July 2019 - Gary David Gillen

Rooster Bar by John Grisham

Introduction

Rooster Bar by John Grisham is a thriller about a group of four law students entering their last semester before graduation at Foggy Bottom Law School. Gordon discovers Foggy Bottom is a diploma mill making their hope to pass the bar exam and to get a job after graduation slight. They all have about $200,000 in debt. Gordon has followed the money to a ruthless hedge-fund operator behind the ruse. When Gordon dies, will Mark, Todd, and Zola expose the scandal or flee the country?

Summary

The main characters and viewpoints for Rooster Bar are Mark, Todd, and Zola. Mark Frazier went to law school expecting to get rich as a lawyer. He works as an intern at a firm which says they will hire him after he passes the bar exam, but it is not in writing and Mark is skeptical that they are telling him the truth. Todd Lucero is a bartender at the Rooster Bar and has gone to law school through the advice of his bar patrons. Zola Maal is a US citizen, but her parents are undocumented workers from Senegal. Her parents and brother face deportation and she wants to use her knowledge of the law to free them. Zola is the girlfriend of Gordon Tanner who has a fiance back in his hometown but he doesn’t want to marry her.

Gordon goes off his meds, fights with his fiance, and returns to Washington. The four law students meet at the Rooster Bar and then go to Gordon’s apartment to see his research on the Great Law School Scam. After Gordon dies, the three must decide what to do with the information. They decide that their prospects of getting out of debt are slim so they create an unlicenced law office and start practicing law for cash from people on the fringe of society. They face loan collectors for their debts, the prospect of discovery of practicing law without a license, and the wrath of the hedge fund operator. Zola’s parents and brother are deported to Senegal. They must figure out a plan that will fix all their problems.

Recommendation

Rooster Bar by John Grisham was a frustrating book. The writing is clear and the plot moves quickly. The idea of the Great Law School Scam was interesting, especially how it affected the main characters. Zola’s dilemmas stemming from her parent’s deportation intrigued me. Mark and Todd are two knuckleheads who I wasn’t compelled to root for. Their solutions for their conflicts were increasingly terrible. If their motivations made sense, then I would have liked this book more.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Rooster Bar by John Grisham.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42415830-the-rooster-bar

I reviewed Camino Island also by John Grisham.

Camino Island by John Grisham

Two other recent thrillers I have read and reviewed are like Rooster Bar.

This is the link to my review of Bleak Harbor by Bryan Gruley.

Bleak Harbor by Bryan Gruley

This is the link to my review of The Speed of Sound by Eric Bernt.

The Speed of Sound by Eric Bernt

Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody

Introduction

Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody takes the books of Blake Snyder and applies his teachings to writing novels. Blake Snyder wrote three books in his Save the Cat series about screenwriting. Jessica Brody shows how she finds the act structure, beat sheets, and story genres in novels just like she finds them in movies. The book gives a clear plan for creating a novel that is complete.

Summary

Jessica Brody divides Save the Cat Writes a Novel into four sections. She explains the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet first. Every novel has 15 beats that fall at a specific page number in the novel. The 15 beats must be in the novel to satisfy the reader with the novel’s ending. Every novel also follows one of ten genres. These ten genres have three different components that make them work. The ten genres are Whydunit, Rites of Passage, Institutionalized, Superhero, Dude with A Problem, The Fool Triumphant, Buddy Love, Out of the Bottle. Golden Fleece, and Monster in the House. Next is a chapter on writing killer loglines and dazzling synopses. Describing your novel is important to selling it to editors and publishers. The book ends with a Q and A section which answers typical questions about the process.

Recommendation

Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody is a great book on writing. She takes Blake Snyder’s teachings on screenwriting and transposes the lessons to writing novels. The book is full of examples of current and past novels. She presents complete beat sheets and genre breakdowns. This book is a great resource for any point in the novel-writing process. Use it when you begin a project, in the middle to fix a problem, or at the end to refine a polished draft. I tried to use Blake Snyder’s teachings to write my stories. Jessica Brody presents the information in a clear and concise manner. I will use this book from now on for writing my stories.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39014796-save-the-cat-writes-a-novel

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Save the Cat by Blake Snyder

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49464.Save_the_Cat

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Save the Cat Strikes Back by Blake Snyder

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7235236-save-the-cat-strikes-back

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Save the Cat Goes to The Movies by Blake Snyder

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/551171.Save_the_Cat_Goes_to_the_Movies

A similar book on writing is Self-Publishing Boot Camp by Carla King. This is the link to my review. It has everything you want to know about Self-Publishing.

Self-Publishing Boot Camp by Carla King

Another similar book on writing is How to Write Best Selling Fiction by Dean Koontz. This is the link to my review. It’s from 1981, but the advice is still great.

How to Write Best Selling Fiction by Dean Koontz

Another similar book on writing is Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers is a useful writing book. The exercises help pinpoint common problems of beginning writers.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

Writing Progress Report for July 2019

This is my Writing Progress Report for July 2019.

On June 30, 2019, the Cleveland Orchestra played the score for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone live at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Great performance. Glad I went.

Writing Progress from June 2019

I wrote five blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my writing progress report for June 2019 linked below.

Writing Progress Report for June 2019

I bought and used the editing program Pro Writing Aid to edit the novel, Assassin in New Marl City. I edited and typed Assassin Chapters 30, 32, and 33 in August 2018, reviewed Chapters 34, 35, and 36 in September 2018, and I completed the review in February 2019. Reduced total chapters to 30. Reviewed Chapters 1 to 15 using Pro Writing Aid and submitted to my novel writing class.

I completed the first draft of Assassin in New Marl City totaling 99,981 words in July 2018. Completed pre-draft two (30 chapters long) in December 2018 at 89,072 words. I completed draft two edits for Chapters 18, 19, and 20 in June and will start the third draft edits after draft two is complete.

In June, I submitted a story called Time Traveler Uncle Jim to the Introductory Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio library.

In May, I edited and submitted the short story Grognard to the Confluence Short Story Writing Workshop. Cat Rambo will conduct the workshop at the Science Fiction Convention named Confluence in Pittsburgh on Sunday, July 28.

I have submitted The Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, Get to the Point, LARP Film noir, and Sleeping Sickness to magazines.

Statistics of magazine submissions for 2019 are; 1 different story submitted 1 time with 0 accepted, 0 pending, and 1 rejection.

Events from June 2019

The next conference I plan to attend is the Confluence Conference from July 26 to July 28, 2019, at the Airport Sheraton in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I’m excited to take part in two workshops at the conference both instructed by Cat Rambo. I will attend the first pages workshop and the short story workshop.

Link to Confluence website

http://parsec-sff.org/confluence/

Writing Goals for July 2019

I plan to write five blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my Writing Progress Report for July 2019.

I plan to work on second draft edits for Chapters 21 to 30 of Assassin in New Marl City using Pro Writing Aid.

I plan to work on third draft edits for Chapters 1 to 15 of Assassin in New Marl City using comments from the Advanced Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio after the second draft is complete.

I will do the third draft edit for Chapter one to use at the first pages workshop at Confluence 2019.

In July, I plan to submit a story called White Bracer to the Intermediate Writing Workshop at South Euclid-Lyndhurst, Ohio library.

Polish and submit the stories Caliburnus, Space-Dog Confession, White Bracer, Mage Squad, I Shall Not Return, Prisoner of Tarnal, and Kay-Eye for submission to short fiction magazines.

Submit The Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, LARP Film noir, Sleeping Sickness to other short fiction magazines.

Edit Searcher of Riven.

Hire an editor for Searcher of Riven from Fiveer.

Edit Ruins of Yarnud.

Hire an editor for Ruins of Yarnud from Fiveer.

Put the novel, Assassin in New Marl City, into the writing program, Scrivener.

Buy e-book covers for Searcher of Riven and Ruins of Yarnud from Fiveer.

Buy an e-book cover for Assassin in New Marl City from Fiveer.

Planned Events for July 2019

Link to Confluence website

http://parsec-sff.org/confluence/