Local author/psychiatrist Dr. Mark Rubinstein spoke with Good News Broadcast’s Paul Sladkus about his novel, Mad Dog House.
The genesis of a novel
Readers often ask how an idea for a novel comes to an author. I’ve been asked how MAD DOG HOUSE (due October 23rd) came into being. It’s a very strange—almost dreamlike—process for me. I’ve found it the same way for the other three novels I’ve written which will be published over the next two years).
It’s as though my mind went through some semi-conscious period where things from the past and present seemed to coalesce and began building on themselves. In all honesty, once the story was on paper, I was unable to reconstruct its genesis. It seemed very strange, almost the way you feel when you wake up some mornings knowing you’ve dreamed, but the dream dissolves before you’re completely resurrected from a sleeping state.
Gillian Flynn: The Evolution of an Author
I just finished reading “Dark Places” by Gillian Flynn, the author of the current best-seller, “Gone Girl.”
I’ve commented on how much I enjoyed “Gone Girl” and why it was such a compelling read. The most valuable thing (for me) about reading “Dark Places” was the chance to see how far Gillian Flynn has evolved as a writer with the publication of “Gone Girl.”
While I would give “Dark Places” a solid 3 1/2 stars, it can’t compare to the masterful storytelling of Flynn’s latest novel. It’s interesting to see how the author’s writing matured between the two novels. It shows that we tend to get better at doing things by simply doing them.