Nicholas Sparks Draws Inspiration From Family Romances

           Bestselling author Nicholas Sparks went above and beyond his obligations to fans at his book signing and lecture Saturday afternoon at the Seneca Niagara Casino.

Fans eagerly await to get their books signed by Nicholas Sparks

Sparks, author of 16 published novels, 7 adapted to film, did a free book signing in the hotel lobby before his 5 p.m. lecture in the casino’s intimate Bear’s Den venue. Sparks was originally allotted an hour and a half to sign books. However, due to the incredible turn out, he extended those hours and signed the entire line’s books.

“We extended the hours to be nice…well…he extended the hours to be nice,” said Tony Astran, Manager of Publicity at Seneca Niagara Casino.

Sparks finished up signings around 4:30, and the entire line of mostly women that had went all the way through the lobby down the hall, had met, signed and taken pictures with him.

                According to Security Operations employee, Eric Miller, fans started lining up in the queue for the 2 p.m. signing at 10 a.m.

Sparks’s lecture found the author discussing how he uses real life, family stories as inspiration for his novels. For example, he discussed in length how his signature novel, “The Notebook,” was based off of his wife’s grandparents, their dramatic war time correspondence and her struggle with Alzheimer’s.

The lecture itself capitalized on the wholesome, emotional nature of Spark’s novels in an engaging way, his slight southern drawl endearing and his hands expressive. He told a succession of romantic and uplifting, but occasionally hokey, stories from his family to a crowd eager to hear more.

                After the lecture there was 15 minutes allotted for an audience Q &A session. During that Sparks discussed his, as of yet, untitled, next book, his increasing involvement in the film adaptations, as well as his apathy towards fame.

“I tolerate fame…I can live without it…I’m internally motivated I guess to write the best book that I can and that’s what I need,” said Sparks.

                Despite the large, enthusiastic crowd at the book signing the lecture itself had seating gaps left.

“They didn’t advertise enough, they didn’t promote it. Wayne Newton’s coming but I wouldn’t know unless I had come here,” said Rick Chojecki, who was given comp tickets right before the event and took his very pleased wife.

Local and Chain Bookstores Kick-off Holiday Shopping Season

               Both local and big-box booksellers kicked off their holiday season this Thanksgiving weekend, marked by Black Friday as well as Small Business Saturday.

                Barnes and Noble in Amherst, NY did a first, as many chain stores did, and opened at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, rather than wait until the next morning to start. Bookseller Melissa Genier said that though it was completely dead that night, as soon as the store opened the next morning it was ridiculously busy, all day.

“Pretty much everyone worked that time from 8 o’clock Thursday to Friday at some point,” Genier said.

                “Anything really movie-based like the Hunger Games or the new Lincoln movie sold real well. Anything Lincoln was popular. Teen, any teen book series is always popular and our Nooks, we sold like a billion,” said Genier on what topped the store’s sales this weekend.

                Movie based items are always a popular seller, especially around Christmas. Films such as “Lincoln” help create buzz around a new topic. Films based off popular teen books, such as Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games” trilogy, act as gateway to for movie fans to become book fans.

                On the other side of town, “Small Business Saturday” went well in the Elmwood Village of Buffalo. Talking Leaves...Books on Elmwood had extra staffing on hand to help with the rush and offered special holiday gift wrap.

                “There’s usually only two of us but there were more people on this weekend. We put on extra help because we knew it would be busy,” said bookseller Doug Zerby.

                The store has also ordered a stock of E-Readers to sell soon, said Zerby. Including Talking Leaves…Books in competition with one of the season’s hottest gift items, and not just for literature junkies, but for casual readers as well.

             The Elmwood Village Association promoted the national day, created and sponsored by American Express, leading up to the weekend. The association also rewarded customers, including those at Talking Leaves…Books, who bought locally with “I Shop Local” buttons.

   “We had those buttons to hand out and those came from them [The Elmwood Village Association] said bookseller, Brittany Moroz, who opened the store on Small Business Saturday along with Zerby. 

The Elmwood Village Association announced that most of its stores have extended, seasonal hours now, and will remain open until 9 p.m.

National Novel Writing Month Challenges Thousands

Across the nation both amateur and professional writers are celebrating annual Nation Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo, by challenging themselves to write a novel by the end of the month of November.

                The mission statement of the non-profit organization is to help encourage ordinary people who have always wanted to write novels. NaNoWriMo values enthusiasm and perseverance over quality, editing and craft, allowing even the most basic writers, including high school students, to participate.

                The goal of the project is for writers to spend from Nov. 1 to midnight on Nov. 30 writing a 50, 000 word novel, which equates to about 175 pages. Former Buffalo State student Vera Snowman has been an off and on participant in the challenge since her time in high school.

“I remember in high school I kept it up for the entire year, and actually did about 50,000 words, just well outside the month-long time limit. Last year I got about 10, 000 words done before I lost my netbook,” said Snowman.

                The NaNoWriMo website offers lots of virtual help to its authors. There is a word count log to track progress, interactivity for pep talks and support, and ways to meet with fellow writers both online and in the real world.

Since its 1999 founding by Chris Baty and 20 others, the challenge has seen over 100 of its manuscripts published and as of this article’s publication the total word count for this year’s program is 1,521,860,915.

In 2010 over 200, 000 people participated in the challenge and more than 35, 000 of them finished by their deadline.

GoodReads.com Connects Readers and Authors

Authors, readers and publishers are taking notice that use of Goodreads.com, a social networking site for literature lovers, has exploded to 12 million registered users and are using it to their advantage.

                University at Buffalo junior, Kaitlyn Richter, joined Goodreads.com in September of 2011, when it’s application on the social media giant Facebook.com got her attention.

“You can keep track of all the books you’ve read. And it’s a good way to find new books and make recommendations or share your thoughts on books,” said Richter, a psychology major.

Goodreads.com, founded in January of 2007 by Otis Y. Chandler, has faced enormous expansion since its beginning. They now employ 30 employees and 6 books are added to its “bookshelves” per second. “Bookshelves,” are categories users can make to keep their reviews organized; they range from Amber Hayward’s “Capital-L-literature,” “crafts-housewifery,” to just basic “to-read.”

Users can also join online book clubs, give books a rating out of five stars, select their favorite quotes and get book suggestions from friends. The entire thing is connectable through Facebook accounts, making it easy and accessible to register.

Kellie Talebkhah, senior at the University at Buffalo joined, GoodReads.com in Sep. 2011 and loves it.

“It’s a wonderful way to create a lineage of your books, the good and the bad. The social networking aspect of it keeps you accountable to finish books you’ve said you started,” Talebkhah said.

One of her biggest problems with reading is that she will start a book and just suddenly stop, never finishing it. The social aspect of the website “peer pressures” her into finishing whatever she is reading.

Authors are now taking control of their profiles on the website and using them for things like blogging, posting videos, and promoting events such as book signings or running contests.  Young adult writer Ned Vizzini is one of the most active authors on the site.

Vizzini utilizes many aspects of the Goodreads.com author program. He regularly updates his blog, posts videos, keeps his fans updated on what he’s reading and does book giveaways, featuring signed copies of his books or early releases of his latest novel, “The Other Normal.”

Goodreads.com frequently hosts live chats with authors. Lois Lowry, author of “The Giver,” Barbara Kingsolver, author of the critically acclaimed “The Poisonwood Bible,” and Philippa Gregory, author of dozens of bestselling historical fictions are some of the big time authors featured in the live chats.

Publishers are excited about the website because it’s audience is 100% book lovers and consumers. They use the website to give away free copies of upcoming releases and increase awareness and reviews for recent publications.

                “We work with publishers all day long. That’s our business model: helping publishers launch their titles on Goodreads,” said Otis Y. Chandler, founder and CEO of the company, in an interview with digitalbookworld.com.

Local Poets Read At Rust Belt Books

                A group of twelve poets, local as well as international,  gathered in the back room of Rust Belt Books Oct. 25 for a monthly open reading of poems and short stories.

                The group, organized by George Georgakis, London native, has been meeting for three years in the versatile back room. With moveable stages, constantly changing artwork, and endless chair arrangements the space is almost unrecognizable for every event, whether it be a play, a poetry reading or an art showing.   

Fellow poets listen as Bruce A. McCausland reads.

                The poems varied from good to trite, long to short, personal to political, but what brought the entire night together was a sense of community and comfort the poets had. The confidence they showed with their vulnerability and the ability to open up to friends, and some strangers, united them. Most of the poets knew each other and attended this monthly event regularly.

                Bruce A. McCausland, poet and sculptor, said they have difficulty bringing in new, younger poets willing to be confident enough to read, not just in this group, but as a poetry community as a whole.

                “The college crowd mostly keeps to themselves. Kids are ashamed of what they feel, and even worse, what they write, so they don’t want to come in and share. Put yourself out there, don’t be afraid to be vulnerable,” said McCausland.

                “When I was younger it was really hard to be vulnerable. I had to learn to open myself up to myself and others,” Rich Olsen, local poet, said.

                The exception to this seems to be poet Josh Smith. With his motorcycle helmet on the chair next to him and his pop-cultured laced poems, Smith was the younger generation’s only representative there. He was introduced by Georgakis as “the rock star of poetry,” which seemed to fit when he announced he had black, Josh Smith t-shirts for sale that night.  

                An ex-comedian, musician and 2012’s Artvoice Best Spoken Word Artist of the Year, Smith clearly captured his audience with edgy poems such as “No Strings Attached,” a reference to the 2011 film of the same name.

                “I want my sex with strings, with strings, and ribbon and ropes” Smith said. While musicians learn guitar to get the girls, Smith writes the poems to keep the girls, and that is the difference between rock stars and poets, according to him.

                Stan Malone with his rebel and road style poems was another stand out poet, the poems made even more unique by being read in cold, industrial Buffalo. Emphasized by his mustache, shy demeanor and t-shirt featuring a wolf, Malone’s poems were like if one’s divorced, biker father had a sensitive side.

                “Car to car, trunk to trunk, beneath the cold and far-flung stars we lay,” Malone said from his poem about his time hitch-hiking, “I Wish I Were Back Out West.”

Catholic Academy of West Buffalo reminds motorists and pedestrians on Delaware to pick up a book.

Russell Banks Kicks of 6th Season of Babel

Russell Banks, author of 13 novels, kicked off the sixth season of Babel at Kleinhans Music Hall Oct. 18, with a lecture advocating the separation of serious literature, social change and politics.

Banks, an author whose novels often focus on child abuse, neglect, incest and pornography, was feeling a little tired of discussing those topics. He had recently completed a seemingly endless, international book tour promoting his latest novel "Lost Memory of Skin," and spent a lot of time discussing those topics.

“I’m frankly sick of thinking of talking about sex abuse, sexual predators, pornography and the internet and all related subjects. So if you don’t mind, literature and politics” Banks said, to the laughs of the audience.

In his lecture he said he fears literature can no longer influence politics. It seems impossible for literary artists to influence those who rule us in such a democratic country, said Banks.

The most effective “protest fiction” relies too heavily on ready-made structural templates, stereotyped characters, cliché language, easy judgment and slapdash prose, Banks said. He made several references throughout the night to characters who either wear black hats or white hats in this type of literature.  

The bosses were portrayed as cruel and heartless machines in Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle", Banks said. The workers in that novel were portrayed as empowered heroes standing up for justice, there was no gray area or complexity in the characterization.

“A protest novel is an argument disguised as a story, propaganda for good or ill, that is wrapped in narrative. A true novelist, who inspires to create a work of art, is not aware of their audience,” said Banks.

The key difference between protest novel and serious fiction seems to be Banks assertation that a novelist begins with a mystery and ends with a further mystery, rather than an answer.

Barbara Cole, artistic director of Just Buffalo Literary Center, agreed with Banks' statement. 

 “This is the gift of great literature, offering us not answers but lasting enigmas that provoke us to speak when we have no words,” said Cole.

Kleinhans Music Hall celebrated the sixth Babel season opener by showing off some its recent renovations. Two free-standing speakers were added to each side of the of the stage and carpeting underneath the chairs was removed for a richer sound. Carpeting had previously run throughout the entire hall, dulling the sound.

“The space was designed for orchestral acoustics and we’ve had some trouble with vocal acoustics in the past,” said Laurie Dean Torrell, executive director of Just Buffalo Literary Center, Babel’s producer.

Paul Krehbiel Speaks About Underground Press at Burning Books

             About thirty people gathered in the small, square, humid storefront of Burning Books Oct. 16 to listen to Paul Krehbiel discuss the anti-war, labor and underground press movements of the late 1960's and early 1970's. 

Krehbiel, founder of the local underground publication “New Age,” spoke at Burning Books Oct. 16 to promote “Voices From the Underground”, a four volume anthology about Vietnam era underground press. Krehbiel contributed a chapter to the anthology, published by Michigan State University, about his time spent publishing “New Age” in 1970 and 1971.

Krehbiel and friends founded “New Age” during his time as a University at Buffalo student and Standard Mirror employee in South Buffalo. With a circulation of 10, 000 they founded the monthly paper in September 1970 to give a different side of the story.

Paul Krehbiel spoke at Burning Books about his
 experience as a member of the underground press

“The news media left out a lot about their reporting on the war. They left out key ideas and reasons for Vietnam,” he said.

“New Age” focused on the struggles of labor unions and minorities everywhere, not just locally.             

“In every issue we aimed to include one article about other cities or industries, one article about foreign workers, and one article that supported the black and women’s liberation movements that were going on then,” said Krehbiel.

He and his associates of “New Age” received harassment, violence and threats during the time of their publication. Krehbiel had his tires slashed and windshield shattered with a brick on numerous occasions. Once, he received an anonymous note card left on his door that only said “treason will be punished.” On another occasion he had his rear window shot at.


Krehbiel said underground publishers had to camouflage their publications as care packages or lunches when sneaking them into factories or onto the war front of Vietnam. Authors never signed their articles out of fear of losing their jobs or continued harassment.

Burning Books store co-owner Leslie James Pickering took to the front in the beginning to introduce Krehbiel as one of his biggest influences for the store he has today, which focuses on freedom struggles of different groups.

“There was such a difference between what the media reports and what the underground press reports. It’s important to have someone reporting from the other side” said Pickering.

Pickering and his associates try to carry on the legacy of the underground press through the new, alternative press. They carry self-published zine’, books and media on topics ranging from environmentalism, anarchy, civil rights, and history.

During the Q&A session after the lecture Krehbiel said learning to create an underground publication a lot more difficult when he did it, than it is now.

“We taught ourselves as we went along. we talked to some other people that worked on an underground paper some place else. We had writing skills from high school but we had to learn how to use layout sheets, and justify columns and use the correct typewriters and things like that. Things are a lot easier now with computers, but I still prefer to use layout sheets” Krehbiel said. 

Twenty-five authors contributed chapters to the "Voices of the Underground" anthology, ranging from 30 to 40 pages.