Category: Books

Paycheck, by Philip K. Dick, is a short story about a man, Jennings, who has no memory of the work he did for the last two years at Rethrick Construction. Soon, he finds out that they had wiped his memory of those years, and that he will receive compensation for the work he had done for them.

But when he goes into their office to collect his “paycheck,” they hand him an envelope instead, which contains a receipt, a key, etc. Later, the Security Police pick him up for questioning. They ask him about the work he had done for Rethrick Construction. Of course, he has no answer to give.

Using a couple of the items in the envelope, he escapes their custody and goes into hiding to find out what work he had done for the company. As the story unfolds, he uses the items in the envelope to evade being captured and to find out key information about Rethrick Construction.

The story is packed with fascinating ideas about technology and time through a dystopian backdrop. It’s neat to see how Jenning figures out how to use the items at the right moment to get himself out of trouble or to find out what he needs to know. The more I read, the more I wanted to dive into the story to find out what happened next.

Many years ago, I read over 40 or 50 books in a year. It wasn’t something I planned, but something that just happened out of the natural curiosity to read and learn as much as I can. I was reading every week–hours each day. I read voraciously as if I my imagination had an unlimited appetite, as if I needed to learn everything about the world.

Out of all those books, only a handful were great. Most of them were good, and a select few were boring. I ventured out to read books that were considered classics (The Great Gatsby, A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, etc.), and some for my own interest (Kurt Vonnegut books, War of the Worlds, etc.).

The number of books I’ve read has diminished each year as I got busier with work and with life (traveling, writing, etc.). Though my reading habits have shifted to online articles and short stories, my thirst for knowledge still remains.

I go through phases where I read intensely, and go through phases where I devote my time to writing or planning the next story. I often switch between these phases because staying in one phase for too long runs the risk of burning me out or losing enthusiasm for it. Variety is key to find balance. One half of me wants to learn from other writers–how they tell stories, how they create characters–and the other half of me wants to exercise and develop my creativity.

I can’t say I remember much in great detail about all the books I’ve read. Even my favorite books are just fragments and bits and pieces of awesome scenes in the recesses of my mind. Each book I finished has left an impression on me, though some are more vivid than others.

Reading a book is like peering through a window into a new world. It’s a world of ideas, conflicts, intrigue, and characters. Some books may not resonate with us, but for the ones that do, they stay with us as if we lived through the experience.

Reading on the weekend is a wholly different experience compared to reading on the weekday. During the week, we’re tired when we come home from work, and the energy we have to read is limited. When we read after a long day of work, it drains us, and the quality of our reading experience is pale compared to those sessions when we’re focused and engaged.

Reading on the weekend, however, is more casual and relaxed. We have so much more time to read without the worries of a busy schedule. We can progress further in the book, even finish the book in a two or three hour session.

That’s not to say that reading during the week shouldn’t be done. On the contrary. Reading during the week keeps the story fresh in our mind. It keeps the storyline active, and the characters, locations, and events in our short term memory.

If we only read on the weekend, there’d be a break in the narrative where we might forget the storyline and the subtleties in the story. Reading consistently helps to bridge the events and chapters together. If we read on the weekend in addition to the weekday, we can experience the book in a continuous flow in which everything falls into place.

The start of a new chapter in a book should pull us into the story. It should keep the tension and suspense of the last chapter present–activate the unknowns of the plot to engage our curiosity–to keep reading.

When this doesn’t happen, it’s as if the writer is just going through the motions, isn’t even trying to grab our attention. This might work well in a book that has dramatic cliff hangers, but not for stories where it starts off with a completely new scene where nothing dramatic or tense is happening.

Even though the first few lines of a new chapter should set the tone, there should be something unsettling or intriguing about it. It’s fine to describe the setting and the atmosphere, but it should be followed by something gripping–throw us into a conflict. Once that happens, we’ll keep turning the pages.

Personally, I don’t want to dog-ear the start of a new chapter, which is what I usually do. My rule of thumb is to read a chapter or two before taking break. When I’m bored or disinterested, I’ll forget all the details–the character names, the locations, etc. But I’ll keep reading if the new chapter is powerful enough. In that case, the story is playing like a movie inside my mind, and it’s one of the great pleasures about reading.

My new short story collection, Sasquatch Mine And Other Stories, is available on Amazon. It has 4 short stories including Sasquatch Mine, The Robber, The Invaders, and Impulse. Happy reading!

Influential books can inspire us to believe a certain thing, or even pursue something. As an author, influential books inspire me to read and write–encouraging me to find my own voice.

An influential book doesn’t have to be popular or well known, since it might only influence you or a small group of people. For me, books such as The Road, War of the Worlds, Cujo, Eye in the Sky, and The Lottery And Other Stories have had a tremendous influence on me as a writer. Why did they influence me you might ask? I’ll explain why below.

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, is a post apocalyptic story about a father and son who are surviving in a bleak and unforgiving world. McCarthy’s descriptions and dialogue put me in the characters shoes–made me feel the danger they faced around every corner. For me, the book encapsulates the kind of story I want to write where I don’t want it to end.

War of the Worlds has a simple premise: an alien invasion that humanity cannot defeat, but nature can. The story is gripping, tense, and H.G. Well’s writing is crystal clear, taking us through each moment–play by play–of the invasion. But it’s the idea of an unbeatable, unstoppable alien force that is the most influential, which many films and writers have explored. My novel, THE INVAS10N, is an example of this.

Cujo is an incredibly gripping story by Stephen King that explores a different kind of horror–a rabies infected St. Bernard. The opening chapter is one the best I’ve read that describes the varieties of evil that exists. The story is quite simple: a mother and son are trapped inside of a car during a hot summer while a St. Bernard stalks them. But it is the tension that Stephen King creates with this simple setup, where you don’t know if they’ll be saved in time, where her husband and the authorities are at a lost to find them.

Philip K. Dick’s Eye in the Sky, a group of people get zapped by a beam at a facility that transports them into the minds of the other persons. Each mind is a world that operates on the beliefs of that individual. For example, in one world, miracles are the norm (i.e. a vending machine that can duplicate objects). In another world, a house turns on the people and attacks them. It’s one of the strangest and surrealist things I’ve read, yet, it is absolutely fascinating and gripping to read.

Lastly, The Lottery And Other Stories, a collected work on Shirley Jackson’s short stories, has had a profound effect on me in writing short stories. Many of her stories have a setup where things start off normal until something completely bizarre happens. She wrote her stories with a twist, where things caught you by surprise.

The story Charles, for example, is about a kid who tells his parents about a classmate named Charles, who is causing mischief at school (I attached the link to the story title). The Lottery, her most famous story in the collection, is about a village where the villagers perform a dark lottery ritual. In each story, what appears normal slips into something odd or dark.

I can probably name more books that have been influential to me, but the five I listed are sufficient. Each author influenced on me in some aspect of literature and writing. Whether they inspired me in how I view storytelling, or on what ideas I can write about, these books have one thing in common: they inspire me to read and write.

The major difference between new and old books is their condition. A used book might have dents, scratches, torn or bent pages, and be faded. Compared to a new book, the content is the same, however. Of course, if a book has been updated, the used book might not have the new material (i.e. foreword, etc.).

In college, I’d purchase used textbooks to save money. Some of the textbooks didn’t even seem that much different compared to the new copy. I’d find a coffee stain and a torn page here and there, dented corners, but that was it. It saved me about 50% or more too.

When there is a used book sale, I’d go to them and search through all the books until I found the ones I wanted. The discount was incredible compared to a new book. The quality might not be as good as a new book, but I didn’t mind it. Truth be told, I’d read the book once and not pick it up again unless it was a favorite book of mine.

I look at used books in the same way as a borrowed or loaner book. The book has been used already, but owning a new copy isn’t the point. The point is to read the book, to experience what it has to offer. It’s similar to checking out a library book, although a library book might change hands so a lot more times by the time we check it out.

Used books are inexpensive, and are a great option for reading a book if the goal is simply to do just that and not own something that is a mint condition.

When you find a great book, you don’t want to put it down. You want to keep reading it, and you don’t want it to end either. The world captivates your mind–makes it dance with imagination. The author’s voice speaks to you personally. It’s as if the author is talking to you directly–as if the book was meant for you.

When you find a great book, you are inspired to read more books by the same author. You want to stockpile their books and pour through every last word until they’ve been read.

And when an author writes a series, you to want read the books from beginning to end. And it all began with a great book.

To find a great book is like a treasure hunt. You’ll pick up lots of books along the way to find it. Maybe they’re all great, but which is great to you?

Sometimes you find a great book, and it takes everything out of you to finish it. It was a marathon-of-a-read–an uphill battle that tugged on your heart, drew on your emotions. Even if you don’t get to author’s other books, you remember this one. It left an impression on your mind that will last forever.

In dystopian fiction, we read about worlds where the new normal is something akin to survival of the fittest, when human interaction is tainted with distrust, when danger lurks around every corner. Some novels that come to mind are The Hunger Games, 1984, Anthem, and Fahrenheit 451. Each novel presents a view of society that is grim and dark, but where there is also hope in the protagonist to stand up against the darkness.

Even though we know those worlds are a far cry from our present reality, they pique our interest because they show us “what ifs”, because we’re curious with what’s unfamiliar to us. Perhaps we’re not too far from such a reality if something were to go terribly and horribly wrong in a nightmarish kind of way. 

Each author in the dystopian genre brings their own vision of such a world, where the perilous conditions can bring the worst or the best out of people. These stories remind us how fragile and delicate humanity is, and how we must choose to hold onto our own humanity as well.

One of the things I struggle with when reading a book is finishing it. When I begin a book, it’s fun, exciting, and new. But if the book is not captivating or if it’s not resonating with me, I’ll start to lose interest (quickly) and won’t even finish it.

Even if I return to the same book after, say, a week, it’s difficult to dive back into that world. The only way I could finish a book that’s not gripping is to read it fast–racing to the finish line.

There is a window of time where such a book can hold my interest, and if I don’t finish it within that time frame, I won’t finish it all. It’s similar to the concept of marginal utility in economics: each time you purchase and consume a product, your satisfaction with it decreases overtime. I find this to be true when reading a book that doesn’t hold my interest.

At first, the book is exciting to read (maybe it’s because of the book’s ideas or it’s because the author is well known), so I’ll read a lot on the first day. On the second day, however, I’ll read 1/2 of what I read on the first day. On the third day, I’ll read 1/2 of what I read on the second day, etc. This will continue until I won’t even pick up the book and read it anymore.

If I’m reading a book that engages me from the start, it will the opposite effect. For example, on the first day, I might read 20 pages, on the second day, 30, on the third day 40, etc. And then there are times when I couldn’t stop reading until I finished the book.

When I examine the reasons for why I finish or don’t finish a book, the first thing I notice is that it has to be a subject matter or genre that I’m interested in. The subject matter/genre is of key importance, since it determines if a reader will even want to pick up the book in the first place. It’s the same with movies, since each person has their genre preference and they wouldn’t want to watch a movie that is in a genre they’re not interested in it. If audiences raving about it and it’s recommended by their friends, that person might give it chance, but that’s the exception, not the rule.

Secondly, the writing has to be clear and engaging (even humorous). If it’s witty and clever or paints the world with ease, then the writing will pull us into the story almost effortlessly. On the contrary, if the descriptions are overly long or the vocabulary/wording is confusing and unclear, I’ll disengage quickly.

Thirdly, the story should move at an even pace and it should have good character development. On the contrary, if the characters just move from one situation to the next without anything eventful happening, the story won’t feel worthwhile to read.

To determine if I might finish a book, all I need to do is read the first few pages of it. Within those pages, I can determine by the writing style if the story is gripping/captivating or not. Does it invoke mystery or wonder, or does it meander and go nowhere?

After I finish a book that I enjoy, I’ll seek out other books by that author. Why you might ask? Because I want to experience the enjoyment of reading that author’s prose again.

If the book wasn’t rewarding by the end (i.e. if it had a disappointing ending), I won’t look any further. In fact, the experience by the end of the book will be one of relief (or a long sigh), not joy or elation.

One of the most interesting things I experienced after finishing a book is when I discovered that that book was the only one the author had written (or maybe they only wrote two). And if it’s an amazing book, it makes me wonder what happened or why the author didn’t write more books?

One book in particular that I recall where this was the case was A Canticle for Leibowitz. It was a book that won the Hugo Award for science fiction in 1961. After I read it, I discovered that the author (Walter Miller Jr.) had only written one other book, and it was published years after A Canticle for Leibowitz.

For me, this shows how strong and powerful writing can be when it really resonates with the reader. We want seek out more prose like it, and it can inspire us to write as well.