Tag Archives: books

Whatever it takes

whateverAn artist is a creature driven by demons. He doesn’t know why they choose him and he’s usually too busy to wonder why. He is completely amoral in that he will rob, borrow, beg, or steal from anybody and everybody to get the work done. The writer’s only responsibility is to his art. – William Faulkner

Writing is kind of difficult. Even if you write only for yourself, or maybe especially when you write for yourself. It takes an enormous amount of courage to write about things you’d much rather forget, to confront serious issues. It takes a lot of courage to write something most people would never have the courage to write. Continue reading →

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Happy endings

happy_endings“If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.” Orson Welles

Sometimes when I write I think too much. I worry about things I shouldn’t worry about, and I write as if I’ve got something to prove to someone. That’s a mistake. Over thinking, trying to outsmart the reader only to outsmart yourself.

When I wrote Jazz I wanted for the ending to the story to deliver a certain message. Throughout the novel there’s some talk about happy endings, about what we want to get from life, and stuff like that. Of course, those characters are mistaken in their belief that happiness is a destination, but nevertheless… they want and try to reach for something, and they’re not even sure what that something is. Continue reading →

Six days…

That’s right. We’ve only got six more days to raise a little more than $500.

544 to be exact.

I’d like to thank Diane Randall, Catherine Johnson, librarylifehack, Patrise Henkel, and all the others who contributed to this campaign.

Because this is quite a big amount that needs to be raised, I’m going to launch a new offer: anyone who contributes to this campaign, regardless of the amount, will receive a free e-book copy of my upcoming release, a novella entitled The Art of Being Alone Without Feeling Lonely. This novella will be released in about a week, before I’ll release my next novel, One Third of a Wheel.

So, yeah, you can contribute here (any amount) and regardless of the perks (if any) you select, you’ll also receive an e-book copy of this new release. You can contribute here, and don’t forget, any contribution matters.

Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby

The-Great-Gatsby-Baz-Luhrmann-myLusciousLife.com-Carey-Mulligan-Leonardo-DiCaprioMost of you already know that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is my favorite novel. I’ve made a custom out of reading it once a year, so I just had to go see the movie on the night it premiered here in Constanta.

And I wasn’t dissapointed.

Baz Luhrmann managed to produce a movie with strange qualities, most of which will appeal only to those who have read and loved Fitzgerald’s novel. When it comes to book to movie adaptations, most producers are maybe too keen to leave their own mark, to change things and show us what they see. Luhrmann shows us how this decade sees this classic novel, how our decade sees decadence and opulence and slowly peels off all the greedy, dark layers of human nature in this modern world. Continue reading →

The little things…

thingsWe’ve been told (and we keep on telling ourselves on a regular basis) that life finds a way, that somehow things turn out for the better. That if you want it, you can have it.

Sadly, that’s not true.

Do you know what keeps me up some nights? It’s the fear that somehow I won’t be able to write anymore. That somehow life’s going to take that away from me. And that I won’t be able to find a way, that life just won’t want to present me with a solution. Continue reading →

Why failing is (kind of) a good thing

failingThey say you can’t beat a man who doesn’t give up.

The first piece of writing I ever wrote was rubbish. And I kept on adding more rubbish. Then I wrote something else. And then someone said I was a retard. And I wanted to prove them wrong.

I’ve failed time and time again. In all aspects of life.

The first novel I self-published sold 4 copies in 4 months. It got a single 2 star review on Goodreads, and then I unpublished the damn thing.

And yet I didn’t give up.

Continue reading →

A lonely job…

lonely“An artist is always alone – if he is an artist.” – Henry Miller

Writing is a lonely job, no doubt about it. And no matter how successful you might become, you’re still alone. It’s the inexorable truth of the writer’s condition: you sit at your desk, in an empty room or in the most crowded McDonald’s, and you’re alone. You just do your thing.

Of course, this poses a rather interesting question: if you spend that much time alone, how do you find stuff to write about? Continue reading →

A bunch of thanks

First of all (and most importantly) I’d like to thank seidosan, John Jaksich, whataheartcanhold, Nathan Blixt, Karen Robiscoe, and all the others who contributed to my Indiegogo campaign.

Now for that nasty part: we’re currently somewhere between 30% and 31%, with $305 raised out of a goal of $1,000. It can be done. There are still lots of perks available, going for as low as $5.

Remember: any contribution or like or share counts. And the sooner we raise the money, the better.

You can help out here.

Let’s keep this blog alive (and well…),

Cristian

Spring e-book bundle

bundle2I decided to release an e-book bundle with all my releases. It’s sort of a like a limited time offer, and it runs out at the end of the month.

What do you get?

1. Jazz – my debut novel, which currently holds a 4.9 rating on Amazon.com. I had this to say about it:

A heartbreaking portrayal of ambition, treachery, and deception, Jazz tells the story of Chris Sommers, an aspiring writer from New York, who travels to Paris in the hopes of meeting Amber, a mysterious and beautiful woman he has always been irresistibly drawn to.
Chris is soon thrust into a world where everyone seems to be playing a dangerous and corrupt game. Anything is permissible, and even secrets that have been locked away inside the most hidden drawers of the soul will resurface. Continue reading →

Movies about writers

I’m not trying to write a top of the best movies about writers. I’m just making a list of the ones that I really enjoyed – for various reasons of course.

Finding Forrester (2000)

In a way, I just couldn’t start with any other  movie, simply because Finding Forrester was so cute and sweet and sincere that I almost cried at the end.

Starring Sean Connery and his manly voice in the role of William Forrester, a very successful and yet reclusive writer, this movie actually has some pretty good advice on writing. Continue reading →