Outstanding New Review

I just received another review for Struck by Conscience. I have to commend the reviewer. She really wrote a detailed and insightful review. She seemed to really 'get' it and get my characters and most especially she got the point of the story. I loved her words about Charisma (Risa for short): She is definitely one of the best written characters I've seen in a while.

Here is the end of the review:

My favorite thing about this story was the fact that what most teenage girls strive for wasn't what Risa wanted and it made her such a strong character. Torn between life changing moments, confused feelings of love and loss from what she's been so used to, C.K. Green makes Risa feel so real to the reader. The things people might think are important really aren't what defines you as a person. When life takes you to a cross road which road will you take? I think Ms. Green wrote a great heart felt story with little whimsical twists following Risa around. Hopefully, there will be more of Risa and Dahlia to look forward to in the future. It really was an impressive coming-of-age story. It made this reader fall into the story from the moment Risa fell into that pool.

~Forsythia, Aurora--Long and Short of it Reviews

James Franco--Actor & Writer…Umm Excuse Me?

So, I opened my Entertainment Weekly magazine this afternoon and perused an article about James Franco and an exclusive excerpt from his upcoming book release. Who knew James Franco could write?

Now I know this isn’t so very exciting because of late there have been quite a number of celebrities out there who think they can write when in fact they  ^(a) aren’t actually doing the writing or ^(b) the writing is subpar (and I’m being generous here). As an author myself, it infuriates me when these celebrities use their fame to publish without putting in the effort or the talent. It’s just not right.

That’s simply not the case with Franco. This is a project he’s been working on for five years under the tutelage of some noteworthy professors and novelists. Mona Simpson, Amy Hempel, and Michael Cunningham.

The star of the Spiderman trilogy, Tristan + Isolde, the Julia Roberts film Eat, Pray, Love and recently a stint on the soap General Hospital wasn’t just given his writing contract. He actually earned it. According to the article, Franco is currently attending Yale working on his PhD. Looking into his academic record, I see he started at UCLA in creative writing but dropped out after a year to study acting. Eventually, he went back and finished that degree. He wanted his schoolmates to realize his serious intent. In his final quarter at UCLA, he took 62 units instead of the normal cap of 19. He later attended film school at NYU and studied for his graduate degree at Columbia. Seeing all his academic achievement, I can finally forgive him for Pineapple Express.

Good for you James Franco. Though I haven’t had the opportunity to read the book, I applaud his hard work and wish the best for the short story collection release. Palo Alto (incidentally that’s where in California Franco was born and grew up) hits stores October 19^th.