Award-Winning Bestselling Author
Recently, I read an article describing a study that confirmed something I’m quite certain I knew intuitively.
A Stanford University study indicated that walking on a treadmill at “an easy, self-selected pace” while facing a blank wall, helped generate sixty percent more innovative ideas when the subjects were tested psychologically for creative thinking. These results were reported to have applied to almost every student tested.
I’ve been reading a great deal of fiction (crime, literary and other genres) and observing as much as possible, not only about books, but about entertainment in various media.
It seems there’s more and more blending of crime novels with horror, the occult, with paranormal events, romance, and science fiction. The genres are coalescing.
I was asked to evaluate psychiatrically, Mr. Smith, a Workers Compensation claimant. While working in construction, he struck his head, sustaining a brief loss of consciousness. At a nearby hospital, he was examined, x-rayed, had an MRI and follow up examinations. No abnormalities were noted.
I read an article in which the novelist, Kristopher Jansma, explored the issue of finding the proper ending for a novel. He was plagued by the question of leaving the ending ambiguous, or of tying things up in a neat knot—one that would leave the reader “satisfied.”
The article referenced Aristotle, and Rowling, and quoted Chekhov and Vonnegut, saying among other things, “a novel aims not to represent just a slice of life, but the whole of it. We need more than just artfully posed questions. We expect to know unambiguously who is virtuous and who is corrupt, and have a novelist mete out fates accordingly.”
The author commented on the occasional need for an ambiguous ending to a novel, quoting from The Gotham Writer’s Guide.
The Foot Soldier has been named as a finalist in the 2014 Benjamin Franklin Awards competition, in the Popular Fiction category.
A single 2014 Benjamin Franklin Gold Award winner will be chosen from the finalists in each category and announced during a ceremony to be held Wednesday evening, May 28, 2014 in New York City. There were more than 1500 entries and The Foot Soldier is one of the finalists in the category of Popular Fiction.
Being a finalist brings attention to the novella, which is the best way I can think of to help our veterans. Every cent earned from sales of The Foot Soldier is going to www.DAV.org, which provides physical and emotional help to our veterans returning from Iraq, Afghanistan and to veterans of the Vietnam War.
To learn more about how you can help returning veterans, you can find some great resources here.
This is just a thought about what it means to be a writer.
I recently read an article claiming that readers who flip to the end of a thriller to check what will happen have more fun than those who endure the suspense to eventually learn the outcome. I found this difficult to believe. The study cited research done by the University of California at San Diego’s Psychology Department, which gave subjects short stories by Agatha Christie, Roald Dahl and John Updike.
To quote from the article, “Subjects significantly preferred the spoiled versions of ironic-twist stories, where, for example, it was revealed before reading that a condemned man’s daring escape is all a fantasy before the noose snaps tight around his neck. The same held true for mysteries. Knowing ahead of time that Poirot will discover the apparent target of attempted murder is, in fact, the perpetrator not only didn’t hurt enjoyment of the story, but actually improved it.”
I was making psychiatric rounds at a nursing home where I visited weekly. Occasionally, elderly residents became agitated, as much a result of confinement and lack of stimulation, as from dementia.
One morning, while I was reading charts, an aide approached me saying, “Mrs. Barnes hasn’t come out of her room in three days. I looked in on her and she was crying. I think you ought to check her out.”
When I look at the faces of my dogs, I see innocence and love. I see loyalty beyond comprehension. I see everything good about living in the world; and seeing them each day enriches my life to a degree that is indescribable. I truly believe the sentiments of Schopenhauer are correct:
Mark Rubinstein was a recent guest on “A Book and a Chat“ on New Visions Radio. Mark spoke with host Barry Eva about his novella, The Foot Soldier, and his other writing projects, including his upcoming Mad Dog Justice. You can listen to the full interview here.