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Dear Reader,
Today's guest author, Matthew Costello, is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter, and video game writer. His previous novels include Vacation, its sequel Home and Unidentified. Matthew's newest' release is Star Road.
Let's get right to it. Welcome Matthew Costello to the book clubs, send an email to [email protected] to say hello.
Take it away, Matthew...
Star Road
Kind of makes one think of phrases like...'road to the stars,' yes?
Of course, now we all know how really hard it is to get up and into space, let alone to any other stars (or even to our own so-far trusty Sol.)
But what is writing fiction if not indulging in the what-ifs?
To play with an idea, to see where it leads, to let the idea and the hook carry the writer along just as he/she hopes it will the reader.
So there have you it. In a nutshell, the idea behind this Star Road, behind this new novel by Rick Hautala and myself.
But since I perhaps have your attention, let me share just a few more things that might be useful to you in your decision to hit...this road.
The core story, as described in the synopsis above, feeds off a number of classic and mythic tales (none Science Fiction by the way!) And while the guild of fiction writers won't let me reveal those sources, under pain of banishment, you may nod as you begin reading, feeling a tale both familiar--and new.
Together, Rick and I took on the task of shaping the idea and world of Star Road.
And there was this...
We went into this as first-time collaboration after being great friends for decades. We also--as one can see in the dedication--wanted to signal that this was a book that took us right back to our roots, back to a time when we first devoured Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke--back to the days of old-school space opera, filled with as much adventure and excitement and wonders as any story could contain.
I think...we succeeded.
It was so interesting for Rick and myself to write together when usually we just chatted on the phone, shared a cigar, and talked about life. With Star Road, we took an adventure together. We got on that road.
And oh yes, was it ever fun.
But you see--as mentioned--Rick and I used to talk nearly every day. About life. About the good and great things it offers. And also the challenges, the struggles. (Trust me--writers do struggle.)
Which is why it seems so, well...powerful to me what happened.
We finished the book. We finished the edits and revisions.
The Road was done, the massive SF adventure exactly as we wanted it. Which is when...my very good, dear friend, my co-author...passed away.
Too soon, too suddenly--but is there ever a time when it is 'not' too soon, not too sudden?
The shock--mammoth. The hole in my life, and for so many others, immense.
And yet, if Rick were here, hovering... (and he did so like to write about ghosts)...he'd be so very happy. With the book, the first reviews, the excitement.
And you know, I may not do another grand SF book--like having gone someplace special with someone really important to you and you want to leave it like that.
There will be other journeys, other stories. But that one? Well, that will always be the great trip to the stars Rick and I finished together.
--Matthew Costello
[email protected]
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
* This month's Penguin Classics book is BUTTERFIELD 8 by John O'Hara. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin bookbag.
http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqN1AFE3FA7A11&c=CLASSICS
AUTHORBUZZ: SAVING GRACE by Pamela Fagan Hutchins
Have you ever wanted to run away to a tropical paradise? Well, I did, for nearly 10 crazy years and zany, exotic Saving Grace is the result.
Katie Connell is a high-strung attorney whose sloppy drinking habits and stunted love life collide hilariously during a doomed celebrity case in Dallas. She flees Texas for the Caribbean and escapes professional humiliation, a broken heart, and a wicked Bloody Mary habit, but ends up trading one set of problems for another when she begins to investigate the suspicious deaths of her parents on the island of St. Marcos.
Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on SAVING GRACE to read more and to email author Pamela Fagan Hutchins, you'll get a reply.
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