then I’ve served as watch leader, training officer, deckhand, cook aboard several ships, and lecturer about ships and life aboard. I’ve developed several handbooks and training manuals. I hate cooking. Cooking aboard a ship is horrific. We do what we have to do. The ideas for writing just naturally come aboard ships, in all situations from doldrums to danger, and I’ve experienced plenty. Balance? Who are we kidding!

X: You’re also a wedding & event coordinator who uses a Renaissance theme as well as being a bagpiper. I don’t really have a question because that’s fascinating enough but can you expound on that at all? (Hey, I had a question after all!)

Diane: I’ve been a piper since the age of 16. I started my wedding business in 1999 almost as an accident. An acquaintance wanted to try it, so we became partners, except she never did anything. Renaissance, Celtic, Medieval, Tropical events are popular and I go with the market. I also happen to be a professional historian.

X: Oddly enough, although your weddings are based on the Renaissance, your historical novels have dealt with the Civil War. What is it about that period in history that fascinates you?

Diane: Every period in history fascinates me. Why the Civil War is interesting especially to Americans is certainly no mystery. Writers, if they’re doing their jobs, naturally gravitate to period of organic conflict. The trick is to examine the period yet again, but do it from a completely new perspective.
Diane Carey can be seen talking and being humble about her accomplishments at X-Cape 2. this weekend.

THE DOWNSIDE OF BEING A WRITER IN THE U.S.

I hate writing some days.

We’ve all heard the sentiment that one must suffer in order to create “art.” In all fairness to that particular doctrine, a lot of people suffer and never learn how to harness it into something creative. It’s not enough to merely suffer. One must also gain perspective. That is the quintessential “Dark Side” moment where we either learn from the master or rot away in a decaying frame of unfulfilled ambition and desire.

I went through the “What if I’m a fraud?” stage a few years ago and emerged virtually unscarred so it’s not that. Perhaps it’s because I’ve always secretly suspected it’s the one and only thing I can potentially do well.

I won’t take you on a tour of my Hall of Shame, but rest assured it has many, many exhibits. My writing isn’t on display there but some of my early stuff would qualify.

As I wrote a few months ago, I was at one point discouraged to the point of giving up. But I wonder if I ever would have been able to do that. Despite a nearly two-year bout of writer’s block, I still sat down from time to time and tried to summon an interesting story or line of dialogue.

Writing for me has always been the true love/other lover of my sub-conscious mind. It makes demands on my time and energy that most well adjusted human beings would not and, like a bad lover, it often leaves me feeling anxious and unsatisfied. But it’s even more than that.

That portion of my “struggle” seems to be over. I got bags of perspective, I tellz ya. BAGS!

So what’s the deal? Why can’t it ever be simple with me? Most writers I know throw hissy fits when they can’t write anything they consider worthwhile. I’ve seen them go into a funk that would cause most people to shut down and withdraw from reality. But writers are always partially withdrawn from reality, so for us this is just a process or a means to and end.

But I suppose what I’ve always hated most is being surrounded by people who don’t get it. Constant criticism, dismissal or just plain insults are some of the tiny-minded responses to the writer’s mentality. Polite society loves to pretend it’s impressed with the skills but condemns you when it becomes obvious there is more to your talent than simple words on a page.

Stephen King once stated in his incredible “On Writing” that a true writer couldn’t be concerned with what polite society thinks. I don’t think I’m in any danger of that, as anyone who knows me or has read me can attest.

Ultimately, the writer, the poet, the painter is alone in a universe he or she is desperately trying to redefine or reveal. Sarah Palin’s beloved Joe Six-Packs, not to mention Biff the Stockbroker and Muffy the Soccer Mom, see no value in that, especially in the U.S. We are on our own. If we hit upon a popular formula or sell out and work in advertising, we might be considered relevant by the masses. Otherwise, we are marginalized, social pariahs. This isn’t Europe; very few people revere writers here. That type of environment can make for even better writing but it sure as hell doesn’t make for a happier life~

RIP MICHAEL CRICHTON

I was by no means a fan of his writing. I found it stilted and flat. His stories were often meandering apologist tripe seemingly accusing science for all of man's ills. His characters were usually over-developed and uninteresting, something I hadn't thought possible until I struggled through one of his novels. On top of it all, he was a gimmicky writer and a traitor to his science fiction roots.

But, dammit! He got people to read. And for that and that alone, he earned my respect.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Crichton. You've earned your place in history.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/books/06crichton.html?em