VinceT

I was interviewed at The Examiner over the weekend as my last formal stop on the Family Rules Virtual Book Tour:

“… I can, and do, write pretty much anywhere. At home, my office is chaotic, but I fall through the computer screen pretty quickly and all the junk and paraphernalia on my desk disappear.

I always have music on when I write, and I count that as the most important part of my writing environment. I usually write to what I call ‘transport music’, floating away from my own moment and into the landscape of the story. For Family Rules, and especially the redraft, I was listening a lot to the Scottish band Mogwai, who make epic heavy instrumental rock, very powerful stuff.

So, I tend to think of my writing environment as my MacBook Pro, a screen and transport music, all taking me into the heart of my stories…”

I was humbled to read this review of Family Rules at Word Up Nerd Up today:

“… I picked this up for a casual afternoon perusal, intending to read the slim volume over the course of a couple of days. Within the first few pages I was lost in the time warp that is brought on by a really good story. There was no way I was ending the day with Family Rules unfinished.

The story ricochets between the UK and New York, the 1980′s and present day, all narrated [sic] in Kenny’s plaintive voice. He was at once a child who had to grow up too quickly, and an adult who never did grow up, suspended in a state of perpetual discomfort and discombobulation.

Kenny’s life as a child actor is central to the story, but surprisingly it is not accusatory. Throughout it all Kenny is damaged, but he is not deviant- a small, but important, distinction.

My biggest problem with this book was the inconsistent use of American and British spellings and colloquilisms. Quite truthfully, it is exactly the kind of inconsistency you would expect from a young man who spent his first years in the UK, then moved to the US with his British parents. I know this, yet I still found it distracting. What can I say? I’m nerdy that way.

My verdict: Read it! One thought I had as I raced through Family Rules is that it is what A Million Little Pieces could have been, had it been good. For all the over the top angst and drama spewed by Frey, he didn’t get it right. Tuckwood has managed to create a believable story that leaves us feeling both saddened and hopeful for the main character. It is still early in the year, but I have a feeling that Family Rules may very well end up on my list of top reads in 2012…”

Today, I’m interviewed over at As The Pages Turn as part of the Family Rules Virtual Book Tour:

“… To understand Kenny, it’s really important to know that he spent the first five years of his life raised by a television-family, often being treated as little more than a prop or dummy. It’s also worth noting that his addictions began in those years, his minders giving him Valium in honey to keep him calm between scenes. The upshot is that psychologically, Kenny runs away from reality whenever it gets too close. He’s quite a poignant, tragic character; as a writer, he feels very real to me, more-so perhaps than any character I’d written before.

Ivvy is like the Yang to Kenny’s Yin. She’s a junkie cop, working undercover for Vice. Older than Kenny, she’s drawn to normality like a moth bashing its head against a porch light. This push-pull between Kenny and Ivvy is key to understanding their relationship. She’s clinging to him for some sense of a normality she can attain, while he’s repelled by her neediness because it feels too real.

The joy for me in writing Family Rules was to take these two damaged people and make them ‘parents’…”

Today, I’m guest blogging at Idea Marketers as part of the Family Rules Virtual Book Tour.

“… To write to an outline or by pure intuition?

Ah, the artist’s endless dilemma!

With structure and plan, we know where we’re going, so get to travel easier, safe in the knowledge that there is a destination; comfortable that we will arrive, even if the journey meanders.

Riding the intuitive lightning? It’s a mercurial roller-coaster of channeled creativity, while in the background, the whispering critic challenges us that we don’t know enough, aren’t clever enough, aren’t worthy enough to bring this crested wave to fruition. An extreme activity for sure, and it carries its fair share of highs and hangovers.

In the past twenty years of writing, I’ve written books at both ends of this spectrum…”

I’m being interviewed over at Broowaha today as part of the Family Rules Virtual Book Tour.

“… I read voraciously, both fiction and non-fiction, so it’s difficult to pin down specific books.

Some books that now feature high on my list didn’t make sense at first, mainly because I think I read them when I was too young. A good example of this is George Orwell’s 1984, which I tried to read several times as a teenager, and could never get past the first few chapters. I read it again recently and was stunned by Orwell’s prescience – especially given the idiocy of modern politics, the shock doctrine and double-speak media, where it feels like 1984 is being used as a “how to” manual. I guess I needed the maturity of the intervening years to be able to open myself to its political insights…”

Today, I was interviewed at Blogcritics as part of the Family Rules Virtual Book Tour:

“… Of The Tribe was a vampire tale, Jeremiah Whispers a metaphysical homage to Clive Barker, and Jumbo a take on the media and its fascination with quasi-messianic characters in the midst of tragedy. The triggering event in Jumbo is a 747 crashing in Central London and, bearing in mind this was written six years before 9/11, when the planes struck the twin towers, I just gave up any idea that it would get published. With a complete rewrite to reflect 9/11, it could have current credibility – but, to be honest, I’ve not got much energy to revisit that path, not when there are new stories to tell…”

If it’s Wednesday, then I must be over guest-blogging at Waiting on Sunday to Drown as part of the Family Rules Virtual Book Tour.

“…Unless we are born with deformity, or suffer an accident, we human beings have basically the same skeleton – number of bones, how they’re organized, etc. – yet we couldn’t be more different when the flesh and skin are layered over the top. It’s what sits atop, and within, the structure that makes us come alive.

It’s the same with story – the structure that has been distilled into the typical movie formula is as present in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ as it is in an episode of ‘Teletubbies’. Story arcs form the skeleton of human existence…”

Today, over at Literarily Speaking I’m sharing 5 things you need to know about Kenny Walsh, the former child star whose story is told in Family Rules. This is part of the Family Rules Virtual Book Tour.

“… 2. On the set of ‘Family Rules!’, Kenny was given a spoon of Valium in honey to keep him calm between scenes. He grew to look forward to the gaps between scenes more than the scenes themselves…”

Hi, all – the Family Rules Virtual Book Tour continues today with an interview at Literal Exposure.

“… I like delving into quirks of psychology, and how that shows up in the everyday. So, you’ll find my books populated by characters who, while sometimes stereotypical, have some twist that makes them compelling. Usually, you’ll find these characters seeking connection and belonging, and learning something of themselves in the process.

In Family Rules, for example, you have two characters who are living invented lives: Kenny who runs away whenever reality comes too close, and his junkie soul-mate, Ivvy, who is attracted to normality like a moth to a flame. They are a warped mirror image of each other and the tension this creates makes their relationship pretty compelling.

These complex characters are in all my books, and I think it’s why so many readers tell me they can ‘see’ the movie when they’re reading the book…”

I’m guest blogging over at Everyday Is An Adventure today as part of the Family Rules Virtual Book Tour.

The times they are indeed a-changing…

You’re no longer selling a book, you’re interacting with your audience. You’re selling access. You’re selling you.

You’re selling out… on purpose.