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"Imagining the prehistoric era" by earthshakerbooks on June 6, 2008, 10:09 pm, in category General
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It is sometimes hard to put yourself in somebody else's shoes. It is even harder to put yourself in somebody else's era. To make the prehistoric period seem real, you must make a special effort to call up your imagination. In our age of plenty—of refrigerators full of food and cars that take you wherever you want to go in air-conditioned comfort—it can be hard to summon up a time when everything involved labor and difficulty. Who knows what effort .....
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"I Threw Up When I Flew Up to Europe" by earthshakerbooks on May 1, 2008, 1:51 pm, in category General
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A number of kids have expressed interest in my unpublished book. Here is a small section of it. It was actually written for adults, not kids, but here it is:
Wherein the Author’s Head Gets Caught in the Subway Door:
Perhaps I shouldn’t complain. Maybe it’s my own fault that I can’t come to terms with the mechanical world. Maybe it’s me.
It’s me, isn’t it?
I early and shrewdly discerned that, for taxicab-phobes.....
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"Another award?" by earthshakerbooks on April 7, 2008, 10:04 pm, in category General
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ZAN-GAH has made another finalist list. This time it is the Eric Hoffer Award for Independent Books. There are a number of different categories. Mine is in the Young Adult category.
Genius will out!
Love ya,
Allan S.
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"Book of the Year Award" by earthshakerbooks on March 16, 2008, 8:22 pm, in category General
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Guess who is a finalist for the ForeWord Book of the Year Award for young adult fiction. YOU GUESSED IT. It is ZAN-GAH: A PREHISTORIC ADVENTURE! We will find out in May if it is chosen from the seventeen finalists.
Wish Zan-Gah and me luck!
Love ya,
Allan S.
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"Seeing and Hearing Zan-Gah" by earthshakerbooks on March 12, 2008, 4:38 pm, in category General
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I can't tell you how many of my readers have said that Zan-Gah should be a movie, or that as they read the book it was like seeing a movie. I regard that as an important success, and figure that it is only a matter of time until the film comes out—maybe an animated version! How about it, Hollywood?
How did I make Zan-Gah into such a visual experience? I think it turned out that way mainly because I myself visualized each scene and each change of geogra.....
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"Visiting Schools" by earthshakerbooks on February 13, 2008, 10:12 pm, in category General
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One of the things I do to promote Zan-Gah is to visit schools. I have been to grade schools, middle schools, and high schools--but mostly middle schools. At these schools I give a dramatic reading from the book, talk about being a writer and about good writing. Having been a university professor, I am a pretty good and experienced speaker. And I used to be so shy!
I love visiting the kids. They always have lots of good questions and.....
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"Twins and Zan-Gah" by earthshakerbooks on December 29, 2007, 11:42 pm, in category General
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About one in ninety births are twins, an event unusual enough to fascinate people in all societies. In relatively primitive tribal societies, such events were not understood, and were greeted with awe and astonishment. Some peoples, like Zan's, regarded twin birth as a sign of prosperity and fertility—an occasion for celebration. Twins were given special care and concern, and there was a certain amount of ritual surrounding their lives. Other groups .....
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"Recommending Zan-Gah" by earthshakerbooks on July 5, 2007, 2:45 pm, in category General
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I hope to sell a million copies of Zan-Gah, but what makes people buy books anyway? Every writer has to ask that question. Just because it is in the book stores does not mean that people will buy it. There might be 20,000 other books in the store! Why would anybody pick up (let alone buy!) Zan-Gah?
According to Publishers Weekly, the number-one reason somebody purchases a book is the recommendation of a friend. That is why I am hopi.....
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"Recommending Zan-Gah" by earthshakerbooks on July 5, 2007, 2:44 pm, in category General
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I hope to sell a million copies of Zan-Gah, but what makes people buy books anyway? Every writer has to ask that question. Just because it is in the book stores does not mean that people will buy it. There might be 20,000 other books in the store! Why would anybody pick up (let alone buy!) Zan-Gah?
According to Publishers Weekly, the number-one reason somebody purchases a book is the recommendation of a friend. That is why I am hopi.....
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""Talking Up" Zan-Gah" by earthshakerbooks on July 5, 2007, 2:32 pm, in category General
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I hope to sell a million copies of Zan-Gah, but what makes people buy books anyway? Every writer has to ask that question. Just because it is in the book stores does not mean that people will buy it. There might be 20,000 other books in the store! Why would anybody pick up (let alone buy!) Zan-Gah?
According to Publishers Weekly, the number-one reason somebody purchases a book is the recommendation of a friend. That is why I am hopi.....
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"Fear and Landscape" by earthshakerbooks on May 27, 2007, 3:59 pm, in category General
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There are any number of emotions that people feel, but the three basic ones are love, hate, and fear. Of these I find the third, fear, the most compelling in the arts of writing, music, and painting. In writing Zan-Gah, I have created many fearful circumstances. The first chapter begins with Zan struggling with his fears, and ends with an unreasoning return of them. He is always in some danger. People make frightening sounds (like "ah ah UH".....
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"What's Wrong with Dael?" by earthshakerbooks on May 18, 2007, 9:19 pm, in category General
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Readers sometimes ask me what is wrong with Dael. He is violent, suicidal, moody and bitter. Just what happened to him in his captivity to make him like that--and so changed from his former gentle self? Can I give the specifics? I usually answer in a general way: "If you were locked up for two years in a cage that was so small that you could neither stand up nor lie down," I say, " you might be a little crazy too." We know more b.....
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"GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS!" by earthshakerbooks on May 13, 2007, 12:04 am, in category General
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Readers often ask me where I get my ideas. I hardly know myself. My mind is constantly active, but I don't suppose it is any more active than the next guy's. But I bring my thoughts to bear on a central idea. The original conception of Zan-Gah, the central idea, is to tell a story about a kid who lived in a very harsh world and who had to face problems and difficulties. Then other ideas spring into my head. Maybe I am e.....
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"GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS!" by earthshakerbooks on April 23, 2007, 10:15 pm, in category General
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Welcome to the Zan-Gah blog. Friends (and enemies) are encouraged to share their thoughts with me. Did you like the book? What parts did you like best? Did anything puzzle you? Speak your mind--and I will speak mine.
You might be interested to know that I am planning a sequel to Zan-Gah. I would love to tell you all my ideas, but I can't. Why not? Because if an author tells it he probably.....
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