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What Do You Take for a Book Hangover?
Ever had a book hangover? You know what I’m talking about. You read a book and you really, really get into it. The author’s words transport you, the ideas engulf you, you probably get emotional while reading, and the ending leaves you with a special feeling you’ll want to remember but will fade as time passes. In short, the book moves you. Famous books that did this trick for me: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Redshirts by John Scalzi, Replay by Ken Grimwood, and all three novels by T.J. Newman (Falling, Drowning, and Worst Case Scenario). On the romance side of things, Charm City Rocks by Matthew Norman. I…
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How the Parenthood TV Show Helped Write My New Novel
It’s fascinating what influences us writers. In my last post at the original blogspot version of DoSomeDamage, I wrote about finishing my latest novel, Mid-Lives. It is the story of four middle-aged men who grapple with a central question: where were you when you realized you were old? The idea began six years ago this summer, in 2019, with an odd observation: what would the characters from the Kevin Smith movie, “Clerks,” be like when they got older. As surprising as it may sound, I never watched any of Smith’s films until that summer when I binged them all. I recognized myself in the characters from Clerks and Mallrats and…