Join Our Official Book Club! - September Discussion "Transubstantiate"
You know the drill, folks. Every month a new book is selected and a new moderator steps up to lead the discussion. This month, our reading is already underway on Richard Thomas' neo-noir Transubstantiate.
After 3 years as a workshop regular and Master Class student, Richard Thomas placed his novel with a small press. He's something of a success story from our site. Hell, we even interviewed him about it. (read it here)
If you've read Transubstantiate (or plan to) and would like to join in on the open discussion, simply:
Here's a snippet from Oxyfication review:
Casual brutality, sex, and disorder: the heroes of noir have never been terribly endearing to the heart, but the seven nihilistic souls of Richard Thomas’ Transubstantiate seem like they were born ruined, and are likely to die that way. The story draws heavily on all the beloved accouterments of the neo-noir tradition—fractured narratives; cynicism; disorientation; ruthless beatings—but the story branches out into other areas, exploring themes of mysticism and the unknowable, even broaching the peripheral terrors of Lovecraftian horror.
Upcoming Book Club Selections!
If you'd like to get in on the action over at Book Club, you can see what we have planned down the line:
October 2010 - Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
November 2010 - Candy by Luke Davies
December 2010 - Blank Gaze (or The Implacable Order of Things) by Jose Luis Peixoto
January 2011 - Invisible by Paul Auster
February 2011 - Out of Touch by Brandon Tietz
March 2011 - Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis
April 2011 - Victoria by Knut Hamsun
May 2011 - Stranger Will by Caleb Ross
June 2011 - We Are Oblivion by Michael Sonbert
All discussions are open to anyone. You just need to be registered to the site so you can login to our forums, where the threads for each book discussin are kept.
If you have any questions about Book Club, you may post them in the forums and our moderator Pete Goutis will be quick to help you out.
Comments
Thanks guys. Step on up people, ask me anything. I'll read your fortune in tea leaves, tell you what your choice in authors reveals about your personality and aspirations, and tell you all of the secret, behind-the-scenes stuff that nobody out there knows about the making of Transubstantiate. Ask me about how I went from having nothing published four years ago, to winning two contests ($$$), publishing my first novel, getting 20+ stories online and print, and breaking out in the upcoming Shivers VI from Cemetery Dance with STEPHEN KING and PETER STRAUB. No joke, seriously. Well, the tea leaves stuff, that's probably not going to happen. Let's talk about the sex, violence, and unknown mysteries of the universe that unfold in Transubstantiate. Bring it on. I'm not scared. (Little bit, actually).
Peace,
Richard
I'm digging the book so much right now. Still have a ways to go and trying desperately to stay away from spoilers though.
Gotta say, writing multiple characters/narratives is tricky as hell - specifically keeping their voices separate and distinct. It's always been a total PITA for me to go back and fix dialogue so that they're not all the same voice. You've done well without resorting to the usual obvious gimmicks of over-exaggerated accents and colloquialisms and such. Did you use any particular method to ensure individuality from one to the next?