Wednesday, December 29, 2010

What is Walter Greatshell reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Walter Greatshell, author of the newly released Mad Skills.

His entry begins:
I've been thinking about the new movie version of True Grit, so I'll mention the terrific Charles Portis novel on which the movie is based. True Grit is one of my favorite books of all time, and Portis is perhaps my favorite author—or at least in the top three. Anyone reading my work can probably hear the echo of Portis, and it is my goal, however futile, to someday write dialogue as beautifully, hilariously perfect as his. All of my favorite authors have a certain Portis thing going—an absurdly funny, grim, yet strangely hopeful sensibility. And they never write the same book twice. Names that spring to mind are: Kurt Vonnegut, Patrick McGinley, Joseph Heller, Thomas Berger, Cormac McCarthy, John Fowles, Robert Graves, Anne Tyler, Thomas Hardy, Joao Ubaldo Ribeiro (who wrote a little gem called...[read on]
Among the early praise for Mad Skills:
"Powered by an endearing heroine (whose ingenuity and resourcefulness make MacGyver look inept), pedal-to-the-metal pacing, and generous amounts of social commentary, this science fiction thrill ride is the literary equivalent of a syringe full of adrenaline."
--Publishers Weekly

"Expect great things from Mr. Greatshell."
--Nate Kenyon, author of Sparrow Rock
Walter Greatshell's books include Xombies: Apocalypticon and Xombies: Apocalypse Blues.

Read more about Mad Skills, and visit Walter Greatshell's website and blog.

My Book, The Movie: Xombies: Apocalypse Blues.

The Page 69 Test: Xombies: Apocalypticon.

Writers Read: Walter Greatshell.

--Marshal Zeringue