The Stories of Scott D. Southard

April 7, 2016

NEW WKAR Book Review: My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
One of my favorite things to do on WKAR is talk about new books that really impress me. Some like to believe book reviewers get more pleasure out of negative reviews, but that has never been the case for me. So today was a highpoint for me as I take on My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout.

You can listen to my review here: http://wkar.org/post/book-review-elizabeth-strout-s-my-name-lucy-barton

If you would rather read my review, you can do so below.

Hey, did you know Current State has a podcast? If you subscribe, you can download episodes and segments (and you can find me every other Thursday). Here is a link to find it on iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wkar-fm-current-state/id594609653?mt=2

If you want to check out My Name is Lucy Barton, you can find it on amazon here. If you want to check out my other book reviews for WKAR’s Current State, you can do so via links on this page. (more…)
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March 3, 2016

New WKAR Book Review: Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt
Today on WKAR I took on the new literary fiction and ghost story by Samantha Hunt. Check out my take on Mr. Splitfoot.

You can listen to my review here: http://wkar.org/post/book-review-samantha-hunts-mr-splitfoot

If you would rather read my review, you can do so below.

Hey, did you know Current State has a podcast? If you subscribe, you can download episodes and segments (and you can find me every other Thursday). Here is a link to find it on iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wkar-fm-current-state/id594609653?mt=2

If you want to check out Mr. Splitfoot, you can find it on amazon here. If you want to check out my other book reviews for WKAR’s Current State, you can do so via links on this page. (more…)
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February 4, 2016

New WKAR Book Review: Quicksand by Steve Toltz
Today on WKAR’s Current State, I reviewed the new novel by Steve Toltz, Quicksand. I hope you like it!

You can listen to my review here: http://wkar.org/post/book-review-steve-toltz-s-quicksand

If you would rather read my review, you can do so below.

Hey, did you know Current State has a podcast? If you subscribe, you can download episodes and segments (and you can find me every other Thursday). Here is a link to find it on iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wkar-fm-current-state/id594609653?mt=2

If you want to check out Quicksand, you can find it on amazon here. If you want to check out my other book reviews for WKAR’s Current State, you can do so via links on this page. (more…)
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January 7, 2016

New WKAR Book Review: The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman
Today on WKAR’s Current State, I was really excited to share a great new novel with the listeners (and you!). It is The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman.

You can listen to my review here: http://wkar.org/post/book-review-alice-hoffmans-marriage-opposites

If you would rather read my review, you can do so below.

Hey, did you know Current State has a podcast? If you subscribe, you can download episodes and segments (and you can find me every other Thursday). Here is a link to find it on iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wkar-fm-current-state/id594609653?mt=2

If you want to read The Marriage for Opposites for yourself (and I do highly recommend it), you can find it on amazon here. If you want to check out my other book reviews for WKAR’s Current State, you can do so via links on this page. (more…)
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December 22, 2015

Christmas 2015
Here’s the thing I discovered this holiday season…

There aren’t any new original Christmas books being written. When I started doing the book reviews for WKAR, I had this dream of discovering a new holiday tale each year and that plan fell apart pretty darn quick.

Starting in October, I began checking out new releases for possible reviews and everything seemed to be romantic comedies, all dreaming of being a mediocre Hallmark special. (Of course, if they are all mediocre how does that scale really work?) But you know my gut feeling is that all those relationships that begin like that over the holiday season don’t last after the book ends and the tree is put away. Yes, Hallmark romantic-comedy fans, I’m saying it- they will all be broken up by summer. Bah Humbug!

So here is the challenge to everyone reading who is a writer: Come up with a new holiday story. It can’t be a variation on something we have seen or an adaptation or a re-imagining, it has to be an original take. Something that adds to the holiday season. I want something new and something daring and something that taps into the warmth that is supposed to surround the yuletide season. The gauntlet has been thrown down and if you can pull this off, book reviewers (and readers) will thank you for years to come.

Now here are some of my favorite holiday posts I have done in the past that I think you will get a kick out of this holiday season.

Why the Littlest Angel is the Worst Holiday Story… Ever. And I still stand by this statement. Here are my reasons why we should all forget this tale and stick it under the bed with the angel’s box of favorite things.

Book Review: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I am really proud of this review I did a while back for WKAR. You can listen to my voice (and my attempt to channel Dickens) or read it via the link.

Writing a Good Christmas Story: Four Things to Consider. For those thinking of taking on my challenge, here are some writing pointers that will help you on the mission.

Kris and Me. I know I shared this original Christmas short story already once on the site this season, but I am proud of it. You should check it out. (And Hallmark channel, you can reach me via my contact info listed on my “Man Behind the Curtain” page.)

Neil Diamond’s “A Cherry Cherry Christmas” is the Worst Christmas Song Ever! A Holiday Musical Rant. One last post for the Grinch and the Scrooge in all of us. And this song doesn’t get better with time. Now I’ve just got to get around to creating a rant about “Last Christmas” by Wham! Yes, that song deserves it.
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December 10, 2015

Holiday Time! Free eBook of A Jane Austen Daydream! Book giveaway for Permanent Spring Showers!
Just in time for the holiday season and traveling, my novel A Jane Austen Daydream is a free eBook on Amazon for a limited time! You can grab it here. Surprising, witty and romantic, A Jane Austen Daydream is a re-imagining of Jane Austen’s life, putting her into a tale she might have written for one of her own characters. Here is the back cover description:

All her heroines find love in the end–but is there love waiting for Jane?

Jane Austen spends her days writing and matchmaking in the small countryside village of Steventon, until a ball at Godmersham Park propels her into a new world where she yearns for a romance of her own. But whether her heart will settle on a young lawyer, a clever Reverend, a wealthy childhood friend, or a mysterious stranger is anyone’s guess.

Written in the style of Jane herself, this novel ponders the question faced by many devoted readers over the years–did she ever find love? Weaving fact with fiction, it re-imagines her life, using her own stories to fill in the gaps left by history and showing that all of us–to a greater or lesser degree–are head over heels for Jane.

Grab your copy today! Here is the link- http://amzn.com/B00CH3HQUU

But that’s not all! There is book giveaway for my latest novel Permanent Spring Showers going on right now at The Review (here). Four lucky readers will win a digital copy of this new work of literary fiction. Here is the description of this new book:

Professor Rebecca Stanley-Wilson is having a very bad season. Her husband has just admitted to having an affair. And it was with one of her students.

Blame it on a desire for revenge (or way too much alcohol), she then has had one of her own. Unfortunately for her, her affair was with one of the great upcoming painters of his generation. The ramifications of that one torrid evening will not only be felt across her life but over the entire art world.

Sexy, funny, and very surprising, Permanent Spring Showers is the tale of one very memorable springtime and how it impacts a group of unique artists and dreamers. From the writer who is creating a new literary movement (through outright manipulation), to the hopeful Olympian with the failing marriage, to the romantic wondering what he did wrong to drive his love from him, each tale walks the line between reality and fantasy. And waiting at the end of the line is a very important painting… and possibly the revolver used in the Lincoln Assassination.

Permanent Spring Showers is out in both print and eBook at all online stores, you can find it on amazon.com here. The eBook is on sale for only $3.99. So if you like A Jane Austen Daydream and want to read more or say thanks for the read, why not snag a copy?

You can read a sample and learn more about the book via this page.

Happy Holidays readers!
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December 3, 2015

NEW WKAR Book Review: The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
There is this misconception out there that reviewers like to write bad reviews. Like they get some weird pleasure out of it. Well, maybe that was true for Dorothy Parker, but it definitely is not for me. I hate writing bad reviews. So today’s review of Margaret Atwood’s new novel, The Heart Goes Last, is not fun for me…. Still I hope the review is fun to listen to.

You can listen to my review here: http://wkar.org/post/book-review-margaret-atwoods-heart-goes-last

If you would rather read my review, you can do so below.

Hey, did you know Current State has a podcast? If you subscribe, you can download episodes and segments (and you can find me every other Thursday). Here is a link to find it on iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wkar-fm-current-state/id594609653?mt=2

If you want to check out my other book reviews for WKAR’s Current State, you can do so via links on this page. (more…)
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November 12, 2015

NEW WKAR Book Review: John Irving’s Avenue of Mysteries
I got a really big kick out of getting this book in the mail for review. I always enjoy John Irving and today on WKAR’s Current State I reviewed his latest, Avenue of Mysteries.

You can listen to my review here: http://wkar.org/post/book-review-john-irvings-avenue-mysteries

If you would rather read my review, you can do so below.

Hey, did you know Current State has a podcast? If you subscribe, you can download episodes and segments (and you can find me every other Thursday). Here is a link to find it on iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wkar-fm-current-state/id594609653?mt=2

You can snag a copy of Irving’s latest novel here on Amazon.com If you want to check out my other book reviews for WKAR’s Current State, you can do so via links on this page. (more…)
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November 2, 2015

“Any Love (Cassandra Et Lune)” by Ken Stringfellow
Wow, I can’t believe I am already up to eight in my series “With Music.” In each post I write about a time in my life, using a song that impacted me or reminds me of a moment. The earlier seven entries included Ben Folds Five, Sheryl Crow, Beth Orton, Dean Martin, The Verve, Barenaked Ladies, and Tori Amos. This time I write about finding inspiration in Los Angeles.

–

I am haunted by a song.

I sometimes hear it in my dreams, it is the one I might start humming when I am running an errand or absentmindedly finishing a chore. I’ve even been known to sing it to my children as they fall asleep.

This song has followed me for almost a decade and I believe it will be with me until I let one special book go.

–

I was sick of being a number.

There were a lot of students in the master’s program in writing at the University of Southern California and I felt like I always had to prove myself. Every class was the same, an introduction to the others in the room and then a slow stomp up the literary stairs to the top of the class. Maybe I would have had an easier time being in competitive classrooms like these if I went to a bigger college for my undergrad. Then I was a big fish in a small pond. I was the writer of the entire class of English majors. It may sound egotistic to say I ruled the school, but it felt like that as I went from writing workshop to workshop then.

But at USC it was different. It also didn’t help that I started the program in the middle of the year. Everything was settled by the students on their own personal rankings by then. You would see in the classrooms which students were worth listening to and which created the most eye rolling (and there were a lot of eye rolling). I was the odd man out, the question mark in the class, and I could sense it.

Those writing classes could also be stressful and aggressive. Students would argue about each others’ works, some teachers would spur it on (maybe even weirdly enjoying it) while others did their best to try and keep some control over their classrooms. I wish I could say I played it smart in the early months, biding my time and getting the lay of the land.

That would be a lie though if I said that. (more…)
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October 2, 2015

“Artistic and Engaging” Rabid Readers Review PERMANENT SPRING SHOWERS
Rabid Readers was one of the first book review sites to take on my last novel A Jane Austen Daydream. Today I was thrilled to discover that they reviewed my latest novel, Permanent Spring Showers. My new book is definitely not in the same time period as my last one. I’m incredibly happy they enjoyed it as well.

Here is my favorite bit from this great review:

Southard exposes the sometimes illogical nature of human interactions while questioning many of the concepts that are considered absolutes in our daily lives. When is the cost of the choices we make too high? Is that a consuming feeling love or attraction? Southard’s writing style is smooth and lyrical so that a subject that might be incomprehensibly difficult becomes plausible. Southard writes men and women and their motivations with an equally light hand.

You can read the entire review here. Check it out!

This is a great time to grab a copy of my latest work. The eBook is only $3.99! You can find it on Amazon here. Permanent Spring Showers is published by 5 Prince Books. You can also find out more about it (and read an excerpt) on this page on my site.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Permanent Spring Showers

by Scott D. Southard

Giveaway ends October 28, 2015.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/widget/155531
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